We had our first unclose game for in the MAC women’s tournament Friday.

Northern Illinois pounded Western Michigan 83-55 in the first semifinal game at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Huskies will play Toledo, the team that knocked Kent State out of the tournament, for the championship at 11 a.m. Saturday. Toledo beat Buffalo 72-65 in the other semifinal. The game will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.

Northern Illinois, the No. 4 seed, came from a record 22 points down to beat Ohio in its quarterfinal game 72-71. That was a low-scoring game for the Huskies, who are fifth in the country in scoring at 85.7 points a game.

They were back to form Friday, with five players scoring in double figures. NIU pretty much led all the way. Ally Lehman had 17 points, 7 rebounds, 6six assists and added 4 steals.

Saturday will be the first time the Northern Illinois woman have ever played in a championship game since they rejoined the league in 1997-98.

No. 6 seed Toledo led Buffalo by double digits much of the game, then held off a late rally. The Bulls got within four points with three minutes to go and six with a minute and a half, but Toledo made its foul shots at the end.

Toledo had beaten No. 3 seed Kent State 67-63 Wednesday.

Northern Illinois (21-10) and Toledo (24-8) split their regular season games, each winning by four points on the other team’s home floor.

It should be a very good final.

 

 

 

 

Larissa Lurken drives against Toledo’s Mariella Santucci in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

Kent State’s women’s basketball team lived by the foul shot all season.

Wednesday the Flashes’ Cinderella season ended for the lack of it.

KSU — first in the nation in free throws made and second in free throws attempted — never got to the foul line in the fourth quarter in its MAC tournament quarterfinal game against Toledo and lost, 67-63.

The game may not be the team’s last — coach Todd Starkey has hopes for a WNIT bid. But it does end a MAC season that saw them go from a tie for last place a year ago to an East Division championship and No. 3 seed in the conference tournament this season.

All three top seeded teams lost Wednesday in games decided in the last minute. The fourth seed won by a point in the last minute. It was that kind of amazing, exciting day at the tournament. Friday’s semifinal matchups will be No. 8 Western Michigan against No. 4 Northern Illinois and No. 6 Toledo against No. 7 Buffalo.

As exciting as the day was for the MAC, it was a crashing disappointment for Kent State.

“After the game, I reminded our players that it’s supposed to hurt,” Starkey said. “This is what is supposed to feel like when you expect to win. And we haven’t had that in this program for a while — the expectation of winning.

“When you expect to win and it doesn’t happen, it feels different. That’s why it’s been difficult. They fought very hard to get to this point.”

Kent State, battling back from a 10-point deficit in the first half, took a six-point lead into the fourth quarter and led 59-52 with eight minutes to go.

But the Flashes scored only four points for the rest of the game.

Toledo’s defense moved to a whole different level.

Kent State struggled to get shots off and to make shots when it did (3 of 13 in the quarter). But most important, the Flashes never could draw the fouls they’ve used to win so many games this season.

“That’s been our game, and it really hurt us,” said senior Larissa Lurken, who leads the nation in getting to the foul line. “I think we were expecting contact and expecting calls from the refs that we weren’t getting. We just weren’t going up strong enough. And when we were going up against two or three people, we weren’t finding the open players.”

Lurken, Starkey said, “was trying to make the right plays — plays that she’s been making all year.”

“Toledo did a really good job of crowding her on drives, sending a second and third player,” he said. “One of the things our teams has struggled with at times is when Larissa is trying to make a play, they can be standing and watching and not moving off of her and getting to open space. So we got stagnant.”

Part of the problem, the coach said, might have been in his play calling.

“I probably could have called a few actions that started the ball away from her, then gotten it to her late off screens,” Starkey said.

A key play in the fourth quarter provided a critical and almost fluke three-point basket for Toledo.

The Rockets led 63-61 with two minutes to go and had the ball with the shot clock running down.

Toledo didn’t seem to know it. The ball got passed around, then almost tapped to senior Janice Montana. She looked as if she didn’t expect the pass, hesitated and threw the ball up as she buzzer went off. It was a real shot — not a prayer — and went right in, and it was a killer.

“It was one of those plays that just takes the wind out of your sails,” Starkey said. “I thought we did a good job defending on that play. It even was a contested three. It kind of stunned us. The next few possessions,  we didn’t execute offensively very well. It’s just a natural reaction when something like that happens. You think you’ve done a great job and then out of nowhere comes a haymaker.”

Kent State had a chance to tie the game in the last 30 seconds, but Toledo’s Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriet blocked a Lurken three-point shot (I don’t remember that happening before all year). KSU got the ball right back on a turnover. But after a timeout, the Flashes couldn’t get the ball inside to Jordan Korinek and couldn’t get the ball outside to Lurken. Finally Megan Carter took a three-point shot that missed with two seconds to go. Toledo was fouled on the rebound and made a meaningless free throw to end the game.

Lurken gets the record — exactly

Lurken’s last basket of the game (if not the season and her career) with 1:19 to go gave her 733 points for the season, one more than Bonnie Beachy’s 35-year-old record. Lurken finished with 25 points, though she struggled with Toledo’s defense in the second half, making 3 of 14 shots. For the game, she made 8 of 25 field goals, 1 of 7 three-pointers, had five rebounds, three assists and a block. She played all but a few seconds at the end of the first half.

Starkey called her season “one of the best in the country.”

“I’m really proud of what she’s been able to do. She’s been a joy to coach.”

Notes

• Toledo’s record goes to 23-8. “They’re a really good team,” Starkey said. “Remember their RPI is 59.” That’s second highest in the conference. The Rockets now have won six games in a row. Three of their last four victories came against the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 seeds in the tournament.
• Kent’s record is 19-12, its best (and first winning season) since 2010-11. In Starkey’s first year as coach, the Flashes won more games than the last three years combined.
• WNIT bids come out after the NCAA field is set Sunday. Five MAC schools made the 64-team field last season, and the league is stronger this year. Eastern Michigan and Ball State won first-round games in 2016; Ohio won games in the first two rounds.
• Carter had a career-high 15 points in 32 minutes. She was 4 of 8 shooting, 3 of 5 on three-point shots and 4 of 4 foul shooting. She had two rebounds and two assists. Carter is a redshirt freshman who suffered a season-ending knee injury in Kent State’s third game last season.
• Korinek had 13 points but was pushed out of her comfort zone in the post by Toledo’s two big physical centers. She only had two rebounds.
• Toledo outrebounded the Flashes 35-28, outscored them in the paint 36-20 and 11-6 on second-chance baskets.
• Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott, who was out with a concussion when Kent State beat Toledo 70-60 in January, had 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal.  She blocked two shots, including Lurken’s three-point attempt with 19 seconds to go. Monakana led the Rockets with 15 points. 5-7 guard Mikaela Boyd had 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals, including two that she turned into breakaway baskets in Toledo’s winning rally.
• Both KSU and Toledo had 19 turnovers. Kent State scored 24 points off of them, Toledo 17.

Box score

Game story from Kent State website, including video highlights.

Game story from Toledo website.

The view from Toledo

Coach Tricia Cullop at the postgame press conference:

“We knew this was going to be a battle, and it was through the end.  I could not be more proud of the focus, the determination, and the fact that our kids executed what they needed to do on both ends of the floor in the fourth quarter. I could not be more proud of the defense that we showed to hold them to seven points in the fourth quarter.”

“It was such a physical game. Even the officials as they would run by me said, ‘Well, it’s a difficult game to call.’ I get that because nobody wants to go home.”

