# 2024–25 Ball State Cardinals women's basketball team

The 2024–25 Ball State Cardinals women's basketball team represents Ball State University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinals, led by 13th-year head coach Brady Sallee, play their home games at Worthen Arena in Muncie, Indiana as members of the Mid-American Conference.

## Previous season

The Cardinals finished the 2023–24 season 28–6, 16–2 in MAC play, to finish in second place. They defeated Ohio, before falling to eventual tournament champions Kent State in the semifinals of the MAC tournament. They received an at-large bid to the WBIT, where they would be defeated by Belmont in the first round.

## Preseason

On October 22, 2024, the MAC released the preseason coaches poll. Ball State was picked to finish first in the MAC regular season. Ball State received 8 votes to win the MAC Tournament.

### Preseason rankings

MAC preseason poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Ball State | 120 (10) |
| 2 | Kent State | 104 (2) |
| 3 | Buffalo | 98 |
| 4 | Bowling Green | 96 |
| 5 | Toledo | 82 |
| T-6 | Northern Illinois | 64 |
| T-6 | Ohio | 64 |
| 8 | Miami (OH) | 44 |
| 9 | Akron | 43 |
| 10 | Western Michigan | 34 |
| 11 | Eastern Michigan | 23 |
| 12 | Central Michigan | 20 |
MAC tournament champions: Ball State (8), Bowling Green (1), Buffalo (1), Kent State (1), Toledo (1)
Source:

### Preseason All-MAC

Preseason All-MAC teams :
| Team | Player | Year |
| 1st | Ally Becki | Senior |
| 2nd | Madelyn Bischoff | Senior |
Source:

