As KSU prepares for its MAC opener at Central Michigan Saturday, let’s revisit my keys to the season posted after their opening week.

They hold up pretty well — and, for the most part, show why KSU is 3-7 so far.

Here is the updated version:

1. Improve the defense. In November, I said — surprisingly, considering how much trouble KSU has had scoring recently — that defense was critical. I still think so.

KSU has given up 70.9 points a game, second to last in the MAC. My goal was 64 a game.

The Flashes’ new match-up zone defense is very much a work in progress. Teams are shooting 43.6 percent against the Flashes, which ranks KSU last in the conference. My goal was to keep that percentage below 40.

KSU’s outside defense has been inconsistent — good perimeter passing has set up three-point shots and killed the Flashes in several games. But on average, Kent opponents have made 31.1 percent of their three-pointers. That’s seventh in the conference, and it would be considerably better if you took away bad games against Youngstown State and IPFW.

But that means opponents have made 51.3 percent of their two-point shots. When the Flashes have extended their zone to stop the three, opponents have been able to get inside easily.

What to do? O’Banion says the team has to get used to the defense, to recognize patterns and to trust teammates.

2. Diversify the scoring. My goal was for KSU to score 64 points a game, and the Flashes have surpassed it. They average 66.

KSU started the season with the idea of a “big three” on offense — forward Jordan Korinek, junior guard Larissa Lurken and redshirt freshman wing Tyra James.

The Flashes have evolved into a team that looks for Korinek inside first. That’s worked — sometimes. Korinek leads the team in scoring at 16.0 per game and is making 57 percent of her shots (third in the conference). But teams have worked to deny her the ball, and when they succeed, KSU can look lost.

Lurken had been primarily an outside scorer in her first two seasons, but she’s led KSU’s dribble-drive offense by aggressively going to the basket. One evidence of that is that she leads the team in foul shots with 52. She averages 14 points a game. Lurken has been inconsistent on three-pointers, but more on that in a minute.

James has struggled. She looked very good in Kent’s exhibition and first two games. But since she’s averaged less than 8 points a game. Her style is to force the action. She leads the team in shots taken but averages only 31 percent from the field. She leads the team in turnovers. She didn’t start KSU’s last game against Brown.

Still we need to remember she’s just played just 10 college games after missing all last season with a knee injury. I remember how much Korinek struggled early last season. As a freshman, she went 6 for 32 from the season’s second through seventh game and didn’t really figure things out until the third conference game.

James, for all her struggles, is ahead of where Korinek was at this point last season. If she improves as much as Korinek did, it could make all the difference on offense.

James, Lurken and Korinek can make a potent threesome. They have such different styles that they should be able to give teams problems.

In my early season keys, I said KSU would need 36 points from the three. They’re actually getting 38.

Elsewhere, point guard Naddiyah Cross averages 7.2 points a game. That’s the minimum KSU needs from her. At times, she’s aggressively gone to the basket, and she has scored in double figures four times. But she didn’t score at all in KSU’s last two games (though she had 12 assists against Brown). Last year teams barely guarded point Mikell Chinn, and it made things horribly difficult for KSU’s post players. That can’t happen again.

Stephens missed the first five games with a knee injury and is getting back in shape. She had 9 and 11 points in KSU’s last two games. It would be great if she averaged 9 a game.

3. Find bench scoring. 

Freshman Alexa Golden has moved into the starting line-up but averages just 3.6 points per game. Watson started well but has averaged 3.4 over the last five games.

Keziah Lewis was a big scorer in junior college but has scored only 21 points in 88 minutes. Freshman guard Taylor Parker had one good game, and freshman guard Paige Salisbury has taken only seven shots in 100 minutes.

The Flashes miss freshman Megan Carter, who is lost for the season with a knee injury. She was a big high school scorer and counted on to add punch.

Somebody has to step up.