“I want to compliment Kent State and Coach Starkey.  He’s done a tremendous job with that program.  He very much deserved his Coach of the Year honor, and Lurken deserves her Player of the Year.  She makes you work.”

“In the third quarter, we were very impatient offensively. We were trying to score within the first 10 seconds of the shot clock. In those  seconds, I thought Kent State was playing great defense and forcing us to take some bad shots.

“So at the timeout at the beginning of the fourth quarter, I told our team that we need to run our offense through; we need to make them work. When you’re making some of the best shooters on the other team run through screen after screen, they’re a little more tired.”

On defending Lurken

“One of the biggest keys was trying to stay in front of her.  We didn’t always do a good job, but we were trying to keep her out of the paint because she’s so good at drawing fouls.  I thought our whole team as a collective unit was rotating and trying to take away her drives to the basket.”

“I also thought late in the game she got tired, and some of her shots were short —  thank goodness — and we were able to come up with a rebound. I think that we got some kids in and out of the game to keep some fresh legs out there.”

Other tournament scores

No. 8 Western Michigan 67, No. 1 Central Michigan 63.

No. 4 Northern Illinois 72, No. 5 Ohio 71.

No. 7 Buffalo 69, No. 2 Ball State 65.

Game stories on the MAC website. They’re all separate posts and will rotate through on the cover page. Each story has video of the teams’ postgame press conferences and links to the tournament bracket.

 

The MAC Tournament got off to a stunning start today when No. 8 Western Michigan — quite clearly the weakest team left in the field — upset regular-season champion Central Michigan, 67-63.

Western fell behind 22-6 and trailed by double digits at halftime. It wasn’t hugely unlike the Kent State men’s game against Central on Monday.

Western turned up its defense in the second half and took its first lead on a three-point shot by Najee Smith with 11 seconds to go.

But the thing that struck me about the game was the terrific defense Western played in the last two minutes. The Broncos forced — and I really mean forced with steals and pressure — three turnovers in the last minute. Western sophomore Deja Wimby, the conference leader in steals who was just named to the MAC all-defensive team — absolutely owned Central Michigan point guard Presley Hudson at the end. Hudson just made the all-MAC first team and was freshman of the year last season. She’s one of the best point guards in the conference.

No. 3 seed Kent State plays No. 6 Toledo in tonight’s last quarterfinal game. (Here’s preview.)

The Flashes and Western played once during the regular season. KSU came from 14 points down in the first half to win at Western, 71-67, on Jan. 8. Wimby had 17 points, 7 assists and 5 steals in that game. Kent State’s star was 6-4 sophomore forward Merissa Barber-Smith, who came off the bench to get 11 rebounds in the second half against Western’s big front line. Larissa Lurken had 26 points and Jordan 15 for the Flashes.

Good things about Kent State in other places today:

A nice video on the team, with season highlights and interviews with players and coaches, is on the Kent State athletic Facebook Live page.

Cleveland.com (the Plain Dealer) focused on coach Todd Starkey and his work to turn the program around.

The Record-Courier’s preview has nice interviews with Starkey, Lurken and Athletic Director Joel Nielsen. It’s behind a paywall. You have to pay $2 for short-term access to the site.

Some images from the Kent State athletics Twitter feed today:

Practice at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday. None of KSU’s player had ever been on an NBA court before.

This season in one graphic. (RPI is a measure of ranking teams that takes into account its record and the quality of its opposition. It’s used to some extent in determining seedings for the NCAA Tournament.)

The Flashes, with KSU President Bev Warren (far left), after they beat Buffalo Saturday to win the undisputed MAC East championship. Photo from KSU athletics Twitter feed.

The only time current Kent State players have ever been to the MAC Tournament in Cleveland, they sat in the stands.

Two years ago, former coach Danny O’Banion took her team to watch the top eight teams in the league play at Quicken Loans Arena. She wanted to inspire them to make it to the Q some day.

The Flashes have made it.

New coach Todd Starkey has the team as No. 3 seed and in the quarterfinals against Toledo Wednesday. The game is the last of the four games that day; it should start between between 7:30 and 8 p.m. (First game is at noon; subsequent games start a half hour after the previous game ends.)

“In my head, I just wanted to get there some day,” junior forward Jordan Korinek said in a pre-tournament group interview Monday. “Now we’re there.”

“There are no words” to describe the feeling, senior forward McKenna Stephens said. “I’m so looking forward to getting to that hotel in Cleveland.”

“But I want to play more than one game,” said senior guard Larissa Lurken, the newly named conference player of the year.

Game One is Toledo. The Rockets and Flashes may be the hottest two teams in the conference. Toledo has won five games in a row, including back-to-back road wins at No. 2 seed Ball State and No. 4 Northern Illinois in the last week of the regular season. Kent State has won seven in a row.

The Flashes beat Toledo 70-60 in Kent Jan. 27.

That was the probably the low point of the season for the Rockets. It was their third loss in a row. Junior guard Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott, a preseason all-MAC West selection, missed the game with a concussion. After the game, Toledo coach Tricia Cullop shook her head and took the team home to regroup during a bye week. (Here’s post on that game.)

The Rockets beat eventual MAC champion Central Michigan 74-72 in Toledo a week later. They’ve been 10-2 since.

“Toledo is a better team than they were when we played them,” Starkey said. “But so are we.

“Can Toledo beat us? No question. Can we beat Toledo? We’ve already proven that.”

Toledo placed leading scorer Janice Monakana, a 6-foot senior guard from London, on the All-MAC second team. Bravo-Harriott, 5-11 guard and another Londoner, and Mikaeyla Boyd, a 5-7 guard, were third-team members. Mariella Santucci, a 5-6 guard from Italy, made the all-freshman team.

Monakana, Bravo-Harriott, Boyd and 6-2 post player Kaayla McIntyre all average between 10 and 15 points a game. Boyd, the second shortest player in the starting lineup, leads the team in rebounding at 8.7 per game. (All of the statistics I’m using in this post are conference games only, which I think is the best measure at this point in the season.)

Five other players average more than eight minutes a game (two more than 10), but no bench player averages more than 3 points or rebounds.

Kent State’s record is 9-2 since the two teams last played.

The biggest difference in the KSU team is the emergence of new scorers in the lineup. In the first Toledo game, Lurken scored 22 points and Korinek 23. Both have continued to average similar numbers. No one else scored more than 5 points.

Stephens has scored in double figures in seven of KSU’s 11 games since then. She is sixth in the conference in field goal percentage (53.2) and leads the MAC in three-point percentage (45.2). (She just hit the minimum number of shots to make the three-point list.) Stephens is 15th in the conference in rebounding at 6.8 per game land 25th in scoring at 11.8.

Point guard Megan Carter has played more minutes than starter Naddiyah Cross since the first Toledo game. She’s scored in double figures four times and hit 3 of 3 three-point shots in Saturday’s win over Buffalo.

Alexa Golden, KSU’s other starting guard and defensive specialist, has made 7 of 13 three-pointers in the Flashes’ last four games and scored 8 points three times.

Statistical comparisons between the teams (conference games only):

• Points: Kent State 75.2 per game, Toledo 65.6.
• Points against: Toledo 62.5, Kent State 73.8.
• Field goal percentage: Kent State 41.5, Toledo 38.9.
• Field goal defense: Toledo 36.4, Kent State 42.3.
• Three-point percentage: Kent State 32.9, Toledo 24.3
• Three-point defense: Toledo 24.1, Kent State 36.5.
• Free-throw percentage: Kent State 74.8, Toledo 68.3. (KSU also has taken 71 more foul shots — 4 per game — than Toledo. That’s a key part of Kent State’s game.)
• Rebounding margin: Kent State +2.0, Toledo +1.8.
• Turnover margin: Toledo +1.43, Kent State +0.21.
• Assists: Kent State 15.2, Toledo 15.1.
• Steals: Toledo 8.2, Kent State 7.4.
• Blocked shots: Kent State 3.6, Toledo 3.1.

