Ball State University Athletics
WBB Hosts Urbana In Exhibition Game Tuesday
November 02, 2015 | Women's Basketball
The Cardinals Nest
- The Ball State women's basketball team hosts Urbana University for its annual exhibition game Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. in Worthen Arena before opening its season at Charlotte, Nov. 13 with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. The Cardinals ended the 2014-15 season with a 17-14 overall mark and a 13-5 MAC ledger. Ball State became postseason eligible after clinching the MAC West Division title outright for the first time since 2008-09. The Cardinals earned a bye as the second seed in the MAC Tournament and advanced straight to the semifinals. Ball State also competed in the Women's National Invitation Postseason Tournament for the third straight season.
- For the third straight season, the Ball State women's basketball team has been picked second in the Mid-American Conference West Division Preseason Poll, while senior Nathalie Fontaine and junior Jill Morrisonwere named to the All-MAC West Division Preseason Team, which was announced by the league office. Ball State was the only school from the MAC West Division to have two players named to the All-MAC Preseason squad. Fontaine averaged 16.4 points and 7.1 rebounds last season. A three-time First Team All-MAC selection, Fontaine also earned MAC West Division Player of the Week accolades four times last season. She currently ranks sixth on Ball State's career scoring list with 1,496 points and has pulled down 659 career rebounds, which is good for 11th all-time. Morrison ranked second on the team in scoring (11.4), first in three pointers made (79), first in steals (44), first in assists (91) and first in free throw percentage (.829) last season. Morrison was also selected to the All-MAC Third Team for her efforts last year.
- Ball State head women's basketball coach Brady Sallee was given a contract extension through the 2019-20 season at the end of last season. This marks the second time in three years that Sallee has been awarded a contract extension. Sallee, who begins his fourth season at Ball State, becomes the only head coach in program history to take the Cardinals to three straight Women's National Invitation postseason tournaments. In addition, Sallee is only the second head coach in program history to have three consecutive winning seasons -- 17-16 (2012-13), 18-17 (2013-14) and 17-14 (2014-15). The last time it happened was from 2004-07 under former head coach Tracy Roller. Sallee has amassed a 188-142 career coaching record, including his eight years as the head basketball coach at Eastern Illinois.
