WBB’s Dominant Second Quarter Helps Lift the Cardinals Past the Broncos, 78-57

Saturday, January 17

Kalamazoo, MI

1 pm

Ball State University

14-4,6-0MAC

Western Michigan University

5-11,2-4MAC

Ball St.

Western Mich.

Photo by: Bobby Ellis (Ball State Creative Services)

WBB’s Dominant Second Quarter Helps Lift the Cardinals Past the Broncos, 78-57

January 17, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Ball State women's basketball team put together a dominant second quarter which helped the Cardinals soar past the Western Michigan Broncos by a final score of 78-57 Saturday afternoon at University Arena.

With the win, the Cardinals improve their record to 14-4 overall and remain undefeated in the Mid-American Conference action with a 6-0 record, while the Broncos fall to 5-11 for the year and 2-4 in league action.

After falling behind 13-1 to the Broncos in the opening quarter, the Cardinals managed to pull themselves together outpacing Western Michigan 16-4 to close out the first quarter with the score tied, 17-17. Senior Bree Salenbien played a major role in the Cardinals first period comeback along with teammates Alba Cabellero and Zhen Verburgt.

The second quarter proved to be the turning point, as the Cardinals outscored the Broncos 19-7, taking a commanding 36-24 lead into halftime. Ball State shot 53 percent in the second frame which saw Tessa Towers scoring seven points and pulling down five rebounds. The first half was capped off by a last second layup from Giorgia Gorini to give BSU the 12-point edge at intermission.

Ball State opened the third quarter with a basket from Salenbien which extended the Cardinals lead to 14 (38-24). Western Michigan didn't go away lightly but every time the Broncos came to within single-digits the Cardinals consistently answered basket-for-basket eventually taking a 57-43 advantage into the final quarter of play.

The fourth period saw the Cardinals keep their demeanor both offensively and defensively which stopped the Broncos from making any kind of a comeback. The Cardinals have now won 10-straight MAC regular season contests dating back to last year.

For the game, Grace Kingery led Ball State with 18 points, scoring 17 of those points in the second half alone. Towers ended the contest with 17 points and nine rebounds while Verburgt tallied 14 points. Salenbien wrapped up the double figure scoring with 12.

As a team, the Cardinals once again out-rebounded their opponent, 39-27 while also dominating the points in the paint category over the Broncos, 38-14.

The Ball State women's basketball team returns home Wednesday when it welcomes UMass to Worthen Arena for the first time in program history. The game is slated for a 6:30 pm ET start.