MUNCIE, Ind– On Wednesday, Ball State Women’s Basketball played their first official home game since winning the MAC title in February as they defeated Northern Kentucky 95-64 in a game that wasn’t close throughout.
Ball State Head Coach Brady Sallee is in his 13th season as the leader of this program and knows how important it is to protect your home floor. He made sure to tell his team that they needed to handle their business that night.
“We talked a lot about taking care of our home court and caring about how we performed on our home court,” said Sallee.
As a head coach, Sallee’s philosophy is that team success is more dependent on the group as a whole than on a singular individual.
“My belief in the game when it’s played well is you don’t worry about who’s taking the shot, you worry about the kind of shot you are getting,” said Sallee. “Our job when recruiting is to find good enough players that can do that.”
One of the new players on the team is junior transfer Karsyn Norman, who is coming from the Big East and the Butler Bulldogs. Norman played two seasons for the Bulldogs, starting for 39 games. She is an Indiana native, as she played high school basketball at Bedford North Lawrence High School, where she was an Indiana All-Star in 2023.
Norman led the team in assists on Wednesday, and when asked about her performance, she believes that she is a past first point guard before anything else.
“I still take a lot of pride in making a good pass than making a good shot,” said the junior.
Another key addition to this team was Senior Bree Salenbien, who comes to Ball State after playing four years at Gonzaga. She has already made a big impact on the team, as she has now had back-to-back games with 20 points.
Getting this kind of opportunity is one of the biggest reasons Bree decided to transfer to Ball State.
“One of the reasons I transferred I wanted a bigger role, and I’m getting it here,” said Salenbein. “Now I kind of just have to step up to the plate, be a leader, do what I can for my team, and hopefully we can keep getting wins.”
Although the season has only just begun, Coach Sallee thinks that this team has what it takes to go far this season based on what he has seen so far.
“You know we’ll keep learning, but right now I think they understand three games in there’s so many lessons, there’s so much room for improvement… who knows where it can go,” exclaimed Sallee.
The team's next game will be on the road versus Memphis Saturday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m., where the Cardinals will look to stay undefeated this season.
Contact Jalen McKissic with comments at jalen.mckissic@bsu.edu.
