Women’s Basketball Adds Two Transfers to 2020-21 Roster
April 15, 2020 | Women's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. - Ball State women's basketball ninth-year head coach Brady Sallee announced Wednesday two additions to the 2020 recruiting class as the Cardinals welcomed transfers Krystal Rice (Flint, Michigan/Johnson County Community College) and Ella Skeens (Chillicothe, Ohio/Dayton).
Rice, a 5-foot-8 guard who had a stellar sophomore season in 2019-20, earned NJCAA Division II All-America Second Team honors and Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division II First Team recognition. She played in 30 games with 29 starts, leading Johnson County in scoring with 14.2 points per game. Rice finished the year second in the conference in 3-point field goals made (84) and free throw percentage (78.8) while also ranking fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (37.5). She scored in double figures in 23 contests with a career-high 27-point performance Nov. 18 against William Penn JV. She was named the Kansas Jayhawk D-II Conference Player of the Week after leading JCCC to wins over nationally-ranked Kansas City Kansas and Highland.
Prior to JCCC, Rice spent her freshman year at Indiana State where she saw action in 20 games for the Sycamores. She was a standout at Flint Hamady High School where she was a four-year letterwinner, helping her squad to four district titles, three regional championships and the 2014 Michigan state finals. She closed out her high school career averaging 12.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Rice comes from distinguished basketball family as the niece of former NBA and NCAA champion Glen Rice.
"We have been following Krystal's progress for a long time and are excited to bring her into the Ball State family," Sallee said. "Krystal can flat out shoot it. Her ability to score is special, and it was impressive to watch her combine her toughness and skill level and parlay it into an All-American season at Johnson County."
Skeens, a 5-foot-11 forward from Chillicothe Southeastern High School, comes to Ball State after spending two seasons at Dayton. She appeared in 17 games as a sophomore and scored a career-high eight points while hitting 2-of-3 from behind the arc in a Dec. 3 win over Coppin State. Skeens pulled down a personal-best eight rebounds in the Flyers' season-opening victory over Lipscomb. She helped Dayton to a 25-8 overall mark last season and the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship. Dayton earned the league's automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Tournament which was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to Dayton, Skeens was a four-year letterwinner at Chillicothe Southeastern. She becomes the second player on the Cardinals' current roster from Chillicothe, Ohio, joining rising senior forward Oshlynn Brown. Skeens was a highly decorated player for the Panthers, earning Scioto Valley Conference Player of the Year honors four times along with being a two-time District 14 Player of the Year honoree. She also earned first-team All-Ohio honors twice. Skeens was a McDonald's All-American nominee as a senior and also played in the North/South All-Star game. She holds the records for points, rebounds, assists and 3-pointers in a single game at Southeastern High School. Skeens finished her senior year ranked 156th in the the nation by the All Star Girls Report.
"We are thrilled to finally see Ella as a part of our program," Sallee said. "We really wanted her out of high school, but things happen for a reason and now she is a Cardinal. Ella brings an extremely high level of competitiveness to our program. She is a big, strong guard that can score at all three levels and I look forward to using her versatility in our system."
The Cardinals ended the season with a 21-10 overall record. Ball State's 13-game turnaround this season led all NCAA Division I women's basketball programs and ranked among the top 30 turnarounds in NCAA history. Ball State earned the No. 2 seed in the 2020 Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 13-5 league record, marking the sixth time in Sallee's tenure the Cardinals earned a bye and punched their ticket straight to Cleveland. Ball State returns four of its five starters from last season including First Team All-MAC recipient Brown and All-Freshman MAC Team honoree guard Sydney Freeman.
For the most up-to-date news on the Ball State women's basketball team, please follow @BallStateSports, @BSUCoachBrady and @BallStateWBB.
