Ball State University
IUPUI
Women's Basketball Closes Three-Game Homestand Against In-State Rival IUPUI Thursday
December 07, 2022 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 8 | Muncie, Ind. | Worthen Arena | 6:30 pm ET
Opening Tip:
- Ball State (6-2) will try to remain in the win column and extend its win streak to five when it welcomes in-state rival IUPUI (4-4) to Worthen Arena Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET.Â
- The contest marks the third-straight home for the Cardinals. So far this season, Ball State is undefeated at home with a 4-0 mark.Â
- The Cardinals are coming off a well rounded performance on offense and defense Monday night when Ball State earned a dominating 85-51 win over Saint Louis. Ball State shot over 50 percent from the floor, pulled down 45 rebounds and held Saint Louis to its lowest point total this season thus far.Â
- Ball State and IUPUI have met eight times, with the Cardinals leading the all-time series, 6-2. Ball State and IUPUI's last meeting was in 2021 in Indianapolis. The Cardinals won that contest, 73-67.
- The match-up Thursday will be Ball State's fourth against a school from Indiana this season. The Cardinals have defeated IU East (105-51) and Butler (84-68) already this season and fell to No. 9 Notre Dame (60-95).
- IUPUI is off to a 4-4 start this season with wins over Butler (67-61), Southern Illinois (80-76), Ohio (97-86) and Milwaukee (64-55). The Jaguars are under the direction of first-year head coach Kate Bruce. She was the head coach at Walsh University prior to her arrival at IUPUI and compiled a 134-43 (.757) overall record.
- IUPUI is coming off a 64-55 win against Milwaukee Monday. Three Jaguars reached double figures with former Cardinal Jazmyn Turner leading the way with 18 points.Â
Fast Facts:
- Redshirt senior Anna Clephane currently leads the Cardinals is scoring averaging 13.5 points per game. Clephane has 885 points for her career and only needs 115 to become the 10th player under Brady Sallee to reach that milestone.Â
 - Sophomore Marie Kiefer has proven to be a great defender for the Cardinals. She currently sits in 12th place all-time in blocked shots with 59 and so far has 11 total this season. Kiefer averages 1.4 blocks per contest.
- Graduate senior Thelma Dis Agustsdottir has found her rhythm behind the arc again as she currently leads the team with 18 three's so far this season. Agustsdottir has 236 total 3-pointers for her career and sits in fifth place all-time. She needs 17 more to move up to fourth place which is currently being held by former Cardinal John Goff (2001-04) with 253 3-pointers.
Cardinals Are Chirping:
- Ball State's rebounding and defense are showing incremental improvement and it was apparent against Saint Louis Monday night. The Cardinals had their third best rebounding performance of the season against the Billikens out rebounding Saint Louis 45-29, 35 of which were on the defensive end. Ball State also had eight steals and forced the Billikens to commit 15 turnovers. BSU's best rebounding performance so far this season was against IU East with 51 total (11/14/22).
The Cardinals now have won four-straight and have improved to 6-2 on the season which is the best non-conference start for Ball State since 2017-18 when the Cardinals went 11-0 under current head coach Brady Sallee for the first time in program history.Â
Home Sweet Home:
John E. Worthen Arena has been very good to the Cardinals for the past decade. Ball State has a record of 163-85 (.653) at Worthen Arena from 2004-present. In 11 seasons Brady Sallee has compiled a 97-50 (.658)Â record in Worthen Arena. His best season at home was in 2017-18 when the Cardinals went 15-3 in Muncie.Â
Up Next:
The Cardinals will head back on the road when it travels to their second ACC opponent of the season at Pitt Sunday, Dec. 11 for a 12 pm ET tipoff in the Petersen Events Center. Ball State and Pitt have faced off a total of four times. The Panthers lead the all-time series record, 4-0. After Sunday, Ball State will take a week break for fall semester finals.Â
