Kent State coach Todd Starkey says the next step for the program is to win on the road.
They’ll get a good test on that Wednesday.
The Flashes play at Wright State, which is 4-2 on the season and has won more than 20 games four of the last five seasons.
The Raiders lost their head coach for those years — Mike Bradley — to New Mexico in the off-season. They also lost third-team all-American Kim Demmings, who holds about every scoring record in the history of the school, and two other starters from last year’s 24-11 team.
Still Wright State won its first four games of the season — though against below-avenge teams — before losing to two very above average teams in the San Juan Shootout. The Raiders fell to 6-2 Auburn 75-51 and to 6-2 Georgetown 67-60.
Wright State has no starter above 5-11 but has outrebounded opponents 42-40. 5-foot-10 sophomore Symone Simmons averages 9.2 rebounds a game. Leading scorer is 5-9 junior Chelsea Welch at 17.8 points a game with 5-11 junior Lexi Smith averaging 14.3 and 5-8 sophomore Emily Vogelpohl 11.7. The Raiders have only one senior on their roster, and she’s yet to play in a game.
The Raiders beat Kent State 73-68 in Kent last season in one of the Flashes’ best games of the preseason.
The Flashes are 4-4 and will be looking for their first true road victory since February 2015. They were 0-13 away from home last season and lost at Detroit Mercy earlier this season. They were 1-2 on a neutral court in the Gulf Coast Classic over Thanksgiving, and the team they beat — Florida Gulf Coast — was based in Fort Myers, just five miles away from the tournament.
Kent State is led by senior Larissa Lurken, who is averaging 23.6 points and 6.6 rebounds a game. As a team, the Flashes are outrebounding their opponents 38-35. Their tallest starters are 6-2 junior Jordan Korinek, who led the team in rebounding last season, and 6-0 junior McKenna Stephens. 5-11 senior Chelsi Watson, one of the first players off the bench, is second in rebounding for KSU at 6.4 a game. Korinek is second in scoring at 11.1 points a game.
Preview from KSU website, including links to statistics, roster, schedule, etc.
Preview from Wright State website.
To follow the game
- Video starts at 7 p.m. on ESPN3. (You need to subscribe to ESPN to watch online.)
- Audio at about 6:45 on Golden Flash iHeart radio.
- Live statistics are available through the Wright State website.
- In-game updates on Twitter at @KentStatwbb.