Women’s basketball: Ex-Zag Bree Salenbien leading Ball State to strong early-season start
Bree Salenbien is playing the best basketball of her collegiate career.
The Gonzaga graduate transfer has been in the middle of Ball State’s blistering 8-2 start.
Salenbien entered the transfer portal last spring after playing in just 62 games in an injury-riddled career at Gonzaga. She arrived as the highest-rated recruit in school history – a four-star recruit and the second-most recruited player in Michigan in the Class of 2021 – but two anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries slowed her down.
She’s had three reconstructive surgeries counting the one she had in high school. She played in 29 games her freshman season before suffering her first ACL injury at Gonzaga. She redshirted the following season. She suffered a second ACL injury 12 games into her redshirt sophomore season.
After surgery and rehab, Salenbien came back in late December last year. It was her best season as she played the final 21 games – the most in any year – averaging 6.4 points and three rebounds in 17.8 minutes a game.
Although she had a year of eligibility remaining, Salenbien was honored during Gonzaga’s senior day game. She graduated with a degree in psychology with plans to be an elementary teacher.
Salenbien started debating whether to play another year. She talked with Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier and got her blessing to enter the transfer portal, hoping to find a school closer to her home in Adrian, Michigan.
The 6-foot-2 wing ultimately landed in the heart of the Mid-American Conference at Ball State in Muncie, Indiana – about a three-hour drive from home.
“(It’s a) big adjustment but it’s what I’ve wanted,” Salenbien said in a 25-minute interview with Heart of the Cardinal podcast. “Coming from Gonzaga, I’ve had the injury bug for sure. It’s just nice to be able to play and gain a little confidence back. People believe in me and I just feel so free when I’m playing right now.”
Now she’s doing what she envisioned happening at Gonzaga.
Nine of the 13 MAC schools are within driving distance of home. She’ll have a number of family members at most games when Ball State begins conference play.
Salenbien is averaging a double-double, leading Ball State in scoring (17.2) and rebounds (10). She’s averaging the second-most minutes (28.5).
She’s scored a career-high 26 points twice.
“The system here is perfect for me,” Salenbien said. “I’m just trying to stay within the system and play like I know I can play and how they know I can play.”
Ball State coach Brady Sallee recruited Salenbien out of high school before she chose Gonzaga. He said during the preseason that he knew she could have a big impact.
“Sometimes it’s a lot of pressure (jumping in and being a leader right away), but it’s something that I wanted,” Salenbien said. “I wanted a bigger role. At Gonzaga, I had to learn a different leadership role from on the sidelines. That has taught me a lot and I’ve been able to bring that here a little bit.”
Salenbien said going through adversity in Spokane was difficult at times.
“I learned a lot about myself,” she said. “Injuries were a rough time. I learned that basketball is not everything. I’m just having fun with it. It’s not the end of the world if you lose a game.
“Coming out of high school you can have all the things by your name, but at the end of the day you have to go on the court and it’s you against the other team or you against the girl you’re guarding. Everyone’s a Division I player. I learned none of that stuff matters going into college. I think I had kind of a big head. So I got knocked down a level. It’s been a journey.”
Salenbien has enjoyed the fresh start.
“I’ve learned how much more you can do with a little bit of confidence,” she said. “I’ve gained a lot of confidence. It’s really nice to have that again. That’s old Bree. I’m getting back to how I used to play.”
She had a simple goal at the start of the season – stay healthy.
“I haven’t got to play a full season,” she said. “That’s the main goal and just enjoy this last season.”
No where to go but up
To say Washington State has had a brutal start to the season is an understatement.
The Cougars opened with seven straight losses before breaking through for their first win. Then they faced one of the best teams in the country – fifth-ranked LSU.
The Tigers of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, handed WSU one of its worst losses ever (112-35).
“LSU is amazing,” WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said. “You gotta take your hat off to what they can do on the court. They expose your lack of ballhandling and play making. … LSU and a few other teams are in a whole different level of talent, quickness and athleticism. They’re clearly one of the best teams in the country. We have a long way to go just to compete.”
Four days later, WSU wrapped up two weeks on the road with a respectable bounce back, falling 56-54 at BYU.
“I feel like we’ve had a number of those games where we have the potential to win,” Ethridge said. “For whatever reason we’ve had a bad couple of minutes in the fourth quarter, lost some leads, take some bad shots, have some turnovers. It’s all been a different variation of mistakes that’s kept us from winning those games.”
Ethridge said if people poked their heads in at practice, they wouldn’t see a defeated team.
“Our record is as bad as it can get almost, and I think we’re better than our record, but at some point you’ve got to find ways to win some games,” she said.
Weekly honor
Eastern Washington sophomore forward Jaecy Eggers was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week for the first time in her career.
Eggers had two monster games in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge last week. The Woodinville, Washington, native led the Eagles to wins over Denver (66-65) in Cheney and at South Dakota (67-63).
Against Denver, Eggers scored a career-high 26 points on 10 of 15 shooting to go with six rebounds. She followed it up with 24 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots against South Dakota.
GU facing red-hot Devils team
Gonzaga (6-4) specifically included a 10-day break in its nonconference schedule with the intent of giving its players plenty of rest and extra time to study for finals this week.
But when the Zags return, they’ll face a difficult challenge.
Gonzaga wanted to schedule a home-and-home with a Big 12 team and agreed to play Arizona State, which finished 10-22 last year.
The Sun Devils made a coaching change, bringing in Molly Miller from Grand Canyon. She’s had an immediate impact.
ASU is 11-0, the best start in school history, after a 74-60 win Tuesday at Penn State.
The Sun Devils visit Oregon State before stopping at Gonzaga on Tuesday. It’s the last game before they begin Big 12 play.
“We’ll work on the Zags a little bit before next weekend to focus on Arizona State,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said. “Watching them (ASU) a little bit out of the side of the eye, she’s (Miller) done a great job everywhere she’s been.”
The Zags conclude nonconference with road games to Missouri State (Dec. 19) and UC Riverside (Dec. 21).