4. At least be respectable from three-point distance. 

KSU is last in the MAC in three-point shooting percentage (25.2) and second to last in three-pointers per game (4.0). The Flashes were 8 of 26 (30 percent)  in their last game against Brown, which is OK, though probably too many shots for this team. In their opener against Colgate, they were 7 of 17. In between, they were 25 of 116 (21.6 percent). That is a receipe for another single-digit-victory season.

Lurken hasn’t quite been the same three-point shooter she was in her first two years — 29.7 percent (about 2 percentage points under her career average) and about 1.9 three-pointers a game (slightly less than previous years). She’s been wildly inconsistent — 5 of 12 against Brown but 1 of 10 against Minnesota, 2 of 10 against Cleveland State. She’s taken five or fewer three-point shots in half of KSU games as opponents focus on her as KSU’s only outside threat. It would be great if she could settle into a solid 4 for 11 average.

My earlier post said Lurken needed help on distance shooting; last year the entire rest of the team averaged just one three a game. Sadly, it’s not there yet. More players have taken three-pointers — Cross 22, Golden and James 21 — but none of the three has made 25 percent.

O’Banion says the strategy is to develop Golden and Lewis, who made 31 percent of her threes her first year of junior college and 21 percent her second. She’s 3 for 10 at KSU.

5. Rebound better.

KSU is last in the MAC in rebounding margin at -3.3 per game. Nine of the other 11 conference teams have positive rebounding margins (Ohio is -2.5, Buffalo -0.4). KSU has outrebounded only two Division I opponents.

Part of the problem is height. Korinek (6-foot-2) leads the team with 7.5 rebounds per game. Only Stephens among the regulars is above 6 foot. She’s averaged 5 a game over her last three games. James (5-foot-11, 5.4 rebounds a game) and Watson (5-10, 3.8 rebounds) play bigger than their size, but the Flashes have nothing like the dominance 6-4 Cici Shannon brought to the court last year.

As big a factor, though, may be the zone defense. Zones make it harder for a player to find an opponent to block out. One unusual statistic has been that five opponent guards have had double-digit rebounds. A couple of those guards have been all-America candidates, but I think the statistic tells us something.

Finally, some nice things — things we haven’t had to worry much about.

• Turnovers. Kent State is third in the MAC with a plus-1.6 turnover margin. I’m still amazed when I write that. The Flashes have had a margin of at least a negative five for the last four years and been close to last in the MAC every year. The improvement is in part because of…
• Steals, where the Flashes lead the MAC and are 24th in the country with 11.1 per game.
• Foul shooting. KSU was dead last in foul shooting in the MAC last season at 61 percent. They’re at 68.2 percent and because of their dribble-drive offense, they’ve taken 3.5 more per game. (It had been a lot more until they had only five free throws against Brown and 12 against Youngstown State.) Korinek and Lurken are in the top 12 in the conference in free-throw percentage.

The bottom line:

Earlier, I predicted 10 to 15 wins. That’s looking too optimistic. They’ll have to go 7-11 in the MAC to reach 10 wins, and that’s two more conference victories than they’ve had in five years. And the conference is better.

15 wins would require a 12-6  MAC record. Unless many things improve substantially, I can’t see that.

In my earlier “keys to the season,” I said the Flashes needed average statistics to have a .500 season. Here’s how far they are from that:

• Scoring: KSU average 66.0, MAC average 67.
• Defense: KSU 70.9, MAC 65.4.
• Free throw percentage: KSU 68.2, MAC 70.0.
• Field goal percentage: KSU 39.5, MAC 40.6.
• Field goal defense: KSU 43.6, MAC 37.0.
• Three-point percentage: KSU 25.2, MAC 31.5.
• Three-point defense: KSU 31.1, MAC 30.0.
• Three-point baskets: KSU 4.0 per game, MAC 6.3.
• Rebounding margin: KSU -3.3, MAC +2.8.
• Blocked shots: KSU 1.2 per game, MAC 3.0.
• Assists: KSU 13.6 per game, MAC 13.0.
• Steals: KSU 11.1, Mac 7.4.
• Turnover margin: KSU +1.8, MAC -0.6.
• Assist/turnover ratio: KSU 0.8, MAC 0.8.