Numbers, of course, won’t decide the game.

Kent’s players argue it will be “who wants it more,” in Stephens’ and Korinek’s words.

“Hustle plays, 50-50 balls, rebounds,” Stephens said. “I think it’s going to come down to possession basketball — individual possessions.”

Starkey didn’t quite agree.

“I think that at this point, if you’re not playing hard, you’re not hustling, you’re not going to advance,” he said. “So we’re not going to see any team that’s not playing hard.

“What I think separates teams at this time of year is execution. You’ve got to be able to execute down the stretch. You’re going to play tight games. Whether it’s a defensive strategy or an offensive play, you’ve got to be able execute.”

I watched the team practice for 45 minutes on Monday. It was very different from the practice I saw right before the season started. The team was focused. It was handling far more sophisticated instruction easily. And it was loose.

“We’re kind of playing with house money,” Starkey said. “Nobody expected us to be here. So much more of the pressure relies on other people than us. That’s why we can be a little looser in practice. And that’s why your team has the possibility of playing their best — when you can play a little more relaxed.”

Preview from Kent State website. KSU game notes — a detailed briefing originally designed for media.

Preview from the Toledo website. Toledo game notes.

MAC Tournament website, including links to bracket, ticket information, directions to the Q and MAC statistics.

A prediction

Watch Kent State’s defense. The Flashes were 11-0 when they held MAC teams under 70 points. I think they’ll do it. Kent State by five, 73-68.

Notes

• If Kent State wins, it will play the winner of the Ball State-Buffalo game at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
• The last time the Flashes played at the Q, they lost in the quarterfinals to Eastern Michigan in 2011. The last time they won a game, they beat Central Michigan in the quarterfinals in 2010, then lost to Toledo 51-49 in the semifinals.
• Kent State and Toledo have played each other in the MAC title game seven times. Toledo won five. Toledo leads the all-time series against Kent State 41-29.

To follow the game

• Kent State’s quarterfinal game against Toledo is the last of the day Wednesday. It should start between 7:30 and 8 p.m. 
• You can get tickets through the Kent State (at the M.A.C. Center or calling 330-672-2244), MAC website or at the Q. All tickets are $10 general admission. One ticket gets you into all the quarterfinal games. Another will get you in both semifinal games Friday. Men’s and women’s teams are separate.
• There will be pregame receptions with free appetizers before any game KSU plays. First one will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Flannery’s Irish Pub at 323 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, a short walk from the Q.
• The quarterfinals and semifinals, which start at 11 a.m. Friday, will be televised on ESPN3 and Spectrum Sports. You need to subscribe to ESPN through cable or satellite in order to access ESPN3 online.
• Audio will be on WHLO 640 and Golden Flash iHeart Radio, starting about 15 minutes before game time.
• Live statistics are available through the MAC.
• Live Twitter feed is @kentstatewbb.

 

 

 

Images from KSU athletics Twitter feed

As I hoped and expected, Kent State coach Todd Starkey and senior guard Larissa Lurken got the top honors in MAC postseason awards.

Starkey, who became KSU head coach in April, is conference coach of the year. He took a team that was 6-23 and last in the conference a year ago and won the MAC East Division and went 19-11. The 19 wins are more than the last three years combined. He did that with exactly the same starting lineup from last season.

Lurken, a solid starter but not star for three previous years, had a spectacular senior season. She leads the MAC in scoring and almost certainly will break Kent’s 35-year-old record for most points in a season. She is averaging 23.6 points a game — more than any Kent State player, men’s or women’s — in history. She is first in the nation in free throws made and attempted. In both categories, she is 50 ahead of second-place Kelsey Plum of Washington, a leading candidate for national player of the year.

She is among MAC leaders in nine of 13 statistical categories, including blocked shots and rebounding, things she hadn’t been known for at all. Nor had she been know for drawing fouls; she’ll take more this year than in her first three years combined. In an interview earlier this season, she described it as “reinventing herself” as a player.

It’s very fitting that they both got awards because they couldn’t have done it without each other. Starkey brought a system that Lurken could thrive in and nurtured her to be a more aggressive offensive player and a good defender, again something she had never been known for.

Lurken, as Starkey said many times, “bought in” to the system almost from the day she met him. As the only senior in the starting lineup, she set the tone for her teammates.

Without Starkey and/or the new improved Lurken, Kent State wins — if we’re lucky — 10 games.

Lurken also was on the all-MAC first team. (Barely mentioned this week is the fact she won her third MAC East player of the week award in a row, her fifth of the season and sixth of her career.)

Junior forward Jordan Korinek made the second team, something that would have been news all by itself. No Kent State player had made the first or second team since Taisja Jones and Jamilah Humes in 2011. Humes was the last first team member in 2010. Cici Shannon made the third team two years ago; Korinek was honorable mention last season.

Korinek had a mediocre preseason as she tried to figure out how to fit in the Starkey’s system, which used her quite differently than she had been in her first two years. Previously she spent most of her time in the post and foul lane; this year she moved inside and outside and did considerable screening to get her teammates and herself open.

In MAC play, she averaged 19.2 points a game, fifth in the conference and 0.1 out of third. Before January, she averaged about 11. Korinek also was 13th in the MAC in rebounding (7.1 points a game), fifth in field goal percentage (55.1), 10th in foul shooting (80.3) and 15th in blocked shots (0.7). All those numbers are for conference games only; for all games, she mades at least the top 15 but ranks somewhat lower.

Korinek and Lurken became Kent State’s 20th and 21st 1,000-point scorers this season. Lurken now has 1,619, eighth on Kent State’s all-time list. If KSU plays too more games, she’ll probably move up to sixth. Korinek has 1,129 points, 19th among all Kent State players. Remember she’s a junior; right now she has 218 points more than Lurken had at this time last season.

For the year, Lurken has 708 points in 30 games. The Kent State record is 732, set 35 years ago by Bonnie Beachy in 34 games.

Kent State’s last MAC player of the year was Lindsay Shearer in 2006. Dawn Zerman also won the award in 2000, Amy Sherry won it in 1995 and 1996, and Mary Bukovac won it in 1989.

Bob Lindsay was coach of the year twice — 1996 and 1998.

There were no surprises in the MAC year-end. No other Kent State player won anything; that was pretty much expected. My hopes for McKenna Stephens getting an honorable mention was a long, long shot.

League champion Central Michigan had four players on the all-MAC team — two on the first team and two on the third, plus defensive player of the year. Toledo, which Kent State plays Wednesday night, had one second-team member, two third and another player on the all-freshman team. Second-place Ball State had a first-team member, a second-team member, an honorable mention and a player on the all-defensive team.

The full MAC press release

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced Tuesday the regular season awards on the eve of the 2017 MAC Women’s Basketball Tournament moving to Quicken Loans Arena, with unveiling of the 2017 Mid-American Player, Coach and Freshman of the Year, as voted by the head coaches, sports information directors and media members of the Mid-American Conference.

The conference office also released the 2016-17 All-MAC Teams, All-Freshman Team, All-Defensive Team, Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Player of the Year awards as voted by the league’s 12 head coaches.