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 30, 2024* 6:30 pm | | IU Kokomo | W 98–45 | – | – | – | – | Worthen Arena Muncie, IN |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 4, 2024* 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Old Dominion MAC–SBC Challenge | W 60–46 | 1–0 | 13 – Becki | 11 – Kiefer | 3 – Becki | Worthen Arena (1,713) Muncie, IN |
| November 8, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | IU Indy | W 89–63 | 2–0 | 21 – Becki | 6 – Tied | 9 – Becki | Worthen Arena (4,018) Muncie, IN |
| November 13, 2024* 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Memphis | W 95–66 | 3–0 | 22 – Becki | 10 – Becki | 10 – Becki | Worthen Arena (1,809) Muncie, IN |
| November 16, 2024* 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Iowa | W 76–70 | 4–0 | 18 – Tied | 9 – Tied | 3 – Tied | McLeod Center (2,338) Cedar Falls, IA |
| November 23, 2024* 6:30 pm, FloHoops | | vs. No. 16 North Carolina Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals | L 52–63 | 4–1 | 19 – Bischoff | 7 – Tied | 7 – Becki | Imperial Arena (572) Paradise Island, Bahamas |
| November 24, 2024* 9:00 pm, FloHoops | | vs. Texas A&M Battle 4 Atlantis consolation 2nd round | W 75–62 | 5–1 | 17 – Tied | 6 – Becki | 9 – Becki | Imperial Arena Paradise Island, Bahamas |
| November 25, 2024* 5:00 pm, FloHoops | | vs. Columbia Battle 4 Atlantis 5th place game | L 62–69 | 5–2 | 15 – Austin | 7 – Tied | 6 – Becki | Imperial Arena (131) Paradise Island, Bahamas |
| December 1, 2024* 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | South Dakota State | L 55–63 | 5–3 | 19 – Kiefer | 8 – Kiefer | 2 – Johnson | Worthen Arena (1,200) Muncie, IN |
| December 5, 2024* 11:00 am, ESPN+ | | Davidson | W 80–61 | 6–3 | 20 – Becki | 6 – Austin | 5 – Becki | Worthen Arena (5,049) Muncie, IN |
| December 10, 2024* 6:00 pm, B1G+ | | at No. 11 Ohio State | L 48–80 | 6–4 | 10 – Johnson | 7 – Tied | 4 – Becki | Value City Arena (4,977) Columbus, OH |
| December 15, 2024* 3:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Kentucky | W 77–51 | 7–4 | 23 – Kingery | 9 – Kiefer | 6 – Tied | Truist Arena (2,124) Highland Heights, KY |
| December 19, 2024* 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Anderson | W 112–35 | 8–4 | 16 – Stuck | 9 – H. Smith | 7 – Becki | Worthen Arena (1,565) Muncie, IN |
| MAC regular season |||||||||
| January 1, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Miami (OH) | W 68–55 | 9–4 (1–0) | 22 – Becki | 10 – Stuck | 7 – Becki | Millett Hall (537) Oxford, OH |
| January 4, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Central Michigan | W 72–61 | 10–4 (2–0) | 20 – Becki | 8 – Becki | 5 – Becki | Worthen Arena (1,704) Muncie, IN |
| January 8, 2025 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Eastern Michigan | W 101–69 | 11–4 (3–0) | 21 – Richard | 10 – Tied | 11 – Austin | Worthen Arena (2,145) Muncie, IN |
| January 11, 2025 2:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Buffalo | W 78–56 | 12–4 (4–0) | 20 – Stuck | 15 – Stuck | 5 – Tied | Alumni Arena (1,242) Amherst, NY |
| January 15, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Kent State | W 66–57 | 13–4 (5–0) | 17 – Austin | 9 – Tied | 6 – Becki | MAC Center (1,157) Kent, OH |
| January 18, 2025 11:30 am, ESPN+ | | Akron | W 80–57 | 14–4 (6–0) | 18 – Bischoff | 6 – Kiefer | 6 – Becki | Worthen Arena Muncie, IN |
| January 20, 2025 11:00 am, CBSSN | | Toledo | W 77–63 | 15–4 (7–0) | 26 – Becki | 8 – Richard | 9 – Becki | Worthen Arena (1,810) Muncie, IN |
| January 25, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Illinois | W 81–62 | 16–4 (8–0) | 20 – Becki | 10 – Richard | 5 – Becki | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| January 29, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Ohio | W 83–61 | 17–4 (9–0) | 23 – Becki | 16 – Kiefer | 12 – Becki | Convocation Center (980) Athens, OH |
| February 1, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Western Michigan | W 61–51 | 18–4 (10–0) | 23 – Richard | 9 – Richard | 4 – Austin | Worthen Arena (2,025) Muncie, IN |
| February 5, 2025 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Bowling Green | W 71–51 | 19–4 (11–0) | 20 – Bischoff | 11 – Richard | 10 – Becki | Worthen Arena (2,102) Muncie, IN |
| February 8, 2025* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at James Madison MAC–SBC Challenge | L 74–78 | 19–5 | 22 – Richard | 9 – Richard | 10 – Austin | Atlantic Union Bank Center (2,970) Harrisonburg, VA |
| February 15, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Eastern Michigan | W 74–69 | 20–5 (12–0) | 20 – Becki | 11 – Kiefer | 5 – Tied | George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,408) Ypsilanti, MI |
| February 19, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Toledo | L 66–70 | 20–6 (12–1) | 33 – Richard | 8 – Becki | 8 – Becki | Savage Arena (4,158) Toledo, OH |
| February 22, 2025 12:00 pm, ESPNU/ESPN+ | | Kent State | L 54–60 | 20–7 (12–2) | 15 – Becki | 9 – Richard | 4 – Becki | Worthen Arena Muncie, IN |
| February 26, 2025 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Central Michigan | W 60-58 $^{OT}$ | 21–7 (13–2) | 17 – Austin | 16 – Kiefer | 5 – Becki | McGuirk Arena (1,050) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| March 1, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Western Michigan | W 55-45 | 22-7 (14-2) | 29 – Richard | 13 – Kiefer | 5 – Becki | University Arena (720) Kalamazoo, MI |
| March 5, 2025 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Buffalo | W 72–60 | 23–7 (15–2) | 20 – Richard | 13 – Kiefer | 9 – Becki | Worthen Arena (1,755) Muncie, IN |
| March 8, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Ohio | W 82-57 | 24-7 (16-2) | 25 – Richard | 10 – Richard | 10 – Becki | Worthen Arena Muncie, IN |
| MAC tournament |||||||||
| March 12, 2025 11:00 am, ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (8) Western Michigan Quarterfinals | W 82-53 | 25-7 | 17 – Richard | 13 – Kiefer | 8 – Becki | Rocket Arena Cleveland, OH |
| March 14, 2025 10:00 am, ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (4) Kent State Semifinals | W 70-53 | 26-7 | 21 – Austin | 9 – Becki | 7 – Becki | Rocket Arena Cleveland, OH |
| March 15, 2025 11:00 am, CBSSN | (1) | vs. (2) Toledo Championship | W 65-58 | 27-7 | 28 – Richard | 9 – Richard | 5 – Becki | Rocket Arena Cleveland, OH |
| NCAA tournament - Spokane Regional 1 |||||||||
| March 21, 2025 6:00 pm, ESPNU | (12 S1) | vs. (5 S1) No. 25 Ole Miss Round of 64 | | | | | | Foster Pavilion Waco, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. |||||||||
Sources: