Ball State University Athletics
WBB Hosts James Madison on CBS Sports Network for MAC-SBC Challenge on Sunday
February 10, 2024 | Women's Basketball
Ball State (20-3, 10-1) vs James Madison (17-7, 9-3 SBC)
February 11, 2024 >> Worthen Arena >>Muncie, Ind.>> 2 pm ET
Opening Tip:
- Ball State has the 12th highest win percentage 20-3 (.870) in the country in NCAA DI women's basketball. It is also the best win percentage in the Mid-American Conference
- The Cardinals have held a halftime lead in eight of their 11 Mid-American Conference games so far this season. Ball State is 9-1 in those contests.
- Sunday's contest against James Madison will be the first-ever between the schools.
- For the seventh time under 12th-year head coach Brady Sallee and the second season in a row, the Cardinals reached the 20-win plateau after Ball State's 97-66 defeat over Ohio University
Saturday afternoon in Worthen Arena. Sallee's 20-win seasons at Ball State are — 22-10 (2015-16), 21-11 (2016-17) 25-7 (2017-18), 21-10 (2019-20), 20-13 (2021-22), 26-9 (2022-23) and
20-3 (2023-24).
- Annie Rauch is nearing the 1,000 point plateau with 947 points. She needs 53 to reach the 1,000 point club. The last time three Ball State players scored a 1,000 points in the same season was Renee Bennett, Jill Morrison and Moriah Monaco in 2016-17. Both Nyla Hampton and Ally Becki reached 1,000 points at home against Toledo on Jan. 21.
- Ball State is 1-0 in the MAC-SBC Challenge so far this season. The Cardinals traveled to Troy on Nov. 11 winning that contest, 86-71.
- James Madison lost its first contest in the MAC-SBC Challenge game when it hosted Toledo on Nov. 8. The Dukes fell to the Rockets, 60-49.
- With only seven Mid-American Conference games left, Ball State still sits atop of the league standings with a 10-1 mark. The Cardinals and the Rockets are knotted with the same league record but right now Ball State wins the tiebreaker since the Cardinals defeated Toledo, 65-51, on Jan. 21 in Worthen Arena. The two teams will face each other again on Feb. 24 at 2 pm ET in John F. Savage Arena.
Amongst the Elite:
The Cardinals are getting noticed on a national level as Ball State has received 14 votes in the latest USA Today Sports Coaches Poll. Ball State also moved up to the 71st spot in the latest NCAA DI RPI rankings. Ball State was one of four teams in NCAA DI women's basketball that had won 14 or more games in a row. Ball State is also only one of eight NCAA DI teams that have a 10-1 record in conference play. The Cardinals are also one of 15 NCAA DI teams that have only three losses so far this season. Two of the Cardinals losses this season came against national powerhouses No. 19 Notre Dame and No. 10 UConn. Ball State is the only MAC school to receive votes so far this season. Ball State also has the highest win percentage out of any NCAA DI program in the state of Indiana 20-3 (.870). This is the third week in a row the Cardinals have received votes.
Scouting James Madison:
- The Dukes are 7-3 all-time versus the Mid-American Conference and own perfect records against Eastern Michigan (2-0), Ohio (2-0), Western Michigan (2-0) and Kent State (1-0). Buffalo boasts a 2-0 record versus JMU, while Toledo topped the Dukes in the first edition of the MAC-SBC Challenge this season, 60-49, on Nov. 8.
- With a 9-3 start in Sun Belt Conference play, the Dukes are tied for second in the league with Troy (12-10, 9-3 SBC) behind first-place Marshall (17-6, 11-1 SBC).
- JMU has scored 70+ in 10 straight games, the most by the program in succession under the direction of Head Coach Sean O'Regan. Moreover, the Dukes' 72.7 points per game is the highest scoring output by the team in Coach O's eight years at the helm of the program.