Kent State’s Larissa Lurken received the top player honors, being names the 2017 MAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year. This season, Lurken leads the NCAA in free throw attempts (309) and free throws made (262). The senior also sits 3rd nationally in points per game (23.6) and 6th in final points (708). The Cottage Grove, Minnesota native was the conference’s top scorer, recording 25.0 points per game. Additionally, Lurken was third in free throw percent (.876), fourth in blocked shots (29), sixth in steals (35 total), ninth in assists (3.8 apg), ninth in 3-point field goals made (38) and 12th in 3-point field goal percent (.358). The All-MAC First Team member becomes the sixth Golden Flash in program history to earn the Player of the Year honor.

Kent State University Head Coach Todd Starkey, was named 2017 MAC Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year. In his first year with the program, Starkey led the Golden Flashes to their first MAC East Division title since the 2004-05 season. Kent State finished the MAC season ranked third in free throw percent (.763), third in 3-point field goal percent (.350), third in assists (15.1 apg), fourth in scoring (75.2 ppg) and fourth in blocked shots (70). The Golden Flashes are first in the country for free throws made, with 566 on the season. They also sit second nationally in free throw attempts (757 total). Most impressively, Kent State, who was 6-23 overall and 3-15 in the MAC last seasons ago, went 19-11 and 13-5 in the MAC.  Starkey becomes the first Golden Flash head coach to be named Coach of the Year since Bob Lindsay won the honor in 1998. It is the third overall coach of the year in program history.

Receiving the title 2017 MAC Freshman of the Year is Miami’s Lauren Dickerson. The 5’3” guard ranks top ten in the MAC in assists (3.9 apg), steals (35 total), 3-point percent (.378) and 3-point field goals made (37). Over the course of the season, Dickerson started in all 32 games for the RedHawks, averaging 30 minutes. Dickerson finished her first campaign in Oxford holding the Miami freshman scoring record, which she broke in the final game of the regular season with a career-high 33 points against Western Michigan in the first round of the MAC Tournament. “Lauren is a special player and a great teammate,” said head coach Cleve Wright. “ She has obviously made an immediate impact on our team. Her passion to compete elevates her game and her teammates. She is worthy of this award and we are very excited for her!” The Indianapolis native led Miami in scoring (16.3 ppg) and steals (62). Dickerson becomes the second RedHawk named Freshman of the Year, joining Courtney Osborn.

Central Michigan’s Tinara Moore received the nod as the 2016-17 MAC Defensive Player of the Year. The 6’3” forward led the MAC this year  in blocks (64), which is a CMU single-season record, and blocks per game (2.1). Moore posted another program history with nine blocks in a single-game (vs. Northern Illinois). The junior ranks second on the team in rebounds (7.2 rpg) and has recorded 17 steals. “I think Tinara has really bought in to the discipline defensively. I think she is mobile enough and her numbers and performance speak for herself”, said head coach Sue Guevara. For the Chippewas, Moore is the second individual to claim the Defensive Player of the Year award joining Crystal Bradford in 2014.

Ball State’s Destiny Washington was named the 2016-17 MAC Sixth Player of the Year, becoming the third Cardinal to receive the honor. Head Coach Brady Sallee said, “I believe she elevates our team when she enters the game and used her role coming off the bench as a positive way to impact our team.” The sophomore leads the team in blocks (34), sits in third for total points (310) and is fourth in steals (33). The 5’11” guard averages 6 rebounds per game and 10.5 point per game in MAC play.

The 2016-17 All-MAC First Team consists of five first-time first team selections. Ball State’s Renee Bennett, Central Michigan’s Presley Hudson and Tinara Moore, Kent State’s Larissa Lurken and Northern Illinois’ Ally Lehman received the top team recognition.

The All-MAC Second Team is highlighted by the 2015-16 Defensive Player of the Year from a season ago, Quiera Lampkins of Ohio. Lampkins sits second in the conference in scoring, averaging 19.5 points per game, and recently moved into No. 2 in all-time points scored in Ohio’s program history. Also on the second team were Ball State’s Moriah Monaco, Buffalo’s JoAnna Smith, Kent State’s Jordan Korinek and Toledo’s Janice Monakana.

On the third team it was Central Michigan’s Jewel Cotton and Reyna Frost, Toledo’s Mikaela Boyd and Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott, along with Western Michigan teammates Breanna Mobley and Meredith Shipman.

Receiving All-MAC Honorable Mention were Hannah Plybon of Akron and Carmen Grande of Ball State.

Chosen for their outstanding effort at the defensive end of the court, the 2016-17 MAC All-Defensive Team consists of Calyn Hosea (Ball State), Stephanie Reid (Buffalo), Tinara Moore (Central Michigan), Jasmine Weatherspoon (Ohio) and Deja Wimby (Western Michigan).

Rounding out the All-MAC Teams was the 2016-17 All-Freshman Team. Receiving the freshman season honors were Buffalo’s Summer Hemphill, Miami’s Lauren Dickerson, Northern Illinois’ Janae Poisson, Ohio’s Amani Burke and Toledo’s Mariella Santucci.

The MACtion moves to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio beginning Wednesday, March 8th at noon when #8 Western Michigan faces #1 Central Michigan, followed by #5 Ohio facing #4 Northern Illinois. Visit Tournament Central for a complete bracket.

MAC Player of the Year (First Place Votes)
Larissa Lurken, Kent State (18)
Ally Lehman, NIU (12)
Tinara Moore, Central Michigan (10)
Quiera Lampkins, Ohio (3)
Renee Bennett, Ball State (2)

wbbFlashes note: The vote totals are a little misleading. Media members were asked to rank their top three, with the first place getting five votes, second three and third one.

Media members chose player, coach and freshman of the year. Coaches voted on the other awards.
MAC Coach of the Year
Todd Starkey, Kent State (26)
Sue Guevara, Central Michigan (10)
Lisa Carlsen, NIU (9)

MAC Freshman of the Year
Lauren Dickerson, Miami (37)
Janae Poisson, Northern Illinois (3)
Summer Hemphill, Buffalo (2)
Amani Burke, Ohio (1)
Shaunay Edmonds, Akron (1)
Mariella Santucci, Toledo (1)

MAC Women’s Basketball Sixth Player of the Year
Destiny Washington, Ball State

MAC Women’s Basketball Defensive Player of the Year
Tinara Moore, Central Michigan

Women’s Basketball All-MAC First Team
Renee Bennett, Ball State
Presley Hudson, Central Michigan
Tinara Moore, Central Michigan
Larissa Lurken, Kent State
Ally Lehman, Northern Illinois

Women’s Basketball All-MAC Second Team
Moriah Monaco, Ball State
JoAnna Smith, Buffalo
Jordan Korinek, Kent State
Quiera Lampkins, Ohio
Janice Monakana, Toledo

Women’s Basketball All-MAC Third Team
Jewel Cotton, Central Michigan
Reyna Frost, Central Michigan
Mikaela Boyd, Toledo
Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott, Toledo
Breanna Mobley, Western Michigan
Meredith Shipman, Western Michigan

Women’s Basketball All-MAC Honorable Mention
Hannah Plybon, Akron
Carmen Grande, Ball State

MAC All-Defensive Team
Calyn Hosea, Ball State
Stephanie Reid, Buffalo
Tinara Moore, Central Michigan
Jasmine Weatherspoon, Ohio
Deja Wimby, Western Michigan

MAC All-Freshman Team
Summer Hemphill, Buffalo
Lauren Dickerson, Miami
Janae Poisson, Northern Illinois
Amani Burke, Ohio
Mariella Santucci, Toledo

I mistakenly had Ball State’s Destiny Washington on my personnel all-freshman list that I wrote about yesterday. She is a sophomore.

