Month: January 2019

Six MAC teams are among top 100 in country; conference is 8th of 32 leagues

The Mid-American Conference has six teams in the top 100 in this week’s RPI rankings by the NCAA. I can’t imagine that’s ever happened before.

Here’s what it looks like:

  1. Central Michigan (11-3, 2-0 MAC) 21st.
  2. Buffalo (9-4, 1-1) 47th.
  3. Ohio (12-1, 1-1) 58th.
  4. Toledo (9-4, 1-1) 89th.
  5. Northern Illinois (9-5, 1-1) 92nd.
  6. Kent State (9-4, 2-0) 96th

Then:

  1. Miami (10-3, 1-1) 116th.
  2. Akron (10-3, 1-1) 165th.
  3. Ball State (5-8, 1-1) 195th.
  4. Bowling Green (7-6, 0-2), 203rd.
  5. Eastern Michigan (7-6, 0-2), 217th.
  6. Western Michigan (7-6, 1-1), 292nd.

The NCAA lists 351 Division I teams. (I’ve seen as many as 353 on other sites, which seems strange.)

As a league, the MAC’s RPI ranks eighth in the country, according to WarrenNolan.com. (The NCAA itself doesn’t rank conference.) The MAC is significantly behind the seventh-ranked West Coast Conference, which includes BYU and Gonzaga). It has a solid lead over the No. 9 American Athletic Conference, which includes No. 3 Connecticut and the University of South Florida.

Last year the MAC also ranked eighth in the country in RPI, the best showing in league history. Central Michigan and Buffalo both reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament, the first time two teams from a mid-major conference had ever done that. The year before the conference was 10th of 32 Division I leagues. To show how the MAC has improved, it was 18th in 2012-13.

MAC teams’ RPIs may well go up through the conference season because they’re  based on a a team’s record, its opponents’ record and opponents’ opponents record. Road wins and home losses get extra weight.

Because 11 of 12 MAC teams had winning non-conference seasons, ratings may rise as they play each other. For the same reason, the conference ranking is unlikely to change as the season goes on.

 

To the road: 2-0 Flashes head to Toledo for first MAC away game

file jan 10, 2 01 11 am

Kent State’s Asiah Dingle goes to the floor for a loose ball against Northern Illinois. Dingle leads the team in steals per game at 2.1. (Photo by David Dermer from KSU Twitter feed.)

 

Kent State has passed its first two Mid-American Conferences tests, but the exams keep getting harder.

The Flashes won their first two MAC games at home, both against teams with winning records.

Now they go on the road — always difficult in the MAC — for games against two very good teams.

KSU plays at 9-4 Toledo on Saturday, then travels to 12-1 Ohio for a Wednesday game. The Toledo game starts at 2 p.m. on ESPN3. (Details below.)

The Flashes have won six games in a row and are 9-4 after beating Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois in the first week of the conference season. Their RPI is up to 96, according to the official NCAA rankings. That’s the highest it’s been in long time. The Flashes finished their MAC East title season two years ago at 99. It might have been a little higher before their loss to Toledo in the MAC tournament that year. Before that, I remember their RPI hitting the 30s in the Bob Lindsay-Dawn Zerman-Julie Studer years around 1996-2002.

The MAC has six teams in the top 100 in the NCAA RPI rankings. (See related post.)

Toledo is No. 89 of 351 teams, seven spots ahead of KSU. The Rockets beat 6-8 Ball State 65-58 in Toledo Wednesday and lost to 9-3 Miami 65-64 on the road Saturday. Toledo hosted No. 1 Notre Dame in early December and lost 72-56.

In Toledo, Kent State faces a team opposite statistically than the Northern Illinois squad it beat Saturday. NIU was second in the MAC in scoring and last in defense. Toledo is second in defense (59.4 points a game) and ninth in offense (66.5).

Kent’s numbers are very similar: 68.0 on offense and 59.9 on defense.

The have two returning third-team all-MAC players in 6-2 senior center Kaala McIntyre (15.5 points  and 6.9 rebounds a game) and 5-7 senior guard Mikaela Boyd (9.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and four assists). 5-6 junior guard Mariella Santucci averages 10.2 points and 4.2 assists. Nakiah Black, a 5-10 sophomore guard, has averaged 14 points a game since she cracked the staring lineup four games ago.

McIntyre is second in the conference in field goal percentage (.580) and tied with KSU’s Merissa Barber-Smith for second in blocks at 1.4 a game. Kent’s Lindsey Thall leads the conference in blocks at 1.4.

