KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan University women's basketball team finishes off its two-game homestand this weekend by hosting the 2025 MAC Tournament Champions, the Ball State Cardinals, on Saturday afternoon.

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos took it down to the wire in a close 61-54 loss to the Bowling Green Falcons on Wednesday night. WMU forced a slew of fouls in the final two minutes to get back within five points. But it wasn't enough for the Brown and Gold to overcome Bowling Green's 40% shooting night. Sophomore guard Kailey Starks and senior guard Alli Carlson carried the bulk of the load on offense for Western Michigan, with both players scoring in double figures. Starks had her second 20+ point performance of the season to lead the Broncos, while Carlson was right behind with 18 points on 54% shooting.  

FAVORABLE FREE THROWS
WMU had its best game from the line on Wednesday night. The Brown and Gold made all but one of their free throws for a shooting percentage of 93.3 at the charity stripe for a new season high against the Falcons. Western Michigan's previous season high was in their first game of the year at Appalachian State, where they went 4-of-5 for 80.0%. Two players helped the Broncos to their best free throw performance of the season. Starks and senior forward Ariana Wilkes were both perfect at the line for the WMU as Starks went 7-of-7, while Wilkes was 6-of-6 for a new career-high. 

TWENTY POINT PERFORMANCES
Sophomore guard Kailey Starks had another big game on the floor for Western Michigan on Wednesday. Starks had her second 20+ point performance of the season to lead the Bronco offense against the Falcons. She also helped contribute under the glass, being one of three WMU players to pull down five rebounds. Starks big performance pushed her season average to 11.5 points a game to continue leading the Brown and Gold in scoring. 

SERIES HISTORY
Western Michigan heads into another long running series this weekend with its 95th meeting with Ball State. The Cardinals holds the series advantage at 56-38 and are currently on a 14-game winning streak. The last Bronco win over Ball State came in the 2018-2019 season when WMU picked up a big Alumni Day victory on March 2nd 2019, by a final score of 72-54.

In the teams last meeting, the Cardinals advanced to the MAC Tournament semifinals as the Brown and Gold fell in their quarterfinal matchup 82-53. Junior guard Marina Asenio led Western Michigan with 22 points and also had five assists. Graduate student Hannah Spitzley had a double-double in her final game as a Bronco, scoring 15 points and picking up 10 rebounds. WMU shot 35 percent (21-of-60) from the field and 28.6 percent (6-for-21) from three over the 40 minutes. 

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Ball State continues its dominance of the MAC in women's basketball as one of two unbeaten teams coming into Saturday's game. Under 12th year head coach Brady Sallee, the Cardinals are 13-4 with a five-game winning streak in conference play. Ball State is currently ranked ninth in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 and is one of three MAC teams in the College Insider poll. 

The Cardinals are led by a trio of double figure scoring players, with their two top scorers also being their best rebounders. Senior forward Bree Salenbien leads all players on the floor with an average of 15.2 points a game while also adding 8.1 boards. Senior center Tessa Towers is Ball State's top rebounder with 8.4 rebounds a game while continuing to average double-digits at 13.9 points through 40 minutes. The Cardinals final double figure player is sophomore guard Grace Kingery with 12.1 points a game.