Final exams behind them, the women’s basketball team head on a week-long trip through New York for the last two road games of the non-conference season.
The Flashes play at Saint Bonaventure at 7 p.m. Monday and at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark on Friday. The team is touring the sights in New York City around the NJIT game.
Both those games are winnable on paper, as is KSU’s non-conference finale against Division II Clarion in Kent at noon on New Year’s Eve. Winning all three would give the Flashes a 7-4 non-conference record.
Saint Bonaventure is the best of the three teams. The Bonnies are 3-7, with wins over Niagara, Canisius and Siena, all teams with RPI rankings worse than 300 (of 351 teams). Kent’s RPI is 166. Saint Bonaventure’s RPI is 235.
The Bonnies have lost to Georgia (5-4, RPI 140), Hofstra (4-6 and 262) Ohio (8-0 and 73), Denver (7-4 and 108), Bucknell (8-2 and 52nd), Akron (5-2 and 223) and Penn State (6-4 with a 112 RPI). All RPI rankings are according to WarrenNolan.com.
A key player for the Bonnies is 5-9 senior guard Mckenna Maycock, who is second in scoring on the team with an average of 10..5 points per game. Maycock has missed six games with injuries. Since she returned four games ago, the Bonnies have made 41.7 percent of their shots (compared with 36.6 without her) and 50 percent of their three-point attempts (compared with 27.0 percent).
Leading scorer is 5-7 freshman Deja Francis at 13.6 points per game. Two other players average in double figures. Leading rebounder is Amanda Oliver, a 6-1 junior forward who averages 6.0 a game.
Kent State’s 6-4 center, Merissa Barber-Smith, is fifth in the MAC in rebounding at 7.1 a game despite averaging just over 15 minutes. She’s also third in the league in blocks per game at 1.4. Freshman Lindsay Thall is fourth in blocks at 1.3.
Junior guard Megan Carter dropped from fifth to eighth in scoring at 17.1 points per game after scoring a season-low three points in KSU’s 54-46 win at Robert Morris Dec. 8. Freshman guard Asiah Dingle is second on the team in scoring at 11.8. Thall averages 9.6.
How to follow the game
The game starts at 7 p.m. Monday at the Reilly Center at Saint Bonaventure. It’s about a three-and-a-half hour drive from Kent. Here are directions to campus from the Saint Bonaventure website and a map of campus. All tickets are $5.
Audio broadcast starts about 6:45 p.m. on Golden Flash iHeart Radio.
Video is on ESPN Plus, which costs $4.99 a month. The service covers about 85 percent of KSU men’s and women’s basketball games and some KSU events in other sports. It includes access to many other MAC games and games in other conferences. Here’s a Kent State Q&A on ESPN+ and a link to this game’s webcast, which will guide you through a purchase.
Live statistics are available through the Saint Bonaventure website.
Links
Detailed Kent State media game notes
Preview from Kent State women’s website, including links to statistics, roster and more.
Preview from Saint Bonaventure website, including links.
MAC statistics, including standings.