Down 53-36 with two minutes to go in the third quarter, Kent State came back to beat Toledo in overtime Monday, 80-76, to advance to the MAC Tournament quarterfinals at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Flashes will play second-seeded and East Division champion Buffalo at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. (Time depends on when earlier games end.)
The Flashes rallied behind 21 points by Jordan Korinek. The senior forward, the second-leading scorer in the MAC, had a miserable first half with just two points and one rebound. But she had 19 in the second half, including a three-point basket with 27 seconds to go in regulation to tie the game for the first time since the second quarter.
Guards Naddiyah Cross and Megan Carter carried the Flashes while Korinek was struggling. Carter had 24 points and Cross 20, both their second-highest totals of the season. Carter’s free throw with 47 seconds to go in overtime game Kent State a 77-76 lead. The Flashes played good defense and hit foul shots to win the game.
The victory game two days after perhaps Kent State’s worst game of the season, a 58-35 loss at Miami.
“In my 21 years of coaching,” KSU coach Todd Starkey said, “this may be be one of the most unexpected wins, based just 48 hours ago.”
DETAILED STORY, INCLUDING MORE QUOTES FROM STARKEY AND QUOTES FOR KORINEK AND CROSS, WILL FOLLOW