It’s defense, three-point shooting and rebounding. Add more diversity on offense. Improve there, and a .500 conference season isn’t impossible.

The Flashes are 3-7 heading into the Mid-American Conference season, which starts Saturday with a game at Central Michigan.

The three wins are more than three of the four seasons since KSU’s last winning record and equal the most in coach Danny O’Banion’s four years here.

But that’s not saying that much. In those four years — Bob Lindsay’s final season and O’Banion’s three full seasons — KSU was 6-21, 3-27, 7-23 and 5-25.

The start is disappointing. O’Banion built a non-conference schedule with seven home games and what looked like six or seven beatable teams. I thought the Flashes had a decent chance of going 5-5.

But here’s what happened:

They beat the two weakest teams on their schedule fairly easily. Malone (a 73-59 win) was a Division II team that now has a 4-5 record. North Dakota State (a 75-54 victory) is 5-9 with an RPI of 340 (out of 350 Division I schools). (All RPI rankings are according to RealTimeRPI. The rankings are based on a team’s record, its opponents’ records and opponents’ opponents’ record. Extra weight is given to road wins and home losses.)

They played came within five points of three good teams — Wright State (now 11-3 with a 99 RPI), Minnesota (8-3 and 123 RPI) and Brown (10-2 and 132 RPI).

They beat one mediocre team (Colgate, which is 3-8 with a 267 RPI) and lost  by double digits by three others — (IPFW (4-9, RPI 322)) Cleveland State (3-7, RPI 329) and Bradley (4-6, RPI 214).

They lost to Youngstown State (10-2, RPI 87)) by 30.

Kent State’s RPI is 321, lowest in the MAC.

And that’s the scary thing about the rest of the season. The MAC looks as good as it has in years. The conference RPI is 10th in the nation. Every team except Kent State and Bowling Green has a winning record. (MAC standings and statistics)

We’ll look at the MAC after the first weekend’s action.

Kent State has its work cut out for it. Tomorrow we’ll revisit our “keys to the season” to see what the Flashes have to do in order to end with a year we can be satisfied with.

It’s starting to become pretty clear:

If you stop Jordan Korinek, you beat Kent State.

Korinek — KSU’s leading scorer — had a 12-point first half to help the Flashes to a 35-29 lead over Brown, which came into the game with an 8-1 record.

But she was able to get off only three shots and scored two points in the second half.

Kent State scored only 22 points on 28 percent shooting in the half as Brown won, 62-55, in an afternoon game at the MACC.

“Whether they play a zone or man-to-man, we have to get Jordan more touches,” coach Danny O’Banion said in her postgame radio interview.

Brown made substantial adjustments to its defense in the second half, playing considerable zone defense and playing Korinek closely in man to man.

The Braves also adjusted their offense. After the first quarter, KSU’s zoned defense had limited Brown shots and baskets from three-point distance. In the second half, the Braves were able to work the ball inside, often with good interior passing.

They also outscored the Flashes 11-3 on points off turnovers in the half (17-6 for the game), even though the turnovers were pretty even (Brown 14, KSU 16).

Korinek ended with a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds.

In  Kent State’s three wins, Korinek averaged 22.3 points per game. In road losses to Bradley and Youngstown State the week before finals, Korinek scored a total of 16 points on a total of 15 shots. The pattern was the same — denying Korinek the ball in the paint.

Larissa Lurken led the Flashes with 17 points, mostly on a season-high five three-pointers. Overall, Kent made a season-high eight long-range baskets out of 26 shots. McKenna Stephens had season highs of 11 points and seven rebounds.

Kent State ends its non-conference season with a 3-7 record.

The Flashes led 46-45  after a three-point Lurken shot in the last seconds of the third quarter. But Brown scored the first basket of the fourth quarter and led by between three and five points for the last four minutes.

Kent State was within 58-55 with 1:31 to go but missed three three-point shots at the end.