It was toward the end of a 45-minute press briefing Monday in advance of the MAC Tournament when coach Todd Starkey said:

“I didn’t think we were going to be very good.”

Next to him, Kent State’s three best players — guard Larissa Lurken and forwards Jordan Korinek and McKenna Stephens — nodded, with some smiles.

“I didn’t,” said Starkey, who became head coach in April. “Just watching us in workouts and some of the body language, some of the habits, some of the things that they were used to…I didn’t think we were going to be a very good team.

“I thought we had the possibility of being better than they had been.”

“Better” turned out to be one of the biggest turnarounds in Division I — a 226-spot jump in RPI, at least 13 more wins than last season (6-23 to 19-11), from a tie for last place in the conference to first place in the MAC East.

Asked a few minutes later when they had thought back in October, the players said they never would have imagined this season either.

“We really didn’t have anything to lose,” Lurken added.

“Really, we thought it couldn’t get worse,” Stephens said.

“It was an incremental thing,” Starkey said. “We never had pie-in-the-sky ideas. I did want them to understand that I wanted the program to have a championship mentality. For me, it was about establishing what our expectations are.

“They’re the ones that ran with it. I had to establish the direction and hold them accountable along the way. But they’re the ones that did it.”

Back in October, Starkey said, “It was like, ‘Well, why don’t we see what we can do here. Let’s just roll with this.”

First it was, “‘Hey, we just want to win as many games as we did last year,’ Then, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to get to 10 wins?’ Then, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to double last year’s win total.

“Then all of a sudden, ‘We’re at 12 wins. If we can get just to 16, we would guarantee a winning season.

“That was how it really unfolded for us. We weren’t like, ‘Let’s go for this East Division championship’ back in January. We broke it down in the locker room into segments — four mini seasons.

“Then all of a sudden we’ve got three games left, and we’re like, ‘Let’s win out, and win the East Division.'”

Going into the interview, my angle for this post was going to be “confidence” — how a group that had never won learned to believe it could.

The players talked about the familiar litany of the season — winning their first two games, taking on a big-time field at the Florida Gulf Coast Showcase (“seeing we could complete with really good teams, really good players,” Lurken said).

Starkey said that for him, the turning point of the season was a January game against the team that eventually finished last in the MAC.

“After the Ball State game, I saw themselves sliding back into doubting themselves again,” he said. “We did not play well. Ball State dominated us in the second half. (Kent State scored 14 points.)

“The next two days of practice, going into Eastern Michigan, it was, ‘Let’s push a reset button. Let’s have this game be the one we look back at and say that.'”

KSU beat Eastern, 86-67.

It lost its next game 98-97 to Northern Illinois. In the locker room, Starkey said, “I saw some looks on their faces I hadn’t seen before. I think they believed they should have won that game, that, ‘No, that’s not acceptable.'”

Lurken, he said, wasn’t unhappy. “She was mad.”

Then came what at the time seemed like the biggest upset for a Kent State women’s team in many years.

The Flashes played at first-place Ohio, the two-time defending conference champion. The Bobcats had been undefeated at home and had lost only two games over three years.

“That was the first game that I felt that in our heads, ‘We’re fine. We’ve got this,'” Korinek said. “In the past, we would doubt, especially in close games. We were down four, and I’m thinking, ‘We’re fine. We’re going to win.’ You could tell on everyone’s faces.”

“That gave us so much confidence,” Stephens said. “From there on out, any game, even if we were down, we had the confidence, that we were going to come back and win.”

Since then, Kent State has 11 of 13 games.

“I think that we’ve proven that we belong in the upper echelon of this conference,” Starkey said.  “And they continue to stay hungry. It’s not like, ‘Yeah, cool season.’

“Now they really want to put a stamp on it.”

Game details

Kent State’s first quarterfinal game against Toledo is the last of the day Wednesday. It should start between 7:30 and 8 p.m.

You can get tickets through the Kent State or the MAC website. One ticket gets you into all the quarterfinal games. Another will get you in both semifinal games Friday. Men’s and women’s teams are separate.

A bus will take up to 50 students to games. The bus ride and tickets are free. Students can register for the trip at 1 p.m. today (Tuesday) at the M.A.C. Center.

There will be pregame receptions with free appetizers before any game KSU plays. First one will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Flannery’s Irish Pub at 323 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, a short walk from the Q.

The quarterfinals and semifinals, which start at 11 a.m. Friday, will be televised ESPN3, Spectrum Sports (formerly Time Warner) and BCSN.

Audio will be on WHLO 640 and Golden Flash iHeart Radio, starting about 15 minutes before game time.

I’ll have a full preview on matchups and game-day preparations on the blog later today. All-conference teams also will be announced this afternoon.

 

 

 

The Kent State women’s basketball team will play its first game in six years at Quicken Loans Arena against Toledo.

The sixth-seeded Rockets easily beat No. 11 Akron, 65-37 in the first-round of the MAC Tournament.

They’ll play the Flashes at about 8 p.m. on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Cleveland. Kent State got a first-round bye by finishing third in the conference during the regular season.

The two teams are the hottest in the MAC. Kent State has won seven games in a row and 11 of its last 13. Toledo has won five in a row, including back-to-beat wins on the road in the last week of the regular season against No. 2 seed Ball State and No. 4 seed Northern Illinois.

Kent and Toledo played once during the regular season with the Flashes winning a 70-60  in Kent on Jan. 21.

Kent State is 19-11 on the season, 13-5 in MAC play. Toledo is 22-8; the Rockets finished the regular season in the MAC at 12-6.

After trailing by a point at the end of the first quarter, Toledo outscored Akron 18-2 in the second. Akron scored just 19 points in the second half.

No one on the Rockets roster will be tired when they play Kent State. Toledo was able to substitute often, and no one played more than 26 minutes. All 12 women who got into the game played at least eight minutes. Sophomore Olivia Cunningham, who averaged just 3.0 points a game during the season, led Toledo with 13 points. Freshman guard Mariella Santucci had 12.

Toledo held Akron to just 25 percent shooting and outrebounded the Zips 51-33. Akron finishes the year with its worst record in nine years — 9-21 and 2-16 in the MAC regular season.

Akron-Toledo box score and game story from the Toledo website.

As in Toledo, all of the lower seeds (and home teams) won pretty easily in the first round games. The other scores:

No. 8 Western Michigan (18-12, 8-10 MAC) over No. 9 Miami (11-21, 5-13), 73-66.

No. 7 Buffalo (21-9, 10-8) over No. 10 Bowling Green (8-23, 4-14), 61-45.

No. 5 Ohio (21-9, 12-6) over No. 12 Eastern Michigan (6-25, 1-17), 63-49.

Wednesday’s games, all at the Q

Western Michigan vs. No. 1 Central Michigan (23-7, 15-3) at noon.

Ohio vs No. 4 Northern Illinois. Time will be a half hour after the first game ends, probably about 2:30.

Buffalo vs. No. 2 Ball State, probably about 5.

Toledo vs. No. 3 Kent State, probably between 7:30 and 8.

Tournament bracket

Game summaries from the MAC website.

Friday’s semifinals

Central Michigan-Western Michigan winner vs. Northern Illinois-Ohio winner at 11 a.m.

Ball State-Buffalo winner vs. Kent State-Toledo winner at 1:30 p.m.

