Ball State University
Ohio State University
Women's Basketball Travels to No. 12/7 Ohio State Tuesday
December 09, 2024 | Women's Basketball
Ball State (6-3) vs. No. 12/7 Ohio State (8-0)
Dec. 10, 2024 >>Schottenstein Center>>6 pm ET>>Columbus, Ohio
Opening Tip:
- The Ball State women's basketball team defeated Davidson by a score of 80-61 in front of 5,049 screaming fans for its eighth annual "Field Trip Day" on Thursdy, Dec. 5. The attendance was the second largest crowd in program history. Ally Becki led the Cardinals with a 20-point performance.
-Â Ohio State opened Big Ten conference play Sunday evening as the Buckeyes hosted No. 21/21 Illinois. Ohio State went on to win the game by a score of 83-74 versus the Fighting Illini. Currently, the Buckeyes are ranked nationally No. 12/No. 7 in the latest polls and remain undefeated with an 8-0 mark. Ohio State has defeated two teams from the Mid-American Conference, Ohio (106-42) and Bowling Green (96-53). The Cardinals and the Buckeyes have one common opponent during non-conference action as both squads have defeated Old Dominion.
- This will be the seventh meeting between the Cardinals and the Buckeyes. Ball State and Ohio State played three games prior to their first meeting in 1976 before women's basketball was considered an "official" sport at Ball State. Ohio State leads the all-time series record, 4-2. The last time the two teams met was on Dec. 15, 1996 in Columbus, Ohio, resulting in a 73-51 loss for the Cardinals
- The NCAA Division I net rankings have been released (Dec. 8) with the Cardinals being ranked in the top 70 coming in at 68. Ball State has earned in the highest net ranking out of all the schools in the Mid-American Conference.
- After today's contest, the Cardinals will wrap up 2024 road play at Northern Kentucky (Dec. 15). Ball State will then return home for their final contest of 2024 at Worthen Arena on Dec. 19, against Anderson University at 6:30 p.m. ET. Tickets are available for $1.00 for that game and make sure you wear an ugly Christmas sweater.Â
- The month of December has been good to the Cardinals their last two seasons. Ball State owns a 12-3 ledger during the festive holiday month from 2022- present.Â
Ally Buckets:
Ally Becki has picked up where she left off last season. The senior guard recently recorded her first triple double on Nov 13 against Memphis. For the game, Becki scored 22 points, pulled down 10 rebounds while dishing out 10 assists. Becki's triple double also marked the first from a Ball State women's basketball player since at least 2010 when the NCAA started keeping the triple double stat. Becki is one of only 10 players who have achieved a triple double so far this season.
Last Time the Cardinals Beat a Ranked Opponent:
The last time Ball State defeated a top 25 team was on March 14, 2014 when the Cardinals defeated Bowling Green in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Falcons were ranked 25th in the nation when the Cardinals beat them by a score of 73-55. The Cardinals are set to face its second top-25 opponent on Dec. 10 at No. 12/7 Ohio State at 6 pm ET.
Sideline Notes:
 - With the win over Texas A&M, Ball State head coach Brady Sallee has now defeated a Power 5 conference team eight times 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), Pitt (68-66, 2022-23), Pitt (73-62, 2023-24), Georgia (52-51, 2023-24) and Texas A&M (75-62).
- In the second quarter against Columbia University on Nov.25, senior Marie Kiefer became Ball State women's basketball's all-time blocks leader with 153 total blocks passing former Cardinal Tamara Bowie who owned the record of 152 since 2003.
- The Cardinals welcomed their first twin duo to the roster last season after welcoming Hailey and Olivia Smith. The twosome are from Fishers, Ind., and attended Fishers High School. Hailey was an Indiana Junior All-Star. Olivia helped the Tigers to the 2021-22 Hoosier Crossroads Conference Championship after scoring 10 points in a victory over Avon. She was also named to the First Team HCC All-Conference Team along with her twin sister Hailey.
- Three of the Cardinals' seniors this season were tabbed to their respective states all-star squads in high school. Both Ally Becki and Madelyn Bischoff were selected to the Indiana All-Star team while fellow teammate Marie Kiefer was a Kentucky All-Star. All three seniors are in the starting lineup and have combined for 287 points thus far for the Cardinals, 128 rebounds, and 71 assists.
- For the second consecutive season, the Ball State women's basketball team will host a nationally televised regular season contest when Mid-American Conference rival Toledo visits Worthen Arena on Monday, Jan. 20 at 11 a.m. ET. This will also be the third season in a row the Cardinals will play on a national stage. Ball State has been chosen to display its past success on ESPN2, ESPNU and CBS Sports Network. Last year, Ball State won both of its nationally televised contests beating Toledo, 65-61, in Muncie on CBSN and Kent State on the road on ESPNU by a score of 75-71.Â
Return of the MAC
The Cardinals are set to face 18-game conference slate with the addition of two contests being played in the second year of the MAC-SBC Challenge. The Ball State women's basketball team opens its 2025 18-game MAC campaign which will include nine games at home and nine on the road over a 10-week span with a break in February for the second year of the Sun Belt Conference Challenge on Feb. 8. The Cardinals will start conference action at Miami (Jan. 1). Ball State's home league opener is slated for Jan. 4 versus Central Michigan and then BSU will close out MAC play in Worthen Arena against Ohio (March 8).Â
Next Up:
The Cardinals will close out their road portion of their non-conference schedule when Ball State plays at Northern Kentucky on Sunday, Dec. 15 at 3:30 pm ET. It will mark the third meeting between the two squads with the all-time series record being split, 1-1. The Cardinals defeated Vikings in their last meeting on Dec. 21, 2013 by a score of 67-63 in Highland Heights, Ky.