Three other key reasons KSU lost:

• Brown blocked eight KSU shots. If the Flashes score five points on those shots, the game is in overtime. Youngstown State also blocked eight shots, Bradley three and North Dakota State four.  On the season, KSU opponents average 4.1 blocks a game. KSU averages 1.2.
• Kent State’s dribble-drive offense had the Flashes taking the most foul shots in the MAC. Tuesday they took only five and missed four. Brown committed eight fouls.
• Redshirt freshman Tyra James, KSU’s third-leading scorer, scored only four points and played only 18 minutes, both season lows. She didn’t start for the first time in her short career.

Notes:

• After Youngstown State made 15 three-point shots and had 29 assists on 31 baskets, KSU “was on high alert” on defense, in O’Banion’s words. Brown made 8 of 23 three-pointers (34 percent) and had 12 assists on 25 baskets.
• Freshman Alexa Golden, who has started three of the last four games, scored seven points with 2 of 4 three-pointers, had six rebounds and two steals. “We want to make Alexa and Keziah Lewis into legitimate three-point threats,” O’Banion said. KSU is averaging about 25 percent on three-point shots and making just four a game. Both are last in the MAC. (Lewis, a junior college transfer who was 2 for 2 in three-pointers against Youngstown State, was 0 for 1 Tuesday.)
• Point guard Naddiyah Cross had a career-high 12 assists on KSU’s 24 baskets. But she was 0 for 6 shooting. Because of foul trouble and some defensive lapses, she had played less than 20 minutes in Kent’s last two games and didn’t start two of her last three. She started and played 36 minutes Tuesday.
• KSU had only five steals. The Flashes had led the MAC and were 13th in the nation with 11.8 a game.
• From Brown coach Sara Behn: “This might be our biggest win, especially coming off of finals and coming off a break. Playing at Kent State – they are a really good team in a really good conference.” Here’s link to story from Brown website.
• Star Brown freshman Shayna Mehta, who averaged 14.2 points a game and made 7 of 7 three-pointers in her last game, didn’t play.

KSU is now off for Christmas and opens MAC play at Central Michigan on Saturday, Jan. 2. CMU is 5-4. Every team in the league except Kent State, Bowling Green (4-5) and Toledo (4-6) has a winning record, and Toledo has won four in a row.

Box score

MAC standings

KSU statistics

When you looked at the schedule at the beginning of the season, it looked as if the Flashes’ contest against Brown Tuesday afternoon was a very winnable game.

The Bears were 10-18 last season and seventh in the Ivy League.

But Brown comes to town with an 8-1 record, second only to Youngstown State (9-1) of Kent State’s preseason opponents.

Brown’s opponents have been nothing special — the Bears have played only one team (Rhode Island) with a winning record. Their loss was to 4-4 Manhattan, and their strength of schedule, according to RealTimeRPI, is 328 (of 350 teams). Brown’s own RPI is 140, fourth highest of the team’s KSU will have faced after Youngstown State (77), Wright State (82) and Minnesota (85).

Kent State’s RPI is 331 and schedule strength 300.

The Flashes have had 10 days to take final exams and recover from a 91-61 beating at the hands of Youngstown State.

“Exam week gives is a chance to re-emphasize the way we want to play,” coach Danny O’Banion said at last week’s coaches’ luncheon.

One key thing, she said, is working on the Flashes’ match-up zone, which is new to the team this season.

“We thought it was best with all the new players we have,” O’Banion said. “It lets us focus on one system instead of looking at 15 different offensive sets” as the team prepares for a game.

The Flashes have 10 freshmen and sophomores on a 15-person roster, plus two junior college transfers. Among those, 10 are new to the KSU program.

Youngstown State battered Kent’s zone with quick perimeter passing and had 29 assists on 31 baskets.

“We need to recognize personnel better,” O’Banion said. “We need to adjust when someone’s got a hot hand, even if the scouting report said otherwise.”

KSU’s three-point defense has been spotty. In five games, the Flashes have held the opponents to less than 25 percent on three-pointers, but teams that passed well against the zone have beaten it.