Saturday’s final

Is at 11 a.m.

Quarterfinals are semifinals will be on Spectrum Sports (formerly Time-Warner Cable) and ESPN3.

Finals are on the CBS Sports Network.

One ticket gets you into all quarterfinal games, and a ticket gets you into both semifinals.

Tournament website, including links to ticket information, statistics, directions to the Q and hotel information.

You can also get ticket information on the Kent State website. All the men’s and women’s information is on the same page, so you may have to scroll down.

Up to 50 students can reserve a free ticket and a bus ride at 1 p.m. Tuesday in the M.A.C. Center lobby. There’s an apparently refundable $10 deposit. Bus will leave at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

If the Flashes win, there will also be buses at 11:30 a.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday.

There will be pregame receptions with free appetizers before any game KSU plays. First one will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Flannery’s Irish Pub at 323 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, a short walk from the Q.

 

 

 

 

 

The various MAC end-of-year awards come out this week — the men earlier today, the women sometime after 5 today or tomorrow.

I’ll post it as soon as I see it.

As a member of the media who covers the KSU women’s basketball team, I’m invited to vote on MAC coach, player and freshman of the year.

Coaches decide the all-conference, all-freshman and all-defensive teams, defensive player of the year, sixth player (man? woman?) of the year.

But I own this blog, so I get to give you my opinion on all of it.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Todd Starkey, Kent State

KSU finished finished last in the conference last season and was picked last this season. The team had exactly the same starting lineup and not a single player he recruited. And it won the MAC East. Won 13 more games than it did last season (19-11 from 6-23). Won 10 more league games (13-5 from 3-15). Went up 226 spots in RPI rankings (92 from 318).

Lisa Carlsen of Northern Illinois did very similar work. Her team was last in the West last season and was picked to finish fifth this year. Her team went from 11-19 to 19-10 and fourth in the MAC (third in the West). She had the third highest scoring team in the country. A great job of coaching. But Starkey’s was better.

Central Michigan’s Sue Guevara coached the best team in the conference. But it was supposed to be the best team. She won the award last season when she had an almost entirely new starting lineup and still won the West. That’s what defines a coach of the year to me — to do something way beyond what was expected.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Larissa Lurken, Kent State

MAC leading scorer at 23.6 points per game. Nation’s leader in free throws made and attempted (both MAC records). Among MAC leaders in nine of 13 statistical categories. But most important: Without her, Kent State is deep in the second division. She scored 10 points more a game than last season and made huge jumps in rebounding and defense. The Flashes’ offense was built around her. Teams tried to stop her; no one ever really did. She meant more to her team than any other player did to their team.

Northern Illinois’ Ally Lehman did similar work for her team. She was in the top three in the league in points, assists and rebounding. She had two triple doubles. Her team improved almost as much as Lurken’s. But she was a star last season (third-team all-MAC). Her team had other players who carried the load some nights. Like her coach, she had a great season. It just wasn’t quite as good as Lurken’s.

Are those home team votes? I don’t think so. In two previous years, I’ve never voted for a Kent State player for any award. You have my reasoning. I think they’re legitimate choices. I’ll be surprised if they don’t win.

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Lauren Dickerson, Miami

She’s 5-3. I think that’s the smallest player I saw all season. Yet she was the highest scoring freshman in the conference (15.7 points per game, 10th in the MAC). She was also among league leaders in three-point shooting (1.9 per game, 12th in MAC, 36.4 percent, sixth), assists (3.7, ninth), free-throw percentage (76.6, 13th) and steals (1.9, ninth) .

I don’t think anyone else will be close in the voting.

MY ALL CONFERENCE TEAM

• Senior guard Larissa Lurken, Kent State.
• Senior guard Ally Lehman, Northern Illinois.
• Senior guard Quiera Lampkins, Ohio.
• Senior center Renee Bennett, Ball State.
• Sophomore guard Presley Hudson, Central Michigan.

Hudson is the one I’m least sure of. Central had so many good players that it’s hard it pick its best. It could just as easily have been CMU junior forward Tinara Moore.

SECOND TEAM: Moore of CMU, senior guard JoAnna Smith of Buffalo, sophomore forward Breanna Mobley of Western Michigan, sophomore forward Mikaela Boyd of Toledo, junior forward Moriah Monaco of Ball State.

Close behind: Sophomore guard Courtney Woods of NIU.

The league names three teams and honorable mention. I’d hope Kent State junior forward Jordan Korinek will make second or third team and senior forward McKenna Stephens makes at least honorable mention. Both were major contributors to Kent’s season and are among league leaders, especially in conference-only statistics).

MY ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

• Guard Lauren Dickerson of Miami.
• Forward Summer Hemphill of Buffalo.
• Guard Destiny Washington of Ball State.
• Guard Mariella Santucci of Toledo.
• Guard Shaunay Edmonds of Akron or guard Janae Poisson of Northern Illinois.

MY ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

• Junior guard Stephanie Reid, Buffalo.
• Senior forward Jasmine Weatherspoon, Ohio.
• Junior forward Tinara Moore, Central Michigan.
• Senior guard Quiera Lampkins, Ohio.
• Sophomore guard Deja Wimby, Western Michigan.

The only player who was among league leaders in the two defensive statistical categories  (steals and blocked shots):

Senior guard Larissa Lurken, Kent State

Probably too much home town to vote for her.

MY DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Junior forward Tinara Moore, Central Michigan, though I don’t feel strongly about it. KSU saw her only once. She was first in the conference in blocked shots (2.1 per game) and a very good post defender. She was on the all-defensive team last year. Ohio’s Quiera Lampkins won the award last year; I wouldn’t be surprised if she got it again.

MY SIXTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Freshman guard Destiny Washington, Ball State.

Before I researched it today, I couldn’t have told you who the first player off the bench was for most teams.

Washington and freshman forward Summer Hemphill  of Buffalo are very close. I gave it to Washington because she started fewer games.

Washington’s line: 20.1 minutes a game (three starts), 10.3 points, 54.4 percent shooting, 6.0 rebounds, blocks, 1.1 steals.

Hemphill’s line: 21.9 minutes (10 starts), 6.3 points, 53.1 percent shooting, 7.7 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, 1.1 steals.

My third choice was a freshman, too: Guard  Janae Poisson of Northern Illinois. 18.5 minutes (one start), 8.6 points, 34.8 percent three-point shooting, 83.3 foul shooting.

KSU’s candidate would be a redshirt freshman: Guard Megan Carter. 15.9 minutes (no starts), 5.5 points, 1.7 assists. She stepped up her game substantially in conference play: 20.1 minutes, 7 points, 72.2 percent foul shooting, 2.2 assists. Her improvement made Kent State a better team down the stretch.

MAC statistics, including links to both all games and conference-only.

Larissa Lurken and what was left of the net after KSU’s 80-71 victory over Buffalo.

So, fellow women’s basketball fans, how the heck did did this happen?

How did a Kent State team that’s struggled horribly for five years and was picked a distant last in the MAC, win the East Division and get the third seed in the tournament?

To understand, let’s look at six key moments:

1. Former coach Danny O’Banion meets Larissa Lurken. This season’s story starts when former coach O’Banion, then in her first season at Kent State, saw Larissa Lurken playing AAU basketball in a Chicago tournament. O’Banion liked Lurken’s play; Lurken visited campus twice and signed on to the coach’s first true recruiting class. (O’Banion was hired in April — too late to do serious recruiting for her first year.)

It was Lurken’s only Division I offer. Four years later, she is the leading candidate for player of the year in the MAC.

