Story Courtesy of Ball State Athletic Communications
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State women's basketball team remained undefeated (7-0) in Mid-American Conference action after posting a 77-63 victory on CBS Sport Network against league rival Toledo Monday afternoon in Worthen Arena.
With the win, the Cardinals improved to 15-4 on the season, 7-0 in #MACtion while extending their win streak to nine. The Cardinals have achieved a 7-0 conference start in back-to-back years.
It was a record-breaking day as Lachelle Austin reached 1,000 career points. Ally Becki led the squad with 26 points and was one assist shy (9) of a double- double. Becki also shot a staggering 78 percent (11-14) from the field. Austin finished the day with an 18-point performance while Alex Richard chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds.
It was a defensive battle to open the ball game today which was to be expected between the two MAC rivals. The Cardinals got some good looks under the basket but couldn't get their shots to fall which led to the Rockets jumping out to a 10-2 advantage by the media timeout. Ball State then turned the page quickly with a 16-4 run to end the quarter after 3-pointers from Austin, Marie Kiefer and Grace Kingery. Ball State ended the first stanza with an 18-14 edge over Toledo.
It continued to be a marathon not a sprint for the Cardinals in the second frame. Madelyn Bischoff nailed a 3-pointer off the dribble at the 5:12 mark to give BSU a seven-point edge (28-21). Despite the Cardinals lead it remained an up-and-down affair versus the Rockets. BSU continued to press Toledo defensively on every ensuing possession. Ball State's strong defense allowed the Cardinals to take a 38-28 edge over the Rockets at intermission.
The second half was highlighted by Austin scoring her 1,000th career point which came after a layup at the 5:14 mark to extend the Cardinals lead to 46-34. After that, the Cardinals never looked back and remained on cruise control the remainder of ball game.
Ball State had the lead for over 32 minutes during today's contest. The victory marked coach Brady Sallee's 150th career MAC regular season victory ranking him the third winningest coach in MAC women's basketball history behind his former boss Bob Lindsay (232) and Tricia Cullop (194).