Brown will be a challenge in the long-range shooting department. The Bears average 18 three-point shots a game and have make 34 percent of them. Five-foot-seven freshman guard Shayna Mehta set a school record in their Dec. 6 victory over Bryant, making 7 of 7 three-pointers. In the game, Brown made 11 of 20.

Mehta has twice been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week. In the other two weeks of the season, Brown’s Erika Steeves, a 6-foot-2 freshman forward, has won the award. Steve leads the Bears in rebounding with a 7.0-per-game average and has had two double-doubles this season.

Mehta and senior guard Jordin Alexander lead Brown in scoring at 14.2 points per game.

Kent State’s leading scorer is sophomore Jordan Korinek, who averages 16.2 points a game. Youngstown State and Bradley slowed her down in her last two games with physical defense inside, and that’s something O’Banion said the team would be working on in practice.

The Flashes, she said, almost like each other too much — they sometimes don’t want to challenge teammates enough in practice.

“We’ve been having a lot of individual conversations with players behind the scenes,” she said, “so they will know what to tell each other.”

She still likes her team a lot despite a 3-6 record.

“This is the most talented group we’ve had,” O’Banion said. “They just need to keep working through consistency of preparation and execution.”

Tuesday’s game starts at 2 p.m. in the MACC.

O’Banion said the afternoon start was at the request of Brown, which wanted its players able to get flights to their homes after the game. KSU also will break for the holidays after Tuesday and return to practice Dec. 27. The Flashes open the conference season at Central Michigan Jan. 2.

Here’s a link to the Youngstown Vindicator story on Saturday’s KSU-YSU game, which Youngstown won, 91-61. Not much about Kent State — just why Youngstown thought it played well and won.

The first thing coach Danny O’Banion said in her postgame radio interview after the Flashes’ 91-61 loss to Youngstown State summed up the game well:

“A very disappointing performance in almost every facet,” she said.

KSU fell behind quickly through a barrage of three-point shots. The game never was close.

Youngstown State made 51 percent of its field goals, 42 percent of its three-point shots and 93 percent of its free throws. It outrebounded KSU 44-30 and had an astounding 29 assists on 31 baskets. The Penguins blocked eight Kent State shots.

KSU best statistic was 27 points off 19 Youngstown turnovers.

It was by far the worst defeat of the season for the Flashes; their biggest loss had been by 18 to Indiana Purdue at Fort Wayne. The last time KSU  lost by 30 was a 94-63 defeat to Duquesne in 2013.

The Flashes are 3-6. Youngstown State is 7-1.

About the only bright spot was the play of freshman reserve point guard Taylor Parker, who scored seven points and had four assists in 15 minutes. The points and assists were more than she had in her other six appearances combined.

“I think it showed how she can positively impact the game with her quickness,” O’Banion said. Parker is the fastest player on the team.

Larissa Lurken led the Flashes with 15 points, 13 in the second half, and had four steals.

Leading scorer Jordan Korinek struggled against a good defense for the second game in a row. She had 10 points on 3 of 7 shooting in just 21 minutes. She had three fouls in the first half.

Redshirt freshman Tyra James, who also had three first-half fouls, continued to struggle shooting. She was 3 of 12 Saturday and averages 32.2 percent from the field this season. One of James’ roles is the force the action, and she’s taken the most shots on the team this season with 118. (Korinek has 105 and Lurken 104.)

“Larissa continues to play like our more experienced player should,” O’Banion said. “But she needs help from Jordan and Tyra.”

Youngstown moved the ball well and quickly against Kent State’s zone defense and repeatedly got open three-point shots. The Penguins’ first 11 shots were three-pointers. They made six and led 21-9 after the first quarter.

Kent State has a 10-day break for final exams before it plays Brown at home on Dec. 22.

“We need the time to get back to the gym and make some adjustments, especially on defense,” said O’Banion, who several times took personal blame for the defeat. “We need time to get back our identify. I’m grateful for exam week.”