A year later O’Banion persuaded Jordan Korinek of Akron St. Vincent St. Mary — rated the best post player in Ohio Division II — to choose the Flashes over the University of Akron. Later that year McKenna Stephens of Uniontown Lake High School made the same decision when she transferred from Michigan State.

A year after that, Megan Carter of Farmington Hills High School in Michigan chose KSU over Central Michigan, another top MAC school.

“You have to remember that we didn’t bring in a single player on this team,” current coach Todd Starkey told me back in December, when we first got the idea that this team would be a lot better than it had been. “Coach Danny and coach Geoff (Lanier, O’Banion’s top assistant) deserve a lot of credit.”

O’Banion’s recruiting was far from perfect. The three players she brought in with Lurken didn’t make it past their sophomore year. Korinek’s class lost two before the end of their freshman seasons (one before classes even started).

But besides Lurken, Korinek, Stephens and Carter, she brought in point guard Naddiyah Cross, who has started 62 games over three years, and guard Alexa Golden, one of the better defensive players in the conference.

2. Starkey arrives as head coach in April 2016. Starkey had been assistant coach at Indiana for two years; before that, he had been a successful head coach at Division II Lenoir-Ryne University in North Carolina. He was actually the third person to be offered the Kent State job; Youngstown State coach John Barnes and an another unidentified Division I head coach turned the job down.

Starkey installed a new offense, emphasizing an aggressive, up-tempo offensive, and a new defense, built around half-court man-to-man principles.  He preached defense and defense and defense to his team and anyone else he talked to.

It obviously worked. I’m still not completely sure why it worked so well. O’Banion and Lanier knew basketball; both had been assistants at good programs  —Minnesota and Memphis for O’Banion, Boston College, Akron and Ohio for Lanier.

Both landed as more prestigious programs than Kent State. O’Banion  went back to her associate head coaching job at  Memphis (14-16 and tied for fifth in the American Athletic Conference this season). Lanier became an assistant at Cincinnati (15-14 and also tied for fifth in the American Athletic). That’s No. 1 Connecticut’s league, by the way.

But their teams had Kent State never found an offensive or defensive identity. Last year’s team used a dribble-drive offense that was ninth of the MAC’s 12 teams in scoring. It started with a match-up zone defense that was 11th in the conference in defense. (The team started to play better when it began to use a man-to-man defense in the second half to the conference season.)

Starkey has been an outstanding X’s and O’x coach. His team is scoring 10 points a game more than last year’s. He has often talked about plays with several multiple options for scorers; Lurken says that wasn’t often the case in previous seasons.

The team has made mid-game adjustments it couldn’t seem to before (something Starkey has repeatedly praised his players for).

Defensively the team is giving up about the same number of points as it did a year ago (against a significantly tougher schedule). But Starkey’s defenses seem more sophisticated. His eyes light up when he talks about “defensive angles” and beating opponents to spots on the floor.

At one game early in the season, Kent switched from man to a man-to-man in the middle of a possession. Starkey has played more zone defense than I would have expected from my early conversations with him, but the zones have some match-up quality to them and can be effective against the three-point shots.

And when he’s unhappy about something after a game, it’s almost always defense. He is constantly on his players about talking to each other on the court on defense. When they do that, he says, they can be pretty good.

Try this statistic: When Kent State holds teams under 70 points, the Flashes are  16-1. The loss was by three points in overtime to Robert Morris in the third game of the season.

3. The Flashes start 2-0. KSU opened by beating Bradley by 25 points and Eastern Kentucky by 13 — margins higher than in all but three wins in four previous years. Right then the team had to know that something was working, that things were different.

4. Kent State faces the lions in Florida. When Kent State announced it was playing in the Gulf Coast Showcase over Thanksgiving, I shuddered. The seven other teams in the tournament all won at least 26 games last season. Kent State lost 23. (“Some people thought I was crazy,” Starkey said last fall. “Sometimes I thought I was, too.”

The team could have gotten destroyed in every game and lost any confidence it had.

Instead, the opposite happened. Kent State lost to Baylor — now 28-2 and the No. 2 team in the country — 84-42. That actually was closer than any non-Power 5 team Baylor played all season. It was closer than Kansas of the Big 12 did in either of its two games.

Then in what I think may be the most important two games of the season, Kent State lost to Western Kentucky in overtime and beat Florida Gulf Coast. Western Kentucky won the Conference USA title this season. It’s 24-6 with an RPI of 40. Florida Gulf Coast is 22-8 and ranked 19th in the last Mid Major top 25.

I think it was then that the Flashes started to realize that that they could beat a good team and, perhaps, be a good team.

5. Kent State rights the ship. When the Flashes played at Eastern Michigan Jan. 7, they had lost four games in a row to good teams — Iowa and Minnesota of the Big Ten, then Central Michigan and Ball State, teams that eventually finished 1-2 in the MAC. Eastern Michigan had beaten KSU 11 straight times and knocked them out of the conference tournament in the first round the last two years.

The Flashes had no trouble, winning 86-67. Eastern, hard hit by graduation, transfers and a coaching change, turned out to be the worst team in the league. But the Flashes’ confidence had to be a little shaky going into the game.

6. The big, big upset in Athens. Ohio had been the class of the conference for two years, going 51-9 and winning two regular-season titles. At the time of the Kent State game, the Bobcats had lost two home games in the three years. Kent State beat them, 68-65, and at that point we started to realize that the Flashes could beat any team in the MAC.

Since then, I’ve wondered whether the Ohio win was a fluke, that the bubble would break, that the Flashes would start losing games they should win.

But they haven’t. Come from 14 points behind to win at Western Michigan? Sure. Beat Toledo in Kent? OK. Sweep Bowling Green, Akron, Miami? Yep. Beat Ohio again? Done.

The Flashes are 11-2 since that first win at Ohio, losing only at Northern Illinois and Buffalo. They avenged the loss to the Bulls with a 80-71 victory in Kent Saturday and slipped past NIU into the third seed in the conference tournament.

Look at the lineup. If…

Lurken doesn’t, as she put it early in the season, “reinvent herself” into the best player in the conference…

…Or Korinek doesn’t find her niche in Starkey’s system and average 19 points a game in the conference season (vs. 11 before Christmas)…

…Or Stephens develop into a scorer and rebounder any team would want…

…Or Golden start to provide some offense and continue to be the Flashes’ defensive stopper…

…Or Carter start to give Kent State a second threat from the perimeter…

…the Flashes are still mired in the second division.

Going into the season, I thought they had a chance win 10 to 12 games.

I hoped they would hit 15 and a .500 season.

I never dreamed of a 20-win season and a division championship.

19-11.

13-5.

Who would have believed it?

KSU seniors win the victory bell after their win over Buffalo. Photo from KSU website.

Kent State women’s basketball coach Todd Starkey was on the radio when the team called him over to finish with the net after the Flashes’ 80-71 victory over Buffalo Saturday.

“I’ve got to go cut this sucker down,” Starkey told KSU broadcaster Dave Wilson. “You don’t get to do this very often.”

Starkey climbed the ladder and took down what was left of the net — which was most of it after the players had taken small pieces for themselves.

Then Starkey walked over to senior Larissa Lurken, the player who had led the Flashes to a season no one ever saw coming, and dropped it over her head like a necklace.

It was a most fitting end for a regular season that saw Kent State accomplish one of the biggest turnarounds in school and conference history. The Flashes, 6-23 last season and tied for last in the MAC, finish the regular season 19-11 and alone in first place in the East Division at 13-5. They have won seven games in a row.

