Cleveland, OH
'Sense of urgency' propels Ball State women's basketball over Western Michigan in MAC Tournament
CLEVELAND – When Ball State women’s head coach, Brady Sallee, is up during the “lonely hours” in his hotel finding it hard to sleep, he is thinking of getting his seniors a Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship.
The seniors have put in the hard work, put in the years and built the program up. This is their last MAC Tournament of their careers. Now, the Cardinals have to get the job done, Sallee said.
Ball State (25-7, 17-2 MAC) got a step closer to achieving their ultimate goal with a MAC Tournament first round 82-53 win against Western Michigan (12-18, 8-11 MAC).
Sallee said the Cardinals came out ready to play. After seniors Madelyn Bischoff and Alex Richard started hitting shots early, he said Ball State dug their heels in after that.
Ball State outscored the Broncos 25-15 in the opening frame and shot it at an efficient 64.7 percent from the field.
“Once we got our run in, that’s when we just flipped the gas pedal,” senior Ally Becki said.
Becki said there is a little added pressure in realizing it could be the final game of her career in the tournament if Ball State lost, but the first game is always the most nerve-racking.
“It adds pressure,” senior Marie Kiefer said, agreeing with Becki. “But I think since we’ve been here for so long, we’re experienced, and we know what we have to do.”
Even if the seniors felt the pressure, Becki finished with 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting with eight asssits. Kiefer had a double-double with ten points and 13 rebounds. Bischoff finished with 14 points while being 50 percent from deep, and Richard had a team-high 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting. Graduate student Elise Stuck had 12 points off the bench in only 17 minutes played.
Ball State players celebrate after defeating Western Michigan during the first round of the Mac Championship on March 12, at Rocket Arena at Cleveland Oh. Ball State is now 25-7. Titus Slaughter, DN
Becki is one day removed from being named the MAC Player of the Year, but could not be more happy that the race is over. She said it is relieving to get it out of the way and focus on the task at hand: winning the MAC Championship.
Becki said there is an added “sense of urgency” since this is the senior’s last go-around, but the locker room still has the same mentality—to play for each other.
Just as Becki said urgency was a mentality this week, Sallee pinpointed the two back-to-back losses against Toledo and Kent State as creating that same urgency.
“We got away from talking about technical things and just talking about fight,” Sallee said. “More importantly, who we were fighting for. When those kids look in that locker room at each other, there’s no question who they’re fighting for.”
Alongside his seniors, Sallee said he is trying to take a step back and enjoy the ride with the 2024-25 squad.
“These groups don’t come along every day,” Sallee said.
Sallee said some moments he has stepped back and appreciated are the players smiling and genuinely happy.
Ball State sophomore Hailey Smith smiles during a game against Western Michigan on March 12 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Oh. Titus Slaughter, DN
“I know that trophy that we won the other day, or hopefully the one we win here, it’s going to sit in somebody’s office and collect dust at some point,” Sallee said. “But those memories, man, that’s what this is about. Ultimately, that’s what we’re chasing.”
Ball State will face the winner of Kent State vs. Miami and play at 10 a.m. with a trip to MAC the championship game on the line.
Contact Elijah Poe via email at elijah.poe@bsu.edu or on X @ElijahPoe4.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A U.S. Navy warship will be commissioned in Ohio on Saturday for the first time in 250 years.
The USS Cleveland is docked on Lake Erie ahead of the 10 a.m. ceremony.
Commander Bruce Hallett has commanded the USS Cleveland for more than two years.
“It is extremely exciting to be able to bring the USS Cleveland here to Cleveland and to be able to commission this ship here — obviously to introduce it to the city so that they can see the ship that bears their name,” Hallett said. “This has been a long time coming.”
The ship’s hallways are named after Cleveland streets, including East 9th and St. Clair Avenue.
A mural honoring the city of Cleveland is displayed on board. The Navy says it is rare to see something like this on a warship.
“Amazing mural, right? We’re so proud to have that on board,” Hallett said. “We’re just pretty much in awe when we saw all the stuff that we have in the city, and now we have it as part of the Cleveland. We love it as a crew.”
The ship’s weight room was outfitted by the Cleveland Browns with flags, towels, and mats.
“The Browns came and added their own touches to that weight room,” Hallett said. “So it’s all swagged out with all kinds of Cleveland Browns stuff now.”
The ship carries a crew of about 90, including two sailors who grew up in Cleveland.
The USS Cleveland is the final Freedom-variant littoral combat ship to be commissioned in the U.S. Navy.