Notes:

• Sophomore McKenna Stephens score seven of KSU’s first nine points and finished with nine. Stephens, who started her third straight game, had missed the first five games with a knee injury.
• Naddiyah Cross, who had come off the bench the last two games, started at point guard but played on 13 minutes and didn’t score. Parker and freshman Paige Salisbury played most of the game at point.
• Kent State made only 4 of 16 three-pointers and remains below 25 percent for the season. Overall shooting Saturday was 36.8 percent.
• Junior college transfer Keziah Lewis scored a season-high eight points on three of four shooting, including two three pointers.
• KSU got 21 points from the bench, by far its high for the season.
• YSU guard Allison Smolinski made 6 of 11 three-pointers and guard Nikki Arbanas 7 of 12.  Guard Indiya Benjamin had 15 assists. Leading scorer Sarah Cash had 12 rebounds, 10 points, four assists and four blocks.
• Kent State freshman guard Megan Carter tweeted Friday that surgery on her torn ACL was “very successful,” and she expects to be back on the court in seven months. Carter, one of KSU’s top recruits, was injured in the third game of the season. It was the third ACL surgery on her knee.

Box score.

KSU makes its second shortest road trip of the season Saturday when it heads to Youngstown State for a noon game. (Shortest, of course, is Akron.)

It’s the Flashes’ third and final non-conference road game. They’re 0-2, and YSU is likely to be the toughest opponent of the three.

Youngstown State is 6-1 and lost its first game of the season Tuesday at Penn State, 68-51. The Penguins, who beat KSU 68-49 in Kent last season, are 51st in the latest RealTimeRPI ratings, which are updated daily. They were picked fourth in the Horizon League after going 21-11 a year ago.

Kent State is 3-5. It also lost on the road Tuesday at Bradley, 68-60.

YSU’s top scorer is 6-1 sophomore forward Sarah Cash, who is averaging 15 points and 7.7 rebounds. She had 19 and 11 rebounds against Penn State. Cash was a walk-on last season and averaged just 3.2 points in 11 minutes per game, all off the bench.

The Penguins have held five of their seven opponents under 55 points, and they lead the Horizon League in scoring defense at 56.6 points per game. They average 62.1 points a game on offense. (YSU women’s website)

Kent State averages 67.8 points a game, its most in at least five years, and is giving up 69.5 points a game. The Flashes lead the MAC in steals per game (12.8), are third in the league in turnover margin (+1.88), and fourth in the league in three-point defense (28.4 percent) and assists (13.8).

But they’re last in the MAC in three-point shooting (23.9 percent), three-point baskets per game (3.5), rebound margin (-3.1) and blocks per game (1.4). They’re second to last in overall field goal defense (42.7 percent).

Leading scorer Jordan Korinek (17.0 points a game) ranks seventh in the league. Larissa Lurken (14.9) is ninth and Tyra James (11.1) is 18th. Korinek is tied for ninth in rebounding with a 7.3 average.

Chelsi Watson in third in the league in shooting percentage (60.5) with Korinek fifth (57.1). Naddiyah Cross is third in assists (4.5) and James and Alexa Golden are tied for third in steals (2.3).

James, Lurken and Korinek are all in the top 10 in the league in minutes played. (Full MAC statistics)

If you’re going to the game, here are directions from the YSU website.

Audio starts at 11:45 a.m. on WHLO 640 AM and Golden Flash iHeart Radio. You can get video through ESPN3 and live statistics through the YSU website. You need to subscribe to ESPN through cable or satellite to get the video.

KSU season statistics

Coach Danny O’Banion this week confirmed that freshman guard Megan Carter will miss the rest of the season because of a leg injury.

Carter, one of the top recruits in this year’s freshman class, was hurt in the first half at Indiana Purdue at Fort Wayne. She’s been on the bench with the team and should return next year. She’ll still have four years of eligibility remaining.

Carter was the first or second player off the bench in the three games she played. She attacked the basket aggressively and scored nine points against Wright State. At 5-foot-7, she could play either point or shooting guard, and it looked as if she was going to be the primary back-up to sophomore point guard Naddiyah Cross.

