Women’s Basketball Puts Together Impressive Second-Half Comeback to Defeat UMass

Wednesday, January 21

Muncie, Ind.

6:30 pm

Ball State University

15-4,7-0MAC

University of Massachusetts

13-4,5-2MAC

Massachusetts

Ball St.

Photo by: Samantha Blankenship / Ball State University

Women’s Basketball Puts Together Impressive Second-Half Comeback to Defeat UMass

January 21, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

The Cardinals improve to 7-0 in #MACtion for the third-straight season

MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State women's basketball team put together an impressive second half showing to earn the 78-60 victory over UMass Wednesday night in Worthen Arena.

With the win, the Cardinals improved to 15-4 on the season and 7-0 in Mid-American Conference action while the Minute-women fall to 13-4 and 5-2 in the league. This is the second-straight season the Cardinals have started MAC play 7-0.

Ball State's second-half surge was characterized by stifling defense and a balanced offensive effort. UMass was held to a total of only 21 points in the entire second half, allowing Ball State to erase the halftime deficit and build a commanding lead.

The opening 10 minutes of play was intense which was to be expected as Ball State and UMass are presently two of the top teams to beat in the MAC. The Cardinals and the Minute-women swapped baskets throughout the first quarter, with the lead changing hands three times and the score being knotted on four occasions. UMass ended the frame atop of Ball State, 25-21.

It was pure defense in the second period as body's hit the floor and fouls were called that stopped the flow of the game. Unfortunately, the Cardinals offense took a bit of a toll with the one bright light being that Tessa Towers as she fought hard in the paint to put points on the board for BSU.

At the media timeout, UMass was holding onto a 31-27 lead with 4:17 on the clock. After the huddle, emotions continued to run high with Ball State hanging close to UMass throughout the remainder of the half. The Cardinals still trailed by six (39-33) at intermission.

The Cardinals opened the third frame with a 6-0 run after baskets from Bree Salenbien, Towers and Alba Caballero to tie the game at 39-39. The Minute-women remained in control up until the 4:38 mark when the Cardinal strung together a 15-3 run that eventually propelled the Cardinals to a 57-47lead over UMass which ended the fourth. The third quarter also saw Grace Kingery come alive on both offense and defense, scoring seven points while also capitalizing off a steal.

In the final frame, the Cardinals maintained their momentum, outscoring the Minute-women 21-13 to seal tonight's victory.

Five Cardinals ended the night in double-figures with both Kingery and Salenbien leading the way with 14-points apiece. Karsyn Norman finished the game with 12 points while both Aniss Tagayi and Caballero each scored 11 points.

Salenbien also collected 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season while Caballero tallied her first career double-double pulling down 10 rebounds as well.

The Ball State women's basketball team will host the only other team in the league that's undefeated the Miami RedHawks in its Redbird rivalry game on Saturday at 11 am ET in Worthen Arena.