Ball State University Athletics
WBB Releases 2016 Non-Conference Schedule
July 19, 2016 | Women's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State University women's basketball team finalized its 2016 non-conference schedule, highlighted by the return of Big Ten foe Purdue to Worthen Arena and a trip to Savannah, Georgia for a Thanksgiving invitational where Ball State will face Auburn, NC A&T and East Carolina.
“We are excited to kick off this season and have lined up another challenging schedule that will undoubtedly have us prepared for our conference slate and hopefully prepare us for another postseason run,” Ball State head women's basketball coach Brady Sallee said.
The Cardinals open their season with back-to-back home games against Arkansas Pine Bluff (Nov. 11) and Evansville (Nov. 16). Ball State's game against Arkansas Pine Bluff will be a Kid's Day event beginning at 11 a.m. The Cardinals contest against the Purple Aces tips off at 7 p.m.
Ball State will spend its Thanksgiving playing three games at the Savannah Invitational (Nov. 22-24). The Cardinals will first face SEC foe Auburn (Nov. 22) and NC A&T (Nov. 23), before ending the invitational against East Carolina (Nov. 24). For more information on the invitational fans can follow the link Savannahinvitational.com.
The month of December brings four home games to Worthen Arena -- Chicago State (Dec. 1), Purdue (Dec. 8), Lipscomb (Dec. 18) and Urbana (Dec. 28). The game against Purdue will mark the 24th time in program history the two schools have met. The last time the Cardinals hosted the Boilermakers in 2014 marked the third largest crowd in program history (4,012). Ball State will also compete on the road three times -- at Butler (Dec. 4), Oakland (Dec. 11) and Western Kentucky (Dec. 21).
Sallee enters his fifth season at Ball State in 2016-17, guiding the Cardinals to a 22-10 ledger in 2015-16. Last year marked only the fifth time in program history Ball State had a 20+ win season, helping make Sallee the only head coach in program history with four consecutive winning seasons --- 17-16 (2012-13), 18-17 (2013-14), 17-12 (2014-15) and 22-9 (2015-16).
The 2015-16 season saw Ball State clinch its third bye to Cleveland in four years in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Cardinals also earned their fourth-straight berth in the post season Women's National Invitation Tournament where Ball State advanced to the second round for the first time since 2012-13, pulling off a 77-72 upset at Big Ten foe Iowa.
