For the second straight game, Bailey Tabeling was mauled on a last-second shot and got no call.
That happens when your best distributor, shooter, and scorer are all the same person. She needs someone to be a consistent number two and that beating will lessen up.
Plan for the off-season needs to be retention, a big who can rebound but is still mobile enough to fit the system, and the aforementioned.
Regardless, taking the top team in the league in their place to the wire and losing by one is impressive. I would not feel great about facing these ladies in Cleveland if I was Ball State. Three straight heartbreakers against good opponents (well, at least the last two). This team is overdue.
And the overdue ladies deny Miami an outright regular season title, granting a share to Ball State thanks to OUr team's wire-to-wire win today.
Bella Ranallo was truly impressive today, and no play encapsulates that more than when she dove on the floor to get a steal and drew a foul on an inbounds play at the end of the first quarter. Miami tried rolling the ball up without touching it, in order to get farther up the court before the buzzer. But they played it too aggressively and Bella got the ball and two free throws.
Unfortunately, while sprinting ahead to score on another hustle play in transition, she suffered what looked to everyone to be a serious non-contact injury to her right knee. She knew it was bad.
The team wasn't the same afterwards and had some ball handling issues but thankfully they were already up about 20. A gut punch as they got the 5 seed and will face Central Michigan. They beat CMU up there by 2 with Bella.
One other bit of noteworthy information: senior Cassidy Lafler, who suffered a season-ending injury four minutes in the season opener, was not a participant in Senior Day festivities, as she was on the bench with the rest of her non-senior teammates. I suppose that means she'll come back next year.
Last Edited: 3/7/2026 11:21:33 PM by WxM