CLEVELAND — Ball State put on an offensive clinic in the opening game of the 2025 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Women’s Basketball Tournament.
The No. 1 seeded Cardinals took down the No. 8 seed Broncos in a 82-53 contest, in which the Cardinals led for 37 of the 40 minutes.
Here are three takeaways from the quarter-final round win.
Both sides live and die by the three-ball
Ball State took a healthy amount of shots from deep in the morning contest of the MAC Tournament’s opening day of games. The Cardinals have not been a team that relies on the deep ball throughout the season, but took nine in the opening frame.
The Cardinals hit 6.7 three-balls per game, and are knocking them down at a 31.7 percent. In the opening frame, Ball State was 3-for-9 from deep and senior Madelyn Bischoff hit two of the three.
Western Michigan was also taking advantage of the deep shot, shooting seven and knocking down three of them. Neither team shot at an impressive rate, but took a lot of open shots.
In the second frame, neither squad had things rolling. At the 3:13 timeout, both teams were 0-for-4 from deep. The last three minutes did not improve much either, as Ball State went 1-for-5 and had not hit one until Lachelle Austin’s buzzer beater to close out the half. Western Michigan was not much higher at 0-for-6.
The first half was a preview of more to come in the second half. Ball State went on to shoot 3-for-8 in the second half and 7-for-22 on the game — shooting from deep at 31.8 percent.
Cardinals dominate the boards
It feels like beating the same drum over and over again, but Ball State has dominated teams on the glass all season. The size, and depth of size, on this Ball State roster is arguably the deepest in the MAC.
Ball State starts two six-footers in Marie Kiefer and Alex Richard. Coming off the bench are two more six-footers with Maliyah Johnson and Elise Stuck. Outside of them, freshman Grace Kingery stands at 5-feet 11-inches, the Cardinals do not lack size or length on either end of the floor.
Defensively, Ball State has MAC Defensive Player of the Year Marie Kiefer roaming the paint, blocking shots. Beside her, one of the better defensive players in the conference, Alex Richard provides a strong defensive presence.
As a team, Ball State scored 38 paint points, 12 more than Western Michigan’s 26. It has been a recurring theme of the Cardinals outsourcing opponents in the paint this season. On the glass, Ball State out-rebounded Western Michigan 44-to-26, a category in which the Cardinals are leading their opponents by an average of four rebounds per game.
Of those 44 rebounds, 13 were offensively, allowing the Cardinals to score 19 second chance points. 31 defensive rebounds kept the ball out of Western Michigan’s hands, and the Broncos only scored four second chance points.
The size of this lineup is one that has propelled the Cardinals often in their 16 MAC wins. Lookout for Ball State to continue to play in its size and to rely more on their paint production over shooting the deep ball.
Ball State’s seniors lead the way
Making their third or fourth trips to Cleveland for the MAC Tournament, Ball State’s seniors were shining in todays’ contest.
Outside of Elise Stuck and Maliyah Johnson, all of the senior Cardinals have made multiple trips to Rocket Arena to compete. Lachelle Austin, the Eastern Michigan transfer, played in the 2022 tournament with the Eagles.
80 of Ball State’s points were scored by its seniors today. Leading the way scoring was Alex Richard with 17 points. She shot 66.6 percent from the field and knocked down all but four of her shots.
MAC Player of the Year Ally Becki had one of her best games in Cleveland with 14 points, three rebounds and eight assists. Her eight assists led the team.
Keifer led the way cleaning the glass with 13 rebounds and a block adding on to her Ball State record. Kiefers’ presence and length in the paint is a tall challenge for teams, which was recognized with her wining the MAC Defensive Player of the Year award.
The Defensive Player of the Year did not lack offensively though, as she tallied a double-double with 10 points to go with the abundance of rebounds.
Having an experienced roster that has been through the challenged of the MAC Tournament can be a difference maker compared to past Cardinal teams. The leadership was there for those squads under Sallee the last few seasons, but this team has the leadership, experience and talent that jumps off the charts.
With the win, Ball State will play the winner of No. 4 Kent State and No. 5 Miami (OH) March 14 at 10 a.m. in the semifinals with a chance to advance to the MAC Championship game.
Contact Logan Connor via email at logan.connor@bsu.edu or via X @_loganconnor.
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