They now head to the MAC tournament quarterfinals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland as a third seed. They’ll play either Toledo or Akron at about 8 p.m. Wednesday. Those two teams play at Toledo on Monday to see who advances to Cleveland. Full tournament bracket and Saturday results are below.

Toledo finished the regular season 20-8 and 12-6 in the MAC. The Rockets have won four in a row, including back-to-back wins at No. 2 seed Ball State and No. 4 seed Northern Illinois in the last games of the season. Kent State beat the Rockets 70-60 Jan. 21 in Kent, but the Rockets were without point guard Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott, a preseason all-MAC West selection. She missed the game with a concussion.

Akron finished 9-20 and 2-16 in the league. The Zips have lost their last 10 games. Kent State beat Akron twice during the season.

“The thing is the most fun for me is standing back and watching our team celebrate,” Starkey said in his postgame press conference. “To watch our players cut down the net…That’s the best thing for me — to be able to be a part of creating memories for them. I get more satisfaction out of watching them enjoy that anything that I get to do.”

Starkey took over as Kent State head coach in April after the Flashes had gone 27-119 over five years, never winning more than seven games and never finishing above 10th in the 12-team MAC. (Stories from April are here and here. Official biography is here.)

He installed a new offense and defense. He and Lurken immediately clicked. She had been a three-year starter and second-leading scorer on the team but was not remotely a star. She has flourished under Starkey’s offense, which has emphasized a faster pace and attacking the basket aggressively.

Lurken has had one of the best seasons in Kent State history, leading the MAC in scoring and the nation in free throws made and taken. She scored 32 points in her last game at the M.A.C. Center Saturday, making 15 of 15 free throws. She also had 13 rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and a steal, playing all but one minute of the game.

Lurken is 24 points away from KSU’s single-season scoring record, set 36 years ago by Bonnie Beachy.

“I’m not sure that in 20 years of coaching that I’ve had a player who bought into everything we tried to do from the start,” Starkey said. “She deserves a ton of credit for it.

“She’s having one of the best seasons of any women’s basketball player in the country. It won’t go as noticed because we’re not a Power 5 school. But you look at what she has meant to the turnaround of this program in one season…Is there a more valuable player to her team in the country?”

Lurken called the season “unbelievable.”

“I don’t think words can describe it, really” she said. “It’s something we’ve all wanted — and we’ve finally got it.”

The game was a great one for the Flashes to take into the tournament.

Buffalo had beaten Kent State 77-62 in January. Lurken didn’t score at all in the first half and the Flashes were really never in the game.

Saturday was competitive from the first minutes. Buffalo led by two after a quarter; Kent State came back to take a five-point lead at halftime. The Bulls tied the game halfway through the third quarter, then KSU pushed ahead with a 14-3 run at the end of the third quarter.

The game was 70-67 when McKenna Stephens hit a three-point shot with two minutes to go, and the Flashes pulled away from there.

“I was open and knew I had to shoot it,” Stephens said. “It was, ‘Step right in’ — a no brainer.”

A reporter asked her if she could feel that the shot was going in.

“I always feel it,” Stephens said. “Sometimes I miss, but I always feel it.”

Buffalo is one of the best defensive and rebounding teams in the conference, but the Flashes scored 15 points above the Bulls’ defensive average and outrebounded them, 44-40.

“We knew Buffalo was going to come out and be gritty and tough,” Lurken said. “We knew we had to match that. We didn’t up at their place.”

In the end, she said, “We didn’t want to share that title.”

“It’s not done yet,” Lurken said. “All of us — we want to keep winning. Not just in the tournament, but postseason as well. We’re not going to stop.”

Notes

• Stephens had the second double-double of her career with 11 points and 10 rebounds. She also had two assists, a two blocks and two steals in 39 minutes.
• Redshirt freshman Megan Carter made three three-point baskets for the first time in her career and had 13 points, three rebounds, five assists and a steal. She played a career-high 30 minutes. Over the last half of the conference season, she has averaged more than 25 minutes a game, which is more than starting point guard Naddiyah Cross.
• Jordan Korinek had 12 points and hit 10 of 12 free throws. She was 8 for 8 in the first half. She had three rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and two steals.
• Alexa Golden had six points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.
• The Flashes blocked a season-high eight shots. Both they and Buffalo had 17 turnovers; KSU scored four more points off of them (21-17). KSU forced seven  turnovers from Buffalo’s Stephanie Reid, one of the best point guards in the conference.
• Kent State held Buffalo’s JoAnna Smith, who had scored 80 points in UB’s last three games with Kent, to 13 points on 5 of 23 shooting. Overall Buffalo was 29 for 75 from the field and 3 of 21 from three-point distance.
• Cassie Oursler, the Bulls’ 6-3 center, led them with 21 points and 9 rebounds. She didn’t  play at all in the Kent game at Buffalo because of an ankle injury.
• The Flashes drew 28 fouls and made 26 of 30 free throws. It’s the 11th time this season that Kent State has shot more at least 30. KSU is third in the nation in foul shots attempted and first in foul shots made. Buffalo made 10 of 13 free throws. Two Bulls fouled out; three more finished with four fouls.
• One of the stranger plays of the season came with 20 seconds to go. KSU led 78-71 and inbounded the ball in front of its bench. Buffalo’s players stood near the half-court line. Carter caught the inbounds pass, looked confused as to why no defender was near her, and finally turned and made a layup.
• Starkey started his five seniors — Lurken, Stephens, Chelsi Watson, Lacey Miller and Keziah Lewis — on Senior Day. Miller and Lewis had never started before and had played sparingly this season. “I try to do that,” the coach said. “It’s something they’ll always remember. Some things are more important than basketball.” All five were escorted by family. Even Lewis, who is from New Zealand, had a sister there. In Senior Day introductions, Kent State also acknowledged Buffalo’s Smith, an all-MAC player who is the only senior on the Bulls’ team.

Box score

Game story from Kent State website, including video highlights and interview with Starkey and players.

Game story from Buffalo website. I don’t find quotes from Buffalo anywhere.

Other MAC scores

The official tournament bracket from the MAC

Central Michigan (15-3, 23-7) won the overall MAC championship and West Division Saturday with a 71-48 victory at home over Eastern Michigan. The Chippewas will have the No. 1 seed at the MAC Tournament. Eastern (1-17, 6-24) will be the 12th seed.

Ball State (14-4, 21-8) , which had been tied with CMU, lost in overtime at home to Toledo, 76-66. The Cardinals will get the No. 2 seed. Toledo is 12-6 and 21-8. The Rockets are the sixth seed.

Northern Illinois (19-10, 12-6) lost at Western Michigan, 90-77. The defeat knocked the Huskies to a No. 4 seed. Western finishes 8-10 and 17-12 and will have the No. 8 seed.

Ohio (21-8, 12-6) beat Akron at home, 62-48, to clinch the No. 5 seed. Akron is 9-20, 2-16.

Miami (5-13, 11-20) beat Bowling Green at BG, 75-65, to win ninth seed. The teams had been tied going into the game. Bowling Green finishes at 4-14 and 8-22.

The final standings look like this:

East: Kent State (13-5), Ohio (12-6), Buffalo (10-8), Miami (5-13), Bowling Green (4-14), Akron (2-16.

West: Central Michigan (15-3), Ball State (14-4), Northern Illinois and Toledo (12-6), Western Michigan (8-10), Eastern Michigan (1-17).

Full MAC standings

Game summaries from MAC website.