Starks leads Western Michigan against Ball State after 20-point performance

Ball State Cardinals (13-4, 5-0 MAC) at Western Michigan Broncos (5-10, 2-3 MAC)

Kalamazoo, Michigan; Saturday, 1 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Western Michigan faces Ball State after Kailey Starks scored 20 points in Western Michigan’s 61-54 loss to the Bowling Green Falcons.

The Broncos are 3-4 on their home court. Western Michigan allows 67.4 points to opponents and has been outscored by 11.4 points per game.

The Cardinals are 5-0 in conference play. Ball State is ninth in college basketball with 40.6 rebounds per game led by Tessa Towers averaging 8.3.

Western Michigan is shooting 36.9% from the field this season, the same percentage Ball State allows to opponents. Ball State has shot at a 45.6% clip from the field this season, 3.6 percentage points higher than the 42.0% shooting opponents of Western Michigan have averaged.

The Broncos and Cardinals match up Saturday for the first time in MAC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Alli Carlson is averaging 9.3 points, 4.7 assists and 1.5 steals for the Broncos. Starks is averaging 12.0 points over the last 10 games.

Bree Salenbien is scoring 15.1 points per game and averaging 7.9 rebounds for the Cardinals. Grace Kingery is averaging 2.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Broncos: 4-6, averaging 55.2 points, 28.8 rebounds, 12.4 assists, 5.8 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 37.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.0 points per game.

Cardinals: 7-3, averaging 80.4 points, 38.4 rebounds, 18.6 assists, 7.7 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 48.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.2 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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