Wednesday, January 15
Kent, OH
7 pm
Ball State University
13-4,5-0MAC
66
at
57
Kent State University
10-7,3-2MAC
1
2
3
4
F
Ball St.
16
17
18
15
66
Kent St.
12
19
7
19
57
Photo by: Ball State University/Bobby Ellis
WBB’s Relentless Defense Lifts Cardinals Past the Golden Flashes in Midweek #MACtion
January 15, 2025 | Women's Basketball
KENT, Ohio - In yet another highly contested Mid-American Conference game, Ball State (13-4, 5-0 MAC) walked away with a 66-57 road win at Kent State (10-7, 3-2 MAC) Wednesday night at the M.A.C Center.
With the win, Ball State remains undefeated in MAC play with a 5-0 mark for the second-straight season. The Cardinals also extended its win streak to seven games.
It comes to no surprise that Ball State's defense was a big part of tonight's outcome against Kent State. The Cardinals' ball handling was near perfect, committing a season low seven turnovers. Defensively, Ball State forced Kent State to commit 17 turnovers and capitalized by turning those miscues into 18 points.
Kent State would open the game with an 8-2 run in a span of a five minutes which left BSU a bit in shock. The Cardinals' defense kept the Golden Flashes from expanding their lead and BSU's shots began to fall after an Ally Becki layup. From that moment on the Cardinals outpaced the Golden Flashes 14-2 which was capped off by a Madelyn Bischoff 3-pointer that would allow BSU to take the 16-12 lead over Kent State into the second stanza.
The first half continued to be entertaining as both teams played closed to one another in the second quarter. The Golden Flashes knotted the contest 31-31 with 1:06 left to play but a Grace Kingery steal helped the Cardinals have the last possession prior to intermission. Kingery was sent to the line and the true freshman knocked down both free throws to give BSU the 33-31 edge over Kent State at the break.
Ball State turned up its defense in the third quarter which gave the Cardinals more opportunities to score. Some steals and crucial defensive rebounds eventually led to back-to-back 3-pointers from Lachelle Austin and Kingery that would increase Ball State's lead to 13 (49-36) by the 4:58 mark. The Cardinals would outscore the Golden Flashes 18-7 to go up by 13 (51-38) as both teams headed into the final 10 minutes of play.
Kent State opened the final 10 minutes with a 12-2 run to make it a 3-point ball game (53-50) with 5:30 left on the clock. The Cardinals continued to hang on, highlighted by some key plays on defense and would build their lead back up to eight (60-52) after an Alex Richard layup.
It was still a tight contest (60-55) at the 1:39 mark when Maliyah "MJ" Johnson made a layup that would spark a 6-0 run to finish out the contest and seal the victory for Ball State.
For the game, Austin led the Cardinals with 17 points while Richard ended the night with 16. Becki and Kingery each tallied 10 points apiece.
The Ball State women's basketball team continues Mid-American Conference action when it hosts Akron Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET in Worthen Arena.
With the win, Ball State remains undefeated in MAC play with a 5-0 mark for the second-straight season. The Cardinals also extended its win streak to seven games.
It comes to no surprise that Ball State's defense was a big part of tonight's outcome against Kent State. The Cardinals' ball handling was near perfect, committing a season low seven turnovers. Defensively, Ball State forced Kent State to commit 17 turnovers and capitalized by turning those miscues into 18 points.
Kent State would open the game with an 8-2 run in a span of a five minutes which left BSU a bit in shock. The Cardinals' defense kept the Golden Flashes from expanding their lead and BSU's shots began to fall after an Ally Becki layup. From that moment on the Cardinals outpaced the Golden Flashes 14-2 which was capped off by a Madelyn Bischoff 3-pointer that would allow BSU to take the 16-12 lead over Kent State into the second stanza.
The first half continued to be entertaining as both teams played closed to one another in the second quarter. The Golden Flashes knotted the contest 31-31 with 1:06 left to play but a Grace Kingery steal helped the Cardinals have the last possession prior to intermission. Kingery was sent to the line and the true freshman knocked down both free throws to give BSU the 33-31 edge over Kent State at the break.
Ball State turned up its defense in the third quarter which gave the Cardinals more opportunities to score. Some steals and crucial defensive rebounds eventually led to back-to-back 3-pointers from Lachelle Austin and Kingery that would increase Ball State's lead to 13 (49-36) by the 4:58 mark. The Cardinals would outscore the Golden Flashes 18-7 to go up by 13 (51-38) as both teams headed into the final 10 minutes of play.
Kent State opened the final 10 minutes with a 12-2 run to make it a 3-point ball game (53-50) with 5:30 left on the clock. The Cardinals continued to hang on, highlighted by some key plays on defense and would build their lead back up to eight (60-52) after an Alex Richard layup.
It was still a tight contest (60-55) at the 1:39 mark when Maliyah "MJ" Johnson made a layup that would spark a 6-0 run to finish out the contest and seal the victory for Ball State.
For the game, Austin led the Cardinals with 17 points while Richard ended the night with 16. Becki and Kingery each tallied 10 points apiece.
The Ball State women's basketball team continues Mid-American Conference action when it hosts Akron Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET in Worthen Arena.
Team Stats
BSU
KentSt
FG%
.422
.300
3FG%
.320
.300
FT%
1.000
.857
RB
33
45
TO
7
17
STL
9
1
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Basketball
/ Women's Basketball
/ Women's Basketball
/ Women's Basketball
/ Women's Basketball
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