We play the preseason favorite and top ranked MAC team for the only time in our first MAC game of the year. Under Head coach Brady Salee the Cardinals have built a powerhouse, winning 28 games last year. Salee is 14-1 vs Miami. Despite their dominance, the Cardinals have faded late each season and have not won the regular season or the MAC tournament, losing in the MAC semifinals 3 straight seasons.
This year they start 5 Seniors, one senior transferred to Michigan State for her final year, but they grabbed a 3 year starter from Eastern Michigan to replace her. This year they have really challenged themselves schedule wise and are 8-4 with a MAC high Net Ranking of #67. Here are some of their scores:
Memphis W. 95-66
N Iowa. W. 76-70
N Carolina L 63-52
Texas A &M W 75-62
Ohio State L 80-48
Starters
5-8 SR Ally Becky 13.3. First team All MAC, MVP candidate
5-7 SR Lachelle Austin 11.2. Transfer from EMU
6-2 SR Marie Kiefer 7.9
6-1 SR Alex Richard 12.3. Injured
5-9 SR Madelyn Bishoff 10.4 injured
Because of injuries Elise Stuck 6-1 GS transfer from Michigan has started 10 games and is averaging 10.5
Last year in our only meeting they hit 8 straight 3’s at one point and drilled us 91 to 56. They have many great 3 point threats. This is the best team we have faced and is a good measuring stick for how good we are right now.
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. From 55-53 Ball State in the fourth the Cardinals close it out with a 13-2 run. Of note, Hennessy Luu Brown not on the bench.
We chopped the lead all the way down to 2 points with 4:44 to go, then lost by 13. This game followed the same pattern as our home loss to Purdue, trailing between13 and 6 most of the game, then making a run to catch up and then getting drilled in the last 4 or 5 minutes. BSU shut down Gonzalez in the second half and Tretter and Chandler did most of our damage. Becki and Kingery combined for 40 points.
We travel to Kalamazoo for a game with Western Saturday.
Looking over the box score this morning it was just a terrific performance by Senior point guard and all MAC first teamer Ally Becki. She had 7 assists and no turnovers, 5 steals, 9 rebounds, and 22 points.
Gonzalez had 15 points in the first half and none in the second as she could not get open for a shot. Tamar Singer only played 16 minutes as she left with a leg injury, returned briefly, and then limped off for the rest of the game. That hurt us. Singer’s Mom and 2 sisters were visiting from Israel.