Ball State University
University of Memphis
WBB Competes at Memphis in the Second Round of the WNIT Monday
March 19, 2023 | Women's Basketball
This is the first time since 2018 that the Cardinals have advanced to the second round
Ball State (26-8) vs. Memphis (21-10)
Women's National InvitationTournament (WNIT)
March 20, 2023 >>Elma Roane Fieldhouse>>Memphis, Tenn.
Opening Tip:
- Ball State will be making its eighth WNIT appearance under Ball State 11th-year head coach Brady Sallee and 11th overall (all since 2002). The Cardinals are 7-10 all-time in the WNIT and have advanced to the second round of the WNIT four times under Sallee (2013, 2016, 2018 & 2023).
- Ball State enters the WNIT with a 26-8 overall record. The Cardinals went 14-4 in Mid-American Conference play and made it to the semifinal game of the 2023 Mid-American Conference Tournament for the second-straight season which was also under Sallee. The 20-win season marks the sixth time within the last eight campaigns he has reach the 20-win plateau.Â
- Brady Sallee, is the only head coach in program history to take the Cardinals to eight WNITs. He is also the program's winningest coach with 209 victories.Â
- The Ball State women's basketball team advanced to the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) with its 101-86 victory over Belmont (23-12) Thursday night in Worthen Arena.
- This is the first-ever meeting between Memphis and Ball State.
- Memphis (21-10) is coming off a 79-68 win over Jackson State in the opening round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament. In front of a record-setting crowd inside the Fieldhouse, the Tigers would never give up their lead after Jamirah Shutes poured in a season-high 24 points while Madison Griggs and Emani Jefferson added in a combined 29 points.
- A Cardinal win will advance Ball State to the third round of the WNIT for the first time since the 2013 season when BSU defeated Northern Iowa, 53-48, in Worthen Arena on March 24.
Record Breaking Performance:
This is the first time since 2018 that Ball State has advanced to the second round of the WNIT. That year the Cardinals defeated Middle Tennessee, 69-60.
Thursday's game saw four Cardinals in double figures with three having 20+ points. Leading the way was redshirt senior Anna Clephane with a career high 31 points. Behind Clephane, was sophomore Madelyn Bischoff with a personal best 23 points. Graduate senior Thelma Dis Agustsdottir dropped in 20 points while firing off six 3-pointers. Agustsdottir now has 104 3-pointers which is a single-season program record passing current assistant coach Moriah Monaco (2016-17).Â
Rounding out the double-digit scoring was sophomore Marie Kiefer who ended the night with 10.Â
Also, the Cardinals' 26 wins ties the program record for most wins in a season which was 26-9 in 2008-09 under the direction of former head coach Kelly Packard.Â
Ally Becki dished our a personal best 13 assists against Belmont.
Fast Facts:
- Redshirt senior Anna Clephane has 1,315 points for her career and became the 10th player under Brady Sallee to reach the 1,000 point milestone against Miami (1/14/23). Clephane is first on the team in scoring averaging 15.8 points per game.
 - Sophomore Marie Kiefer has proven to be a great defender for the Cardinals. She currently sits in thirrd place all-time in blocked shots with 98 and so far has 51 total this season. Kiefer averages 1.4 blocks per contest. Kiefer with her 50 blocks this season ranks third all-time in a single-season in the Ball State record books and she is fourth all-time with 99 in program history. Kiefer needs five to move into second all-time for career blocks with former Cardinal Renee Bennett (2013-17) with 104.Â
- Graduate senior Thelma Dis Agustsdottir has found her rhythm behind the arc again as she currently leads the team with 104 three's so far this season. Agustsdottir has 322 total 3-pointers for her career and sits in second place all-time. She needs two more to take the top spot which is currently being held by former Cardinal and current associate head coach Audrey Spencer (2006-10) with 323 3-pointers. She enters the second round of the WNIT ranked third in the nation in made 3-pointers (104), 8th in 3-pointers per game (3.06), and 13th in 3-point field goal attempts (244).
Scouting Memphis:
- Following their first WNIT win in a decade, Katrina Merriweather and the Memphis Tiger women's basketball team will play host to the Cardinals of Ball State on Monday night inside the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
- Memphis (21-10) is coming off a 79-68 win over Jackson State in the opening round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament. In front of a record-setting crowd inside the Fieldhouse, the Tigers would never give up their lead after Jamirah Shutes poured in a season-high 24 points while Madison Griggs and Emani Jefferson added in a combined 29 points.
- For the season, Memphis had been dominating on the boards, outrebounding their opponents by more than 240 rebounds this season and ranking in the top-10 in Division I in offensive rebounds per game (6th) and rebounds per game (8th).Â
- The TIgers secured the AAC's automatic qualifing bid after falling in the semifinal round of the AAC Championship.
- Prior to their loss in the semifinals at the American Athletic Conference Championships, Memphis had been on an eight-game win streak.
- Katrina Merriweather is in her second season at Memphis after having a successful five years at Wright State. She also was an assistant coach at Purdue from 2003-06. Merriweather is from Indianapolis where she was a 1997 Indiana-All-Star at Cathedral High School.
