Ball State women’s basketball clinches MAC regular season over Buffalo

Ball State women’s basketball head coach Brady Sallee spoke with the 2024-25 Ball State squad and the message was clear. 

“We played the toughest schedule, we’ve won the games, we’ve done all the stuff,” Sallee said. “Now we have to go take what’s ours. We have to go take what we deserve.”

The Cardinals (23-7, 15-2 MAC) took home the first Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular season title since 2003 by defeating Buffalo (23-6, 12-5 MAC) 72-60. 

“To do it at home, clearly, it’s special,” Sallee said. “You want to do it in front of your crowd, in front of your family, your people. [I’m] so thankful for everybody, and the experience we had today is something these kids will never forget.”

Senior Marie Kiefer is one of the four members of the Ball State women’s basketball “Core Four.” The four include Kiefer, Alex Richard, Ally Becki and Madelyn Bischoff. 

“It’s everything we’ve been working towards for the past four years,” Kiefer said. “We’ve been hoping to get to this moment and working to get to this moment. This is everything, especially with them.”

Richard said sharing the moment with her teammates was surreal. She said they deserved this moment through their hard work throughout the lengthy season. 

“Believe me, I wanted it for our group more than you can believe,” Sallee said.

The head coach said Kiefer was huge in the victory, hitting big shots and making big plays to pull the team ahead in the third and fourth quarters. Kiefer finished with a double-double of 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field and 13 rebounds. 

Kiefer is in her last moments of basketball at Worthen Arena and Ball State, so no matter what happens, she says, it is full steam ahead.

Richard was alongside Kiefer in the Cardinals’ paint play. Richard finished with a game-high 20 points with seven rebounds. 

“That’s what it takes to win against a good team like Buffalo,” Sallee said about the two posts’ performances.

Although the Cardinals won by 12 points, Ball State was down by two points heading into the locker room for halftime. But after the break, the Cardinals outscored the Bulls 27-13 in the third frame. 

Sallee said the Cardinals were able to understand what adjustments needed to be made at halftime, and getting to the rim was the focal point. Kiefer said she knew the post was going to be open, so Ball State was focused on getting the ball from high to low and cutting when needed out of the half. 

Ball State was 11-for-13 from the field in the quarter for a shooting percentage of 84.6 percent. 

After the buzzer rang out, Sallee was seen fist-pumping with community members in the crowd as celebrations took place on the court. The head coach wanted them to feel a part of what happened. He said that over the past 13 years, he has had real friends who have been with the program for every dribble, win, loss and heartbreak. 

“Muncie is a special place, and this isn’t just our championship; it’s everybody’s,” Sallee said. “I hope everybody feels like that.”

The MAC Tournament is only a week away, and Sallee said it is important to get a taste of winning before it is do-or-die in the tournament. 

“Everybody in our circle was saying we got one more, we got one more. That’s the mindset,” Sallee said. 

Richard exited the interview at mid-court with a yell loud enough to be heard from the top row in John. E Worthen Arena. 

“MAC CHAMPS 2025!”

Contact Elijah Poe via email at [email protected] or on X @ElijahPoe4.