Miami’s women’s basketball team, Kent State head coach Todd Starkey says, is having the kind of the season the Flashes did last year.
The Redhawks are Saturday’s opponent at the M.A.C. Center. They were 5-13 and ninth in the Mid-American Conference last season and 11-21 overall. With pretty much the same players — and a new coach, they have jumped to an 7-6 conference record and a tie for second in the MAC East. Overall Miami is 15-9.
Last season, Starkey’s first in Kent, the Flashes went from a 6-23 record to 19-13 and first in the East. The starting lineup was identical to the previous season.
Miami’s new coach is Megan Duffy, a former assistant at Michigan, George Washington and St. John’s. She won for non-conference games at Miami than any other first-year coach in the school’s history.
Her top weapon is sophomore guard Lauren Dickerson, a 5-3 point guard who is second in the MAC in scoring at 20.9 points a game (all games). Last season Dickerson was the league’s freshman of the year.
One other player averages in double figures for the Redhawks. She’s 6-foot junior forward Kendall McCoy, who scored 12.5 points and leads the team in rebounding at 6.3 per game.
Kent State’s Jordan Korinek is right behind Dickerson in MAC scoring at 20.6 points per game. Grad student McKenna Stephens and redshirt sophomore Megan Carter average just over 10 points a game.
The Flashes have lost three in a row and four of their last five. They’re 4-9 and 10th in the MAC overall (fourth in the East) and 11-14 on the season.
To follow the game
Action starts at about 4:30 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center. It’s the second game of a double header with the KSU men, who play Akron at 2 p.m. One ticket gets you into both games.
The game is Kent State’s Play4Kay game, an annual event for most women’s teams that raises awareness and funding for women’s cancer research and honors female cancer survivors. You can donate to the fundraising through this link.
Video is through the KSU website. (It’s one of the few KSU games this season not on ESPN3.
Audio starts at about 4:15 p.m. on Golden Flash iHeart Radio and WHLO.
Live statistics will be available through the Kent State website.
Preview from the Kent State website, including links to statistics, roster, schedule/results, record book and more.
Preview from the Miami website, including links.
MAC statistics, including standings.