Ball State University Athletics
WBB Travels To Saint Louis For WNIT Second Round
March 20, 2016 | Women's Basketball
The Ball State women's basketball team advanced to the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament for the first time since the 2012-13 season after pulling off a 77-72 upset over Big Ten foe Iowa Thursday night. The Cardinals will now play their second round game at Saint Louis Monday night at 8 p.m. (EST) in Chaifetz Arena.
- At Iowa, Nathalie Fontaine collected her 38th double-double after leading all scorers with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Moriah Monaco and Carmen Grande each had 16 points apiece. The Cardinals largest lead came in the third quarter, Grande hit a layup at the 9:02 mark which would put Ball State up by 16 (44-28) over the Hawkeyes. Ball State only committed 10 turnovers and scored 15 points off of Iowa's 12 miscues. The Cardinals won points in the paint (36-to-34), rebounds (41-to-39) and field goal percentage (42.9-to-42.6).
This is Ball State's fourth straight WNIT appearance and seventh overall. The Cardinals have advanced to the second round in four times (2002, 2003, 2013 & 2016). The furthest the Cardinals have gone was in 2013 under head coach Brady Sallee, that year Ball State made it to the Final 16 after knocking off Minnesota (54-51) and Northern Iowa (53-48), then lost at Kansas State (48-60).
The game Monday marks the second time this season Ball State will have faced Saint Louis. The Cardinals closed out non-conference action against the Billikens at home Dec. 28, resulting in a 79-70 victory for Ball State. Saint Louis advanced to the WNIT second round after barely defeating Little Rock, 70-69, Thursday night in Saint Louis.
- Ball State clinched its third automatic bye in four years as the third seed in last week's Mid-American Conference Tournament and advanced straight to the quarterfinals, where they lost to No. 6 seed Eastern Michigan 67-53.
- In the last two seasons, head coach Brady Sallee has compiled a 15-8 record for the month of March. In 2013-14, the Cardinals began the month with wins over Western Michigan, Northern Illinois and Toledo before heading into the MAC Tournament where they won four-straight before suffering a loss to Akron in the championship game. Ball Stat went 3-3 in the month of March in 2012-13, which included two win in the Women's National Invitation Tournament, advancing the Cardinals to the Final 16. Last season, Ball State began the month with wins over Central Michigan and Toledo before falling to Eastern Michigan in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament and Middle Tennessee in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament. Ball State currently owns a 3-1 record so far this month.