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A trio of locally made films will grace area screens, here is your Movie Nerd Report for the week of May 11-17.
Thursday evening will bring the red-carpet premiere of “The Last Shop On Walnut” at the Cedar Lee Theatre (2163 Lee Rd Cleveland Heights, OH 44118) . The film, which was written and directed by Jason Richardson, was mostly shot in Ravenna. It stars Peter Lawson Jones and Cleveland native Kym Whitley. The screening will benefit the Charles & Margaret Jones Endowed Scholarship Fund at College Now. Tickets can be found at this link.
Can’t make the premiere? The Cedar Lee will be playing the film for at least a full week starting Friday!
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“Blood & Rust” the debut feature from Kent State alumni Jeremy Herbert, will be coming to Cranked Up TV on May 19 and The Ashland Cinema (212 Center Street Ashland, OH 44805) will be offering a screening of it this Friday evening at 7 p.m., and it is free!
Sunday at 3:30 p.m. the Capitol Theatre (1390 W.65th Street Cleveland, OH 44102) will present the directorial debut of Frank Calo IV in “Last Call”. Sounds like this one is poised to sell out so click here to grab your tickets.
Over at the Cleveland Cinematheque (11610 Euclid Ave Cleveland, OH 44118) :
Cleveland is fortunate to be one of the five select cities of the Future of Film Is Female Series which highlights films from female and nonbinary filmmakers. The first film in this series kicks off Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with the Midwest road trip film, “Dreams In Nightmares.”
Thursday at 9 p.m. and Friday at 9 p.m. they will present a 4K Restoration of the Dutch classic “Malpertius,” which features Orson Welles.
Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4:30 p.m. they will present the Italian dramedy “The Last One For The Road.”
Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:35 p.m. they will present a documentary that explores the effects of colonialism on Northern Argentina in “Our Land.”
Saturday at 8:50 p.m. and Sunday at 5:45 p.m. they will present a 4K Restoration of the Argentinian film “The Headless Woman”
Sunday at 3:30 p.m. they will present the documentary “Four Rational People,” which looks at the Emerson String Quartet’s final performance.
More information about the films and ticket prices are at: cinematheque.cia.edu
At the Nightlight Cinema (30 N High Street Akron, OH 44308):
One of the most acclaimed films of the year is the Canadian drama “Blue Herron,” it is the feature debut of Sophy Romvari, who gained attention for her short films.
They also will be playing the documentary “Steal This Story, Please,” which highlights independent investigative journalist Amy Goodman.
More Information about the films and ticket prices are at: nightlightcinema.com
This weekend there are a trio of new films opening in wide release: The first is one that I would recommend if you are a horror fan – “Obsession”. This film continues a trend where we are seeing Youtubers become filmmakers, in this case it is 26-year-old Curry Barker. This is a spin on “be careful what you wish for” when a young man makes a wish for his crush to love him more than anything else in the world, and it gets increasingly disturbing from there. I personally loved it and thought the performance from actress Inde Navarrette will make her a star.
“Is God Is” is a revenge tale which was based on an award-winning play by Alesha Harris. Harris makes her feature directorial debut and currently the film stands at 95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes!
The other film opening is the latest from director Guy Ritchie, the action-thriller “In The Grey” with Jake Gyllenhall and Henry Cavill.
Rounding out this busy week are some anniversaries hitting screens in “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick” for one week to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Tony Scott’s original, and the original “Shrek” is also playing for one week to commemorate its 25th Anniversary (Anniversaries like this are making your resident movie nerd feel old!).
Lastly, I just wanted to wish congratulations to my longtime friend Dave Huffman, who has just been named the new director of The Cleveland Cinematheque! If you have ever attended some of the Late Shift Series back in the day at the Cedar Lee or Capitol, or the 12 Hours of Terror, you know that Dave is a huge cinephile and I am certain will do a great job at the Cinematheque!
Until next week my friends, see ya at the movies!
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Firefighters battled a grease fire inside a restaurant in the city’s University neighborhood Tuesday morning.
Flames broke out at BurgerIM in the 11400 block of Euclid Ave. around 9:20 a.m.
Cleveland Fire Lt. Mike Norman said there was grease in the hood of the stove, and when someone started cooking, it started the fire.
According to Lt. Norman, the sprinklers inside the restaurant put out the flames.
At this time, damage is estimated at $25,000.
The apartment building was evacuated as a precaution.
Since the fire was inside a restaurant, health officials will now respond to the scene and determine when they can reopen.
There were no injuries.
Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.
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