Ball State University
Bowling Green
WBB Faces BGSU in a Heated Rematch at the MAC Tourney Semifinals Friday
March 09, 2023 | Women's Basketball
The No. 3 seeded Cardinals will play the No. 2 seeded Falcons at approximately 12:30 pm ET
#3 Ball State (25-7) vs. #2 BGSU (26-5)
Mid-American Conference Tournament Semifinals
March 10, 2023 >>Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse>>Cleveland, Ohio
Opening Tip:
- The Cardinals and the Falcons have met a total of seven times in the Mid-American Conference Tournament in 1989, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2007, 2009 and 2014. Ball State has won two of the seven meetings but have won the last two including the last time they met in the 2014 semifinal game by a score of 73-55.
- The last time Ball State was the No. 3 seed in the MAC Tournament was in 2018. That year the Cardinals fell to No. 6 Western Michigan on March 7 by a score of 65-54.
- The Cardinals split their two-game MAC series against the Falcons this season winning at home on Jan. 4, 81-73 and then recently fell at Bowling Green, March 1 in overtime, 81-76. That game was selected to represent the MAC on national television on ESPNU.Â
- This marks the 33rd appearance in the Mid-American Conference Tournament in program history. Ball State has advanced to Cleveland 21 out of the past 23 seasons. The Cardinals are 22-31 all-time in MAC Tournament play and have advanced to the MAC Tournament finals on six occasions. Ball State defeated Bowling Green in 2009 in the MAC Tournament Championship game. This is the eighth time in current head coach Brady Sallee's tenure the Cardinals have punched their ticket straight to the MAC Tournament in Cleveland.
- Ball State is one game away from tying the programs record for most wins in a season. In 2008-09, the Cardinals went 26-9 under the direction of former head coach Kelly Packard. Current associate head coach, Audrey Spencer was the starting guard for that team.
- Ball State's 25-7 record is the second best start in program history. Currently, there are only eight Division I women's basketball programs in the country that have suffered only seven losses.
- Ball State and Bowling Green have met a total of 73 times in program history with the Falcons leading the all-time series record, 47-26.Â
- The last time Ball State pulled off an upset in the Mid-American Conference Tournament as the No. 3 seed was in 2003 when the Cardinals defeated No. 2 Miami by a score of 93-84 in the semifinals. Ball State then fell to No. 4 Western Michigan in the championship game, 81-76. The last time a No. 3 seed won the MAC Championship was in 2014 when No. 3 Akron defeated No. 5 Ball State, 79-58.
- A Cardinal win will send Ball State to the title game for the second-straight season. The third-seeded Cardinals will play the winner of semifinal game No. 1 against the No. 1 seed Toledo Rockets or the No. 4 seeded Kent State Golden Flashes. Ball State fell to Toledo twice in MAC regular season play and defeated Kent State in their lone meeting.Â
 - The last time the Cardinals faced the Falcons at the MAC Tournament was in the semifinal round in 2014. Ball State pulled off the upset as the fifth-seed over the top-seeded Falcons that year by a score of 73-55.
- If Ball State were to face Toledo in the MAC Tournament finals it will be the first time the two teams have met in the championship game. The Cardinals last faced the Rockets in the tournament last season pulling off the upset over top-seeded Toledo in the semifinals by a score of 71-66.
- If Ball State were to take on Kent State in the MAC Tournament finals it will be the first time the two teams have met in the championship game since the 2001-02 season. That year Kent State defeated Ball State, 73-59 and as a matter of fact, Ball State head coach Brady Sallee was on the Golden Flashes coaching staff as an assistant that year.
