Ball State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Set to Play Pitt & Georgia at the Sun Coast Challenge
December 18, 2023 | Women's Basketball
The Cardinals will face Pitt (Dec. 19) and then Georgia (Dec. 21) in Tampa, Fla.
Ball State (7-2) | Pitt (5-5) | Georgia (7-3)
Nov. 19 vs. Pitt >>> Nov. 21 vs. Georgia | 12 pm ET | Sun Coast Challenge
Opening Tip:
- The Ball State women's basketball team will head south to play in the Sun Coach Challenge in Tampa, Fla. The Cardinals will compete against Pitt on Tuesday, Dec. 19 and then will close out the event against Georgia on Thursday, Dec. 21. Both games are slated for a noon tipoff.
- Tuesday's meeting against the Pittsburgh Panthers is the sixth all-time. The Panthers lead the all-time series, 4-1. The two teams last met on Dec. 11, 2022 in Pittsburgh resulting in a 68-66 overtime victory for the Cardinals.
- Thursday's meeting against Georgia will be the first-ever between the Cardinals and the Bulldogs.
- About the Sun Coast Challenge: Florida's Sports Coast will present the Annual Sun Coast Challenge, hosted by Preferred Athlete Scouting Services and Pasco-Hernando State College (PHSC). The tourney will welcome three NCAA Women's Basketball teams: Ball State, Georgia and Pittsburgh. The Sun Coast Challenge will be Dec. 19 through Dec. 21 at PHSC's West Campus, 10230 Ridge Road, in New Port Richey, inside the gym. For more information, visit FLSportsCoast.com.
- Ball State will face four power five schools in non-conference action this season, two from the ACC — Notre Dame (Nov. 24) and Pitt (Dec. 19), one from the SEC Georgia (Dec. 21) and one from the Big East UConn (Dec. 6).
- Ball State head coach Brady Sallee has defeated five Power 5 conference teams during his tenure with the Cardinals— Minnesota (54-51, 2012-13), Iowa (77-72, 2015-16), Vanderbilt (88-79, 2017-18), Purdue (66-60, 2017-18) and Pitt (68-66 OT, 2022-23).
- Ball State is coming off a 67-59 win at Western Kentucky on Sunday, Dec. 10. Ally Becki led the Cardinals against the Lady Toppers with 16 points. After that, BSU took a break from competition for finals week.
Game Day Tidbits:
- In her first nine contests as a Cardinal, Nyla Hampton has stolen the ball 37 times and has dished out 111 assists. Hampton stole the ball eight times against Tennessee Tech (11/6/23) which marks a season best for her. Hampton is third in the nation in total steals (37) and ranks fifth in steals per game (4.11).
- The Cardinals as a team rank in the top 100 in these categorie: 19th in turnovers forced per game (22.11), 23rd in steals per game (11.7), 32nd in 3-pointers per game (8.6), 35th turnover margin (5.11), 43rd in 3-point attempts (24.3), 57th in field goal percentage (45.2), 59th in 3-point percentage (35.2), 65th in winning percentage (77.8), 72nd in bench points (24.9), 75th in assists per game (15.7) and 79th in scoring offense (74.4).
- Madelyn Bischoff ranks fifth in the country in 3-point field goal percentage (52.9) and 12th in 3-pointers per game (3.38).
College Insider Midmajor Top 25:
For the second-straight week the Ball State Cardinals were ranked third in the College Insider Women's Mid-Major Top-25 Poll. Only the Cardinals are ranked in the top three out of any Mid-American Conference program. Ball State is ranked above MAC rival Toledo which has moved into fourth.
Next Game:
The Cardinals finally return home after being gone for over month on Dec. 30 and will close out their non-conference portion of their schedule against Oakland City in Worthen Arena at 3 pm ET. After that, Ball State will begin Mid-American Conference action on Jan. 3 at Western Michigan. Tipoff is at 7 pm ET. The game against Western Michigan will mark the 92nd time in program history the two schools have met with Ball State leading the series record, 52-39.
