WACO, Texas – Ball State women’s basketball head coach Brady Sallee expects the matchup against No. 5-seeded Ole Miss to be difficult.
He said every bounce, every pass, everything, will be difficult.
But this is March.
“When the ball goes up, you've got a job to do,” Sallee said. “It's the way we roll. We've got a saying in our program, ‘1-0 today,’ and it'll be no different when we play Ole Miss.”
The No. 12 seeded Cardinals will take on the Rebels at 6 p.m. in Waco, Texas, in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Senior Ally Becki said being on the ground for March Madness is nothing short of amazing.
Becki, who is in her final season at Ball State, said she has been trying to soak in every moment possible. She said Ball State University President Geoffrey Mearns met with the team and told them to stay in the moment with each other.
“This is our last time. I only get this once,” Becki said.
Senior Marie Kiefer said the Cardinals have been building their way into the tournament all season. Even if there was a lot of pressure to win along the way, Ball State still got it done, she said.
Sallee said the non-conference schedule was able to prepare the Cardinals for a moment like the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals played ranked Ohio State University, the University of North Carolina and South Dakota State. Ball State also played top mid-major programs like James Madison University, the University of Northern Iowa, Toledo and more.
Becki said the non-conference schedule this year and in the years past have been able to prepare Ball State for the NCAA Tournament.
“We know how to play and [know] what we need to do,” Becki said. “So just don’t be intimidated, just go at it like it's one of our last games, and that's been our mentality these past couple [of] games.”
Sallee said the tough non-conference slate taught them how to be fine with maybe playing a little ugly.
“It's no different than any game,” Sallee said. “There's going to be adversity and the team that can handle it and embrace it, adjust from it, is going to be the team that gets to play on Sunday.”
“Cardinal Nation”
Ball State women’s basketball attendance has been increasing in recent years, and Becki and Kiefer agreed that the Cardinals could not have gone where they are without “Cardinal Nation” behind them.
“It's not just us in this tournament, it's the whole Ball State nation,” Becki said.
As the community support has grown for Ball State women’s basketball, so has the support of Ball State women’s basketball for the community.
“We happened to have the right individuals that our community could fall in love with,” Sallee said. “We're talking about young ladies that will, go to a middle school game to support a kid that's been at our camps and will go to a high school game.”
Sallee said he would get texts from time to time about the team watching a young athlete play. He said had no idea. But those are the types of players he coaches.
2009 to 2025
Associate head coach Audrey McDonald-Spencer was on the 2009 No. 12 seeded Ball State women’s basketball team that upset No. 5 Tennessee. Sallee said her conversations with the players have been comforting because it is “in their wheelhouse.”
He said McDonald-Spencer would pinpoint that the journey is going to be worth it because she has gone through it herself. Throughout the long regular season, getting to the dance will be worth it. Through the MAC February “trudge,” it’ll be worth it.
“For her to be involved in both of our [Ball State women’s basketball] times in the tournament, I couldn't think of a better person,” Sallee said. “...It's reassuring to have her sitting in the seat to my right.”
Sallee said there is not a very long list of some of the things Ball State can do to “hurt” Ole Miss, but he knows the Cardinals are battle-tested and determined.
“We're here to win. And we believe we can,” Sallee said.
Contact Elijah Poe via email at elijah.poe@bsu.edu or on X @ElijahPoe4.
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