Although Ball State (7-20, 2-13 MAC) has not seen a win since Jan. 23 when they took down Kent State, head coach Brady Sallee and his squad are not focused on the wins and losses.
“Anything can happen this time of year,” Sallee said. “You want to be playing at your best. We want to continue to get better and try to win a few here going into [the postseason].”
While this is Sallee’s first year under .500 in his seven seasons with Ball State, he has placed his main focus on the players and how they feel.
“It’s not about how I’m doing,” Sallee said. “It’s been full-steam ahead on trying to make this team better and make these kids better. And I think, in a lot of places, we’ve done that.”
In Wednesday’s matchup against Central Michigan, the Cardinals outscored the Chippewas in two of four quarters of the game, but the margins simply weren’t enough to amount to a victory by the sound of the final buzzer.
With three games remaining in the regular season, the Cardinals play their next two on the road, starting in Kalamazoo, Michigan against Western Michigan (9-17, 3-12 MAC).
When the two teams played Jan. 26 in their first meeting of the season, the Broncos edged the Cardinals 65-62 in Munice. Seniors Deja Wimby and Meredith Miller each poured in 21 points, and Wimby added 12 rebounds.
As the season is drawing to a close, the Cardinals’ lone senior Nakeya Penny nears the end of her college basketball career but continues to push herself and the team.
“I’m learning to never give up,” Penny said. “We have a couple of losses, but that doesn’t mean we’re done. We’ve learned to keep fighting and playing hard, and eventually our time will come.”
The Cardinals will face Northern Illinois Wednesday for the second time this season to wrap up the road portion of the regular season. While they fell to the Huskies in early February, the Cardinals posted their most points in a Mid-American Conference contest this season with 83 and shot 50 percent from the field for one of their best offensive performances of the season.
Lastly, the Cardinals will return to Worthen Arena March 9 to conclude the regular season against Eastern Michigan. In their last meeting, the Eagles narrowly walked away with a 56-53 win despite a career-high 20-point performance from sophomore guard Maliah Howard-Bass.
“I told them after the last two games, ‘If we’ll keep playing this hard, good things are bound to happen,’” Sallee said. “I think they’re seeing that and giving it a good effort.”
Contact Gabi Glass with any comments at grglass@bsu.edu or on Twitter @gabiglassbsu.
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