At North Farmington (Mich.) High School, Carter was special mention all-state in Michigan’s largest division. That’s roughly equivalent to third-season all-state in Ohio. She averaged more than 18 points a game in her senior year and has a reputation of being able to create her own offense off the dribble. She also was a very good ball handler in high school; the Detroit Free Press said she had only 15 turnovers her whole senior year.

Her loss means some significant adjustments for the Flashes and also points out some key challenges at this point in the season:

POINT GUARD: For the first few games after Carter was injured, freshman walk-on Paige Salisbury moved into the back-up role. O’Banion has said the 5-9 Salisbury could have had a scholarship to a Division I school had she found the right fit. By the time she and Kent State connected, KSU had given all its scholarships for the 2015-16 season. Salisbury has averaged 13 minutes in the six games she’s played. She’s scored just seven points but has made only three turnovers in 80 minutes.  She had three steals against Cleveland State.

For the last two games, KSU started without a true point guard. Cross came off the bench early, but redshirt freshman Tyra James brought the ball up and started the offense at the beginning of the game. James is one of Kent’s best athletes but is a natural wing player. She moved to the point when O’Banion shook up the starting line-up after the Flashes lost to Cleveland State. After KSU beat North Dakota State by 21, the coach kept the same starting line-up at Bradley. where Kent lost, 68-60.

A little left out in this is scholarship freshman Taylor Parker, a second-team all-Detroit high school player. Parker is the fastest player on the team but looked a little out of control when she has played. She has made nine turnovers in 32 minutes.

SCORING: The Flashes had counted on Carter to contribute points off the bench. KSU has averaged almost 68 points a game this season — far more than the previous three years. But the Flashes have gotten fewer than 10 points a game from non-starters (counting Cross as a starter). Best of those has been freshman Alexa Golden, who averages 3.6, but 10 of her 29 points came in the opener against Colgate. Golden has started KSU’s last two games and has been a key part of the Flashes’ pressure defense. She’s tied for the team lead and is fourth in the MAC with 2.3 steals per game.

Golden averaged about 16 points a game at Chartiers Valley High School outside Pittsburgh and is said to be a good three-point shooter. But she’s only 3 of 15 on three-pointers so far. Next highest bench scorer is Keziah Lewis, a 5-10 guard who scored 772 points in two years of junior college. But she’s scored only 13 points in 69 minutes so far.

Salisbury scored 854 points at Brunswick High School and is in the top five in school history in just about every category. But she has taken only four shots as a Golden Flash. If other teams don’t see her as a threat, they’ll do the same thing opponents did last year against starter Mikell Chinn — essentially not guard her and clog the lane. Parker averaged 15 a game in high school but hasn’t made a basket yet in Kent. Merissa Barber-Smith, a 6-4 freshman, has played sparingly and scored just four points.

A wild card in this is sophomore McKenna Stephens, who made her first start of the season Saturday after missing the first five games with a knee injury. Stephens, a 6-foot forward, averaged 5.4 points in 15 minutes a game last season. This year she’s scored four points in 49 minutes.

OUTSIDE SHOOTING: The Flashes’ three-point shooting has been nothing short of dreadful. They’ve shot 23.9 percent and made just 3.5 three-pointers a game, both last in the MAC. Carter was a good high school shooter. People like James, Cross, Golden, Lewis and Parker will have to take up the slack, or teams will collapse in a zone defense.

ROSTER BALANCE: One thing Carter’s injury (and now redshirt season) will do is balance Kent State’s classes more. Kent State has no seniors and signed only one incoming freshman — 5-10 guard Ali Poole of Carrollton High School. Now, at least, there will be two people in next fall’s freshman class. Poole and Carter fit the depth chart well, as guards Lurken and Lewis graduate after next season.

Larissa Lurken had a very good game in KSU’s 68-60 loss to Bradley Tuesday.

Unfortunately, no one else had even an average game.

Lurken scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Primarily a three-point shooter in her first two seasons at KSU, Lurken scored scored most of her points on drives to the basket. She’s done that all season.

“She played like our most experienced player (she’s the only junior with experience on a team with no seniors),” coach Danny O’Banion said. “She found ways to score when everyone else was struggling.”

