MUNCIE, Ind. — The Toledo women's basketball team was aiming to cool off white-hot Ball State on Monday afternoon inside Worthen Arena, but not even a slow start could derail the Mid-American Conference front-runners.
Toledo jumped out to an early 11-2 lead in the first quarter and applied the necessary defensive pressure until Ball State came out of its first timeout with 4 minutes, 40 seconds left in the frame refocused.
A long-range jumper by senior Ally Becki launched a tide-turning 16-3 run for the Cardinals, and the Rockets found themselves in foul trouble quickly as Ball State rolled to a ninth straight victory, 77-63.
“We got lost in transition a few times, and in that first quarter they went 4 for 6 from 3, and it felt like four in a row,” Toledo head coach Ginny Boggess said. “They’re a really good team. You don’t walk into 7-0 in this league. They’re a very experienced team, and they’ve been playing together for a long time.”
The Cardinals' senior-laden group knocked down four 3-pointers during their comeback run with Toledo’s Khera Goss limited due to two early fouls.
A 14-2 run by Ball State (15-4, 7-0 MAC) in the second quarter put the Rockets (12-5, 4-3) behind by double digits by halftime.
“It all comes down to us, I would say," Toledo’s Sammi Mikonowicz said. "Playing better defense, getting more stops. We knew it was going to be tough. Yeah, they flustered us, but basketball is a game of runs. It was some breakdowns in our defensive principles, so we’ll get back to work, and we’ll attack all those to get better on that end.”
Goss, who was averaging 11.9 points per game, played 23 minutes and was charged with four fouls in the game. She finished with 11 points and one steal, but her absence impacted the Rockets’ game plan as Ball State took advantage in transition by attacking inside out.
“It changes everything. Good, bad, or indifferent, we got to recognize what this league calls and where, and we have to adjust as players and coaches. I have to get them more prepared,” Boggess said. “That and Kendall Carruthers getting in foul trouble hurt us, too. She’s an elite defender. She’s our Batman and Robin there on defense on the ball, so we had to rely on a lot of young players to play.”
Mikonowicz had 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Nan Garcia posted a season-best 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting with seven rebounds.
A 3-pointer by Garcia, where she converted 3 of 7, cut Toledo’s deficit 18-17 early in the second quarter. A bucket in the paint by Garcia narrowed the margin to 20-19, but the Cardinals shot 44 percent in the first half (16 of 36) and 5 of 10 from beyond the arc with nine fastbreak points compared to Toledo’s one to lead 38-28 at the intermission.
“I felt like we were getting the ball where we wanted to [in the first quarter]. We just weren’t converting, so I felt good about the execution and the shots we were getting,” Ball State coach Brady Sallee said. “In that moment, it was just like, ‘OK, let’s just be who we are,’ and we trust that part of it. We know that’s a good product, and we came out, and it was on after that.”
Picked No. 1 in the MAC preseason poll, Ball State has won 11 straight regular-season conference games dating back to its loss on Feb. 24, 2024, at Toledo, 70-48.
Finishing second in the standings to Toledo in 2023-24, the Cardinals split their regular-season meetings with the Rockets last season with each team defending its home court.
“We held serve on our home court, and I’m sure it’ll be another good one when we head back up there,” said Sallee, who collected his 150th win at Ball State. “As the game wore on, we got stronger defensively because we were really locked into what they were doing.”
Becki led the Cardinals with 26 points, five rebounds, and nine assists.
Ball State’s largest lead reached 19 points in the second half. The Cardinals shot 50 percent (31 of 62) overall and 6 of 14 from 3-point range.
Toledo committed 20 turnovers (11 in the first half) with 16 fouls despite shooting 41 percent (23 of 56) and 5 of 17 from deep. Carruthers fouled out with 6:52 left in the fourth.
The Rockets came into Monday locked in a four-way tie for second in the MAC, but now, they need to make up ground with Bowling Green visiting Savage Arena on Saturday.
“The mindset is always to win. We know what we’re capable of. We’ve proven we can play with teams like this, teams better than this, so there’s no doubt in that,” Mikonowicz said. “We have a big one on Saturday, so it’s just move on to the next and do what we do.”
First Published January 20, 2025, 8:47 p.m.
