Ball State seniors stuck together ‘through thick and thin’
By George Bremer | Woof Boom Radio
MUNCIE – At halftime of the Mid-American Conference women’s basketball tournament final Saturday, Ball State’s dream season was in mild jeopardy.
Toledo held a 24-21 advantage and stood 20 minutes away from spoiling the Cardinals’ revenge tour and denying the team a long-awaited trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Something had to change, and it came as no surprise a senior led the way.
Alex Richard scored 24 of her game-high 28 points in the second half, and Ball State rallied for a 65-58 victory at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena and claimed its first ticket to March Madness since 2009.
“It means everything,” fellow senior Ally Becki said Sunday after the 12th-seeded Cardinals drew a first-round NCAA Tournament meeting with fifth-seeded Ole Miss for Friday evening in Waco, Texas. “I mean, we’ve been kind of through it, through the thick and thin. So, I mean, we had a goal … at this beginning of the year, then we kind of got together and we were like, ‘We have to do this. It’s our last go around.’
“And especially during halftime in (the) Toledo game, we’re in the locker room talking like, ‘This is it. We have to keep our heads up and keep going.’ And something (lit a) fire underneath Alex’s butt, and she was on fire. So, no, it’s just this team is just so tough, and we’re just so grateful to have this opportunity.”
Ball State (27-7) left no doubt about the best team in the MAC this season, winning both the regular season and tournament titles after falling short of an NCAA bid a year ago with a heart-breaking loss against Kent State in the conference semifinals.
That defeat fueled the Cardinals throughout the offseason, and they’ll represent the MAC on the national stage this weekend.
They’ll also represent an old-fashioned notion some thought had gone extinct in today’s college game – especially at the mid-major level – a veteran team that grew together through the heartache and success to leave a permanent legacy with the program.
Three of Ball State’s seniors – Becki, guard Madelyn Bischoff and forward Marie Kiefer – were recruited out of high school by head coach Brady Sallee and have been with the program for all four of their college seasons.
A fourth – the 6-foot-1 title game star Richard – arrived as a sophomore.
They call themselves the “Core Four,” and they have been the engine for this team’s historic run.
Richard is the leading scorer at 16.5 points per game. MAC Defensive Player of the Year Kiefer leads the way in rebounding (7.2) and blocked shots (1.8), and Becki is the leader in assists (6.3) and steals (2.2).
As for “Big Shot” Bischoff’s contribution? She’s one of four players scoring in double figures with 10.1 points per game and is second on the team with a 35.4% 3-point shooting clip.
It’s rare for so many key contributors to stay with one team for so long at the mid-major level in the age of open transfers and lucrative name, image and likeness deals.
MAC Player of the Year Becki, in particular, had options to take her talents to a more well-known conference with ostensibly a bigger platform and increased attention.
But the Core Four believed in what Sallee was building and wanted to see the project through to completion.
“Brady referenced (it) before. He was like, ‘People always say that the grass is greener on the other side,’ but us four were more worried about making sure that our yard was really green,” Richard said. “And I think that we’ve just been the glue of the program, and we’re just very loyal to Ball State. We love it here. We have no need to go anywhere else.”
In fact, the grass was so green it drew others to join the Cardinals’ quest.
Senior guard Lachelle Austin (10.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists) arrived this year after three seasons at Eastern Michigan. Senior forward Elise Stuck (9.9 points, 4.9 rebounds) is a grad transfer from Michigan. And senior forward Maliyah Johnson (5.6 points, 3.4 rebounds) signed on after three seasons at Texas A&M.
The new trio added to the sense of urgency this season and bolstered the essential veteran guidance that has provided Ball State the chance to tell its story on a national stage.
“You’ve got to have veteran leadership to do this,” Sallee said. “You absolutely – in order to have a year like we’ve had where you almost clean sweep it, right? You can’t do it anymore without veterans. It’s the transfer portal stuff, right? Every team is old, and I think that’s one of the reasons we were so successful.”
Sallee points to one uncharacteristic stretch as a moment when the senior leaders shined through.
The Cardinals lost back-to-back conference games on Feb. 19 and Feb. 22 on the road against Toledo and at home against Kent State.
It completed a string of three losses in four games overall – including a Feb. 8 non-conference loss at James Madison – and it could have derailed Ball State’s season.
As it turned out, those were the only two MAC games the Cardinals lost all year.
“If you don’t have leadership in that locker room, you could go a lot of different ways,” Sallee said. “But those kids kept it together. They decided to learn a lesson in that moment instead of point fingers and make excuses. And I think that was a real turning point in making sure that we finished this thing off and got to the NCAA Tournament.”
It also points to the culture Sallee has built in Muncie.
The winningest coach in program history, Sallee is 264-154 in 14 seasons at Ball State. He was named the MAC Coach of the Year for the first time this season, and this is the eighth time he’s guided the Cardinals to at least 20 wins.
Friday’s game against Ole Miss (tipping off at 6 p.m. on WMUN) will mark the 10th time Ball State has played in a postseason tournament under Sallee, with eight of the previous appearances coming in the WNIT and a ninth trip last year to the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament.
Athletic director Jeff Mitchell said that success – and the fact players want to stick around to be part of it – is not the result of happenstance.
“Culture means everything at Ball State,” Mitchell said. “And certainly within our women’s basketball locker room, Coach Sallee has done a fantastic job of making this a comfortable place where you can enjoy and celebrate each other’s success. And it’s no surprise to me that that Core Four has stayed together because they believed in each other that they could win a championship – and they would have loved to have won a couple of more along the way – but the way it came about this year is really meaningful and special to them.”
The journey was not without obstacles.
The Cardinals lost just eight conference games combined over the past three seasons and put their name on the national radar. But they couldn’t get over the hump in the MAC tournament until last week.
For many in the program, this felt like a team of destiny.
“I know this is God’s timing and everything happens for a reason,” Bischoff said. “And I know, looking back, I’m so grateful for everything that’s happened because it’s led us to this point right now.”
After 16 years as a newspaper journalist in Madison County, George Bremer has joined the Woof Boom Radio team as a reporter covering news, sports and features.