The strugglers:

Jordan Korinek, who had scored 93 points in KSU’s previous four games. Korinek had just six points and four rebounds. She got off only eight shots.

“In order for us to be successful, Jordan has to get touches and get points,” O’Banion said. But KSU had trouble getting her the ball, and Bradley swarmed her when she touched it. Korinek did block two shots and had two steals.

Naddiyah Cross, KSU’s point guard, didn’t get much of a chance to pass the ball in the first half. She picked up three fouls and play only four minutes.

“I think Naddiyah saw how valuable she is to us whether she starts or not,” O’Banion said. “Those three first-half fouls changed the complexion of the game.”

Cross came off the bench, as she did in Saturday’s 21-point victory over North Dakota State. But in that game she played 30 minutes and had eight assists and three steals. Tuesday she played 16 minutes with three assists and no steals. She did have 10 points.

Tyra James played the point most of the time when Cross was out. James is a 5-11 redshirt freshman. She is a very good athlete but a natural wing. She made just 3 of 12 shots, with seven rebounds and three assists.

“Tyra has just played eight games,” O’Banion said, “and we’re asking her to do things juniors do.”

KSU’s other two starters — freshman guard Alexa Golden and sophomore forward McKenna Stephens — had only four points between them. Stephens had four steals. Golden had two, but she also had seven turnovers, many on attempts to feed Korinek.

Bradley’s defense had a lot to do with Kent’s struggles. Besides keeping the ball from Korinek, the Braves forced 24 turnovers, the most for KSU this season, and scored 20 points off of them. KSU, which had been second in the MAC in turnover margin, forced 15, scoring 11 points.

Bradley’s Tamya Sims guarded Korinek one-on-one most of the night. She blocked six shots (not all of them Korinek’s). Going into the game, she had blocked only eight all season.

Notes:

• Kent State is 3-5 on the season. Bradley is 4-4. It was the second of only three non-conference road games. The Flashes lost their first to IPFW.
• A three-point barrage by Bradley late in the second quarter broke the game open. The teams had played evenly, with 10 lead changes and four ties in the first 14 minutes of the game. But after Lurken hit a three-point shot to give KSU a 19-17 lead, Bradley hit four three-pointers to give the Braves a 31-24 halftime lead.
• The Braves made only one three-point basket in the second half. Kent made two.
• Kent State trailed by as much as 15 in the fourth quarter but rallied to within six with 1:18 to play. But Bradley made six foul shots in a row to keep the lead.
• KSU had its best rebounding game of the season by far, with 44 to Bradley’s 30. Previous best was 40-27 against Division II Malone. KSU hadn’t outrebounded another opponent and had a negative 5.5 margin going into the game.
• Though the Flashes had 16 offensive rebounds, they got only 11 second-chance points.
• KSU made 37 percent of its 57 shots (4 of 13 on three-pointers). Bradley shot 43 percent (29 percent on 21 three-pointers).

The Flashes travel to Youngstown State for a noon game on Saturday. The Penguins are 7-1, losing their first game to Penn State 68-51 Tuesday.

Box score

Bradley forced 24 Kent State turnovers, held leading scorer Jordan Korinek to six points and beat the Flashes, 68-60, in Peoria.

The Braves’ defense kept the ball from Korinek, who had scored 93 points  in KSU’s last four games. Kent’s leading scorer got off just eight shots.

KSU turned the ball over trying to get it to Korinek, but it also lost the ball all over the floor. The 24 turnovers were the most for KSU this season. Bradley scored 20 off turnovers. KSU scored 11 off 15 Bradley turnovers.

Kent State is now 3-5 on the season. Bradley is 4-4.

Larissa Lurken had a career-high 25 points and pretty much kept the Flashes in the game by herself. Most of those points came on drives to the basket.

Naddiyah Cross was the only other Kent player in double figures with 10, and Cross had to sit out most of the first half with three fouls.

More detailed story, with quotes from coach Danny O’Banion and analysis, will follow soon.