Women’s Basketball Improves to 3-0 on the Season; Defeats Chicago State, 85-56

Tuesday, November 14

Chicago, IL

6 pm ET/5 pm CT

Ball State University

3-0,0-0MAC

Chicago State University

0-4,0-0DI Independent

Ball St.

Chicago St.

Photo by: Samantha Blankenship / Ball State University

Women’s Basketball Improves to 3-0 on the Season; Defeats Chicago State, 85-56

November 14, 2023 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. - The Ball State women's basketball team has now opened the season with a 3-0 ledger for the first time since 2017 when the Cardinals finished non-conference action with an 11-0 mark.

The Cardinals (3-0) were able to win back-to-back road games after defeating Chicago State (0-4) by a score of 85-56 Tuesday night in the Jones Convocation Center.

For the game, Annie Rauch led all scorers with 18 points while both Ally Becki and Madelyn Bischoff finished the night with 14 apiece. Estel Puiggros compiled a season high 12 points while Hana Mühl rounded out the double digit scoring with 10. Puiggros also led the Cardinals defensively after pulling down nine rebounds.

It was an up-and-down ball game to start the contest as both the Cardinals and Cougars traded baskets. Ball State began to pull away from Chicago State as time was winding down in the first quarter of play after three 3's from Bischoff along with a fast break layup and a turnaround jumper from Becki. That short spurt scoring spree led to BSU's 27-21 edge over CSU heading into the second quarter of play.

But it didn't take long in the second ten minutes of action for the Cardinals to click offensively as Ball State opened the second frame with an 8-0 run in a span of 2:20 which was capped off by a layup from Rauch to push BSU's lead over Chicago State to 13 (37-24).

Ball State's bench helped the Cardinals dominated the remainder of the half after Puiggros came into the game to give an extra spark, knocking down a 3-pointer.
Puiggros then followed with a nice pass for a basket and an offensive rebound, helping the Cardinals take a comfortable 51-28 advantage over the Cougars at intermission.

The third and the fourth quarters mimicked one another with the Cardinals keeping the lead throughout the second half despite Chicago State's attempts to make a comeback.

At one point the Cougars were able to cut BSU's 20-point edge to 14 (60-46) with 3:21 left in the third but the Cardinals were able to push their lead back up to 30 (80-50) with just five minutes left in the ball game which made it impossible for CSU to come within reach of BSU the remainder of the contest.

For the game, Marie Kiefer had her 100^th career block. Ball State also outpaced Chicago State in the paint, 42-22. The Cardinals also scored 34 points off the Cougars 23 miscues.

The Ball State women's basketball team returns home Saturday when the Cardinals host Northern Iowa for a 11 a.m. ET tipoff in Worthen Arena.