Kent’s big offensive game agains NIU means the team now has three players averaging in double figuresMegan Carter (14.5), Asiah Dingle (13.8) and Thall (10.5). Ali Poole’s 28 points against Northern put her on the brink at 9.8 points a game.

Kent State beat Toledo at Toledo in the regular season last year, then beat the Rockets on the road in overtime in the first round of the MAC Tournament. The games were easily KSU’s best conferences games. Before last season, the Flashes had lost eight in a row in Toledo.

Two quotes from the NIU game:

KSU COACH TODD STARKEY: “We grew up a little in these last two games. The way we’ve handled the fourth quarter in the last two games has really showed maturity. (The Flashes outscored 28-16 in the last 10 minutes.)

“We looked for transition baskets, and when we didn’t get those looks,we pulled it out and made them play defense. That’s why we won the game.”

NIU COACH LISA CARLSEN, quoted in the DeKalb Daily Chronicle: “We just were not locked in consistently enough on the defensive end. We pride ourselves on taking care of the basketball, and we were soft with the ball tonight. (NIU committed 22 turnovers).

“Kent State played a great game. They were the more physical team, the more aggressive team.”

THE BOTTOM LINE: A month ago Toledo would have been a big favorite. As well as Kent State is playing, it could be a very interesting game. But beating a good team on the road in the MAC is hard. Key likely is which team can play better defense and whether KSU’s freshmen can hold their own against Toledo’s seniors.

To follow the game

The game starts at 2 p.m. Saturday at Savage Arena at the University of Toledo. It’s a simple two-and-a-half hour drive from Kent. Here are Google map directions.  Ticket prices range from $7 to $18.

Audio starts at about 1:45 p.m. on Golden Flash iHeart Radio. David Wilson does play by play.

Video is through ESPN3. You can watch if you subscribe to ESPN on your cable or satellite system or on the ESPN app. It’s free.

Live statistics are available through the Toledo website.

Links

Preview from Kent State women’s website, including links to statistics, roster and more.

Detailed media game notes for Kent State.

Preview from Toledo website, including links.

Media notes for Toledo.

Weekly MAC press release, including notes, statistics and standings.

Elsewhere in the MAC Saturday

  • Bowling Green (7-6, 0-2 MAC) at Akron (10-3, 1-1).
  • Central Michigan (11-3, 2-0) at Northern Illinois (9-5, 1-1).
  • Buffalo (9-4, 1-1) at Miami (10-3, 1-1).
  • Ohio (12-1, 1-1) at Ball State (6-8, 1-1).
  • Western Michigan (7-6, 1-1) at Eastern Michigan (7-6, 1-1)

 

Ali Poole’s career-high 28 — including 2 crazy shots — lead KSU to 6th-straight win, 87-78

poole through bell

A look through the victory bell as Ali Poole (23) leads her team to the ringer. (Photo by Henry Palattella of KentWired)

 

Ali Poole scored a career-high 28 points to lead Kent State to a big 87-78 victory Over Northern Illinois Wednesday, but two of the baskets are ones she’ll remember for a long time.

With four seconds to go in the first half, Poole caught an inbound pass under the basket, dribbled to the top of the key, leaped while kicking her right foot back three feet off the ground, and threw up a shot as time expired.

It must of arced 20 feet into the air, and banked cleanly off the backboard and through the hoop.

Halftime score: Kent State 43, Northern Illinois 41.

“It would have hit the ceiling in my high school gym,” Poole said after the game.

Did she know it had a chance?

“I had just hit two three-point shots,” she said. “I thought I’d try for a third.”

In the fourth quarter, KSU held a 74-69 lead with about four minutes to go and the shot clock expiring. Poole got the ball at the top of the key, twisted the left around an NIU player and tossed it up — and in — again.

“That,” Poole confessed on a postgame radio interview, “was a prayer.”

Nevertheless, Northern never got closer than five points after that as the Flashes played good defense against a team that had ranked 13th in the nation in scoring at 83.1 points a game.

The victory moves Kent State to 2-0 in the MAC and puts them alone in a first-place tie with Central Michigan, which routed previously undefeated Ohio in Athens, 88-70.

Kent and CMU are the only teams not to lose a conference game in the first week. Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green are 0-2. Everyone else is 1-1.

For the season, the Flashes are 9-4 and have won six straight games. Northern Illinois is 9-5 and lost for the first time in six games.

Lots of good video — including Poole buzzer-beater at the end of the first half and a highlight tape — plus photos are on the KSU Twitter feed, @kentstatewbb.

“We knew they were really going to collapse on our drives,” coach Todd Starkey said. “Ali was the one they left open most of the time, and she did a good job of knocking down shots.”

“It’s a lot easier to hit a three when no one’s guarding you,” Poole said.

Poole made 11-of-20 shots and four-of-eight three-pointers, scoring nine points above her previous best game. She had seven rebounds, a block and a steal. She played a career-high 39 of the possible 40 minutes.

Freshman Lindsey Thall also had a career high at 17 points, 13 coming in the first half. She made three-of-five three-point shots, had seven rebounds, an assist and a steal with no turnovers. She blocked two shots and continues to lead the MAC in blocks at 1.5 per game.

Freshman guard Asiah Dingle, who scored 29 in KSU’s win against, also had 17 points with four assists and three steals. Redshirt junior Megan Carter scored 12 points. Senior Alexa Golden had five assists, five rebounds, four steals and a blocked shot. As usual, Golden led the KSU defense, which clinched the game in the fourth quarter.

KSU outscored Northern 28-16 in the last period and held the Huskies to four-of-18 shooting in the quarter. Northern is fourth in the MAC in shooting percentage.

“When it came down to the last five minutes, we really communicated and defended them really well,” Golden said. Communication, she said, means alerting teammates of screens and switches.

During a timeout, Starkey said: “After I made a loud noice with my clipboard and got their attention, we just told them, ‘You do it, and we win. Or you don’t do it, and we lose.'”

Merissa Barber-Smith, KSU’s 6-4 senior center, made a big difference on defense late in the game, the coach said.

“She came up really big with a couple of deflections or steals late,” Starkey said, “and she came up with some big rebounds.” Barber-Smith had four points, five rebounds, two steals and a block in 16 minutes of play.

Box score

Notes

  • The defensive game plan, Starkey said, was to “keep them out of the paint, slow them down in transition, and made them take tough shots.” NIU had 22 points in the paint; Kent State had 30. The Huskies had six fast-break points and scored eight points off of 15 KSU turnovers; the Flashes had 12 fast-break points and 20 points off 22 NIU turnovers.
  • Kent State’s 87 points was its most against a Division I opponent since a wild 98-97 loss to Northern Illinois in Kent in 2017. Its 28 points in the fourth quarter were the fourth most they’ve ever scored in any quarter. College women’s basketball switched from halves to quarters in 2015.
  • The victory was Starkey’s first against NIU, which had beaten Kent State three straight times. The only teams Starkey hasn’t beaten in his three years are Central Michigan and Ball State.
  • Kent State made 29 of its 67 shots for 43.3 percent. That’s about 5 points above its average. Northern made 28 of 63 for 44.4 percent.
  • Rebounding was even at 37. The Flashes outrebounded NIU 14-5 in the fourth quarter. Kent State had 15 assists on 29 baskets.
  • NIU’s Mikayla Voigt, the league’s No. 2 scorer, led Northern with 26 points, four assists and three steals. She played all 40 minutes.
  • Attendance was listed at 215, about as low as I can remember.

The Flashes play their first MAC road game Saturday at 9-4 Toledo, which lost 65-64 at Miami Wednesday.

Other MAC scores

Central Michigan (11-3) 88, Ohio (12-1) 70 at Ohio.

Akron (10-3) 72, Western Michigan (7-6) 59 at Western.

Ball State (6-8) 77, Bowling Green (7-6) 70 at Ball State.

Buffalo (9-4) 91, Eastern Michigan (7-6) 84 in overtime at Eastern.

Miami (10-3) 65, Toledo (9-4) 64 at Miami.

MAC standings

 

High-scoring Northern Illinois is Wednesday home challenge for Flashes

bench cheers

Cheers from the bench during the Flashes’ 71-64 win over Eastern Michigan. Closest planer is sophomore forward Monique Smith. Two behind her is Hannah Young. Coach in background is Mike McKee.  (Photo by Austin Mariasy)

 

The women’s team passed Test No. 1 when it beat Eastern Michigan in its MAC home opener.

Eastern was the second winning team the Flashes have beaten this season, a team that had the same record (7-4) as Kent going into the game, and a team it had to beat to have a serious chance at a .500 record int he conference.

Test 2 on Wednesday will be harder.

The Flashes host a Northern Illinois team with a better record (9-4 to KSU’s 8-4) and better RPI (81 to Kent’s 114, of 351 teams).

NIU is on a five-game winning streak, with all the victories coming at home. KSU also has won five in a row, three on the road and the last two at home. Both teams are coming off solid home victories; The Flashes beat 7-5 Eastern Michigan 71-64 in Kent; the Huskies beat 8-3 Miami in DeKalb, 82-73.

The fact that the game is in Kent is a plus for the Flashes. Northern hasn’t won away from home this season, losing at Power 5 opponents Iowa State and Indiana and dropping neutral-site games against Montana (7-5, RPI 71) and Southern Illinois (8-5, RPI 152).

Kent State is 5-1 at home, including wins over Youngstown State (10-3, RPI 106) and Eastern (7-5, RPI 212).

Northern Illinois plays a style like nothing the Flashes have seen so far this season. The Huskies average 83.3 points a game, second in the MAC and 13th in the country. But they don’t play much defense; their average of 72.7 points a game is last in the MAC. Since coach Lisa Carlson arrived at NIU four years ago, her strategy pretty much been to just try to outscore the opposition.

From coach Todd Starkey, as quoted by the Record-Courier’s Allen Moff:

“They are relentless offensively. Everybody can shoot, everybody can pass. They play incredibly hard and are very efficient in transition. If you hold them under 80 points, you have a chance. If not, you’re trying to outscore a team that’s really good at winning those types of games. They’re a lot for a young team to handle. We’ll see what we’re made of for sure.”

Senior Mikayla Voigt averages 21.6 points a game for Northern. She set a Mid-American Conference single-game scoring record when she had 52 points against Western Illinois in December. Voigt, a 5-9 guard, is second in the conference in points per game, sixth in three-point percentage (44.1), tied for first in three-pointers a game (3.8), 11th in field-goal percentage (47.8), fifth in free-throw percentage (85.7) and 18th in rebounding (4.4).

“Voigt, the last several games, has been unreal.,” Starkey said.

NIU’s next best scorer is 5-11 sophomore guard Gabby Nikitinaite at 12.5 points per game and 5-4 point guard Myia Starks at 11.5. Leading rebounder is 6-2 junior forward Ally May, who has averaged 11.5 rebounds in her last two games and 7.5 for the season.

Courtney Woods, the Huskies leading scorer last season, was lost for the season with a knee injury suffered against Nevada on Dec. 2. At the time, she was averaging 20.1 points a game.

Northern is fourth in the conference in shooting percentage (43.1) and seventh in three-point percentage (31.8).

Kent State’s defense is first in the MAC in field-goal defense and 11th in three-point defense (32.1).

Freshman point guard Asiah Dingle moved up to 16th in the conference in scoring at 13.6 points a game with her 29-point performance against Eastern Michigan. Junior guard Megan Carter is 13th at 14.7 after scoring just four points in the EMU game.

Senior Merissa Barber-Smith is sixth in the MAC in rebounding at 7.1 a game, Carter is 10th in free-throw percentage at 76.7 and Dingle fifth in steals at 2.2. Freshman forward Lindsey Thall leads the conference in blocks per game at 1.5; Barber-Smith is tied for second at 1.4.

BOTTOM LINE: Expect one of Kent’s highest scoring games of the year, both on offense and defense. Key is whether KSU’s defense — its strength all year — can hold down the Huskies. NIU likely will game plan against Dingle. Whether she can still score — and whether Carter can bounce back in scoring — will make a big difference.

To follow the game

The game starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the M.A.C. Center. Reserved seat tickets are $10, general admission $5. KSU students get in free with their ID.

Audio starts at about 6:45 p.m. on Golden Flash iHeart Radio. Jacob Pavilack is the announcer.

Video is through ESPN3. You can watch if you subscribe to ESPN on your cable or satellite system or on the ESPN app. It’s free. David Wilson and Mike Elkins are the announcers.

Live statistics are available through the KSU website.

Links

Preview from Kent State women’s website, including links to statistics, roster and more.

Detailed media game notes for Kent State.

Preview from Northern Illinois website, including links.

Media notes for Northern Illinois.

In case you missed it, here are the wbbFlashes “Keys to the MAC “Season,” a detailed look on where the team stands.

The MAC’s big game

Ohio (12-0), one of three undefeated teams left in the country, hosts Central Michigan (10-3), the preseason MAC favorite and highest RPI team in the conference, on Wednesday. It should be quite a game, though it would be hard to be better than OU’s 74-71 overtime win at 8-4 Buffalo Saturday.

Elsewhere in the league, it’s:

  • Akron (9-3, 0-1) at Western Michigan (7-5, 1-0).
  • Bowling Green (7-5, 0-1) at Ball State (5-8, 0-1).
  • Buffalo (8-4, 0-1) at Eastern Michigan (7-5, 0-1).
  • Toledo (9-3, 1-0_ at Miami (9-3, 0-1).

MAC statistics

MAC standings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behind a spectacular game by Asiah Dingle, Flashes beat EMU, 71-64

dingle vs emu (1)

KSU’s Asiah celebrates on her way to 29 points and KSU’s first MAC win. (Photo by David Dermer from KSU website.)

 

In the middle of the first quarter, Kent State coach Todd Starkey shouted to freshman point guard Asiah Dingle:

Down hill. Every time.”

Dingle did exactly what he asked for 39 minutes on Saturday.

She drove to the basket almost at will, scored 29 points, stole the ball five times and had two assists. She grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots. (She’s all of 5-foot-5). All but the assists were the highest in her short career.

Her performance led the Flashes to a 71-64 victory over Eastern Michigan in their Mid-American Conference opener. The Flashes are now 8-4 on the season and, obviously, tied with five other teams for first in the MAC at 1-0.

Dingle had averaged 12 points a game, second on the team, with a high of 17.

What happened to create such a break-out game?

“Me and coach had a talk,” she said in a postgame interview, looking at the Starkey to see how much she should say. He continued the conversation.

“We just talked about how she’s talented enough to be one of the best players in the conference,” Starkey said, “but not without playing hard every moment. 

“So she did it. She played with great focus and intensity and confidence.”

And what does “down hill” mean?

“Beat your defender,” Dingle said.

And how does she do that?

“I catch the defense off guard,” she said. “I, like, trick them into doing something, and then I get a split second. and get that first step.”

Then it’s “Just stop me,” she said.

To Starkey, “down hill” means “Get the ball and drive at the basket until they stop you.”

In one of his conversations with Dingle, Starkey told her: “You have to let me be hardest on our best lawyers, and you’re our most talented. And so I’m not going to give you any room. I’m going to keep coaching you, and how you accept that coaching is going to determine what your season looks like.

“She took that to heart, and the way she played today…that’s what we expect from her.”

Dingle’s 29 points were the most for any Kent player this season. Her game was the best by a Kent State point guard since the Flashes had Dawn Zerman, who led two MAC championship teams between 1996 and 2000 and probably is the best point guard in KSU history. Dingle was the Boston Globe’s player of the year her senior yearand led her high school team to three state championships.

“She could have had 40,” Starkey said, moving into his “what we need to do better mode.”

He said Dingle could have made five or six more layups on her drives. (She was 10 of 22 shooting.)

“We missed 12 layups in the first half, and more in the second,” he said. “We had too many turnovers (10) in the first half.”

The Flashes went ahead 22-10 after a quarter.

Then, Starkey said,”We let our foot off the gas, started turning the ball over and not finishing plays. Everybody in this league will pounce on that and will be able to get back in the game.

“That’s one of the things this young team will have to learn — that every possession matters even when you’re up by 12 early.”

The Flashes played a very young line-up Saturday. At times, they had four freshmen on the floor in a close game. Second leading scorer was freshman forward Lindsey Thall, who had 14 points, one off her high. Thall, who is 6-foot-2, also blocked four shots, three in the first quarter.

“It’s not great leaping ability,” Starkey said. “She’s just got really good timing. She keeps her hands up and makes players shoot the ball into her hands.

“She’s really developed defensively since she’s been here. That’s where I’m most proud of her.”

Thall made four-of-six three-point shots. She leads the team in three-point baskets with 22. Next step, she and Starkey said, is to score elsewhere.

“Coach says I’m easy to guard because people will just find me trying to get three-point shots,” Thall said. “But if I get more looks inside, then I can help my team to open up other things.”

Senior Alexa Golden hit three three-point shots, had nine rebounds and four assists. She led a defense that held held Eastern’s three leading scorers, who had averaged a total of 40 points a game, to 25. Golden played all 40 minutes.

After KSU’s overpowering 22-10 first quarter,  Eastern pulled to within 35-32 at halftime and led 49-48 at the end of the third quarter. But behind 13 points from Dingle, the Flashes reclaimed the game in the fourth quarter. They outscored Eatern 7-2 in the first five minutes and eventually built a lead as big as 10.

Box score

Notes

  • The game was pretty much the way Starkey has wanted the team to play since practice started. The Flashes made his goal of 70 points, scored in transition (21 fast-break points), had assists on 14 or 24 baskets and shot pretty well, especