WBB Claims Outright MAC Crown with Win over Buffalo; Clinches No. 1 Seed in MAC Tourney

MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State women's basketball took sole possession of the Mid-American Conference regular season title with its 72-60 victory over Buffalo Wednesday night in Worthen Arena.

Ball State (23-7, 15-2 MAC) entered the game having already clinched a share of the MAC title for the first time since 2003 but needed the win over Buffalo (23-6, 12-5 MAC) to earn the No. 1 seed in next week's MAC Tournament in Cleveland. The Cardinals will play the No. 8 seed at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday in the quarterfinals at Rocket Fieldhouse. The last time the Cardinals entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed was in 2009 when Ball State won the tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, defeating Tennessee in the first round.

Both teams struggled offensively to start. The game was knotted 9-9 with 2:44 left to play in the opening quarter. The Bulls used a late 7-2 run to close out the first quarter with a 16-11 lead over the Cardinals heading into the second frame. It was uncharacteristic for Ball State as the Cardinals had made only three field goals in the first stanza.

The Cardinals still struggled at the start of the second frame to get their shots to fall. UB kept the upper hand with some nice plays under the basket that led to a six-point (22-16) advantage with 6:20 on the clock. After that, layups from Marie Kiefer and Ally Becki tied the score 25-25 with 1:24 remaining in the half. A quick bucket from the Bulls Ariana Seawell gave UB a slight 27-25 edge over BSU at intermission.

Ball State enjoyed a strong start in the third quarter, opening with a 15-10 run to take the 40-35 lead over Buffalo at the media timeout. Key baskets from Alex Richard and Kiefer helped the Cardinals to regroup from their first half shooting woes. The Bulls attempts to respond were quickly halted by the Cardinals defense. A 3-pointer from Kiefer to end the third quarter pushed Ball State's cushion to 52-40 entering the fourth stanza.

Ball State dominated the fourth frame building a 19-point cushion (64-45) with 7:18 left to play which was capped off by a trey from Kiefer. The Cardinals were pretty much unstoppable from that point forward as they were on a mission to take sole possession of its first MAC regular season title in 22 years.

For the game, Richard led the Cardinals again in scoring with 20 points while Kiefer wasn't too far behind with a double-double after tallying 19 points and 13 rebounds. Rounding out the double-figure scoring was Lachelle Austin who finished with 10 tonight.

The Ball State women's basketball team will return to Worthen Arena one final time this season when it closes out MAC regular season play at home Saturday against Ohio. The game is slated for a 1 pm ET start, and the Cardinals will also recognize

WBB Claims Outright MAC Crown with Win over Buffalo; Clinches No. 1 Seed in MAC Tourney

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Team Stats

Alex Richard

Marie Kiefer

Lachelle Austin

Madelyn Bischoff

Players Mentioned

Lachelle Austin

Ally Becki

Marie Kiefer

Alex Richard