Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Butler University
Women's Basketball Welcomes Butler to Worthen Arena Thursday for In-State Rivalry Game
November 16, 2022 | Women's Basketball
Game 3 | Ball State (1-1) vs. Butler (1-1)
Nov. 17 | Muncie, Ind. | Worthen Arena | 6:30 p.m. ET
Opening Tip:
- Ball State returns to the court Thursday for its second-straight home game this week. The Cardinals are coming off of a 105-51 victory over IU East which came in front of 4,067 fans on Monday in BSU's sixth annual Field Trip Day. Ball State welcomed schools from not only Delaware County but also the surrounding area to Worthen Arena. Redshirt senior Anna Clephane led all scorers with 22 points against the Red Wolves.
- Thursday's game marks the 29th all-time meeting between Ball State and Butler in women's basketball. The Cardinals have won their last two meetings against the Bulldogs a 70-56 victory in Indianapolis, Nov. 16, 2021 and a 74-70 win in Worthen Arena Nov. 23, 2019.
- Although, Butler has a new head coach this season in Austin Parkinson the Cardinals are familiar with Parkinson's coaching style as he was the head coach at IUPUI from 2010-2022. Parkinson had a successful career with the Jaguars as he was the winningest coach in program history at IUPUI with 225 victories and made two trips to the NCAA Tournament (2020 & 2022).
- Butler will be the fourth school from the state of Indiana that the Cardinals will face this season. Ball State played IU East Monday, Nov. 14 and will also play at Notre Dame Sunday, Nov. 20 along with hosting IUPUI Thursday, Dec. 8.
- Butler is looking to get back on the winning track after suffering a 61-67 loss to IUPUI Sunday, Nov. 13 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Prior to that contest, the Bulldogs had defeated Chicago State 84-57 on Nov. 9. Ball State will also face Chicago State this season on Dec. 30 at 6:30 pm ET in Worthen Arena.
I'm a Survivor:
Both redshirt senior Anna Clephane and senior Estel Puiggros have suffered season-ending injuries over their career at Ball State. But both have worked hard to come back stronger than ever. Clephane currently leads the team in scoring averaging 17.0 points per contest. She scored 12 points at Tennessee Tech (Nov. 7) and 22 points versus IU East (Nov. 14) Puiggros finally made her way back onto the court against IU East playing just over four minutes and managed to score her first basketball of the season. Clephane currently has 811 points for her career and needs 189 to reach 1,000 career points.
Did You Know?
Butler's head coach Austin Parkinson is the son of Bruce Parkinson, Purdue's all-time assists leader and member of the Indiana High School basketball Hall of Fame. His father went to Yorktown High School in Yorktown, Indiana where Ball State head coach Brady Sallee resides with his family. The distance between Yorktown and Muncie is 7.6 miles.
College Insider:
The Ball State Cardinals were ranked in the College Insider Women's Preseason Mid-Major Top-25 Poll. Only three teams from the MAC earned the honor. Ball State was ranked No. 14 beating out Kent State from the MAC which was ranked 20th. Tennessee Tech was ranked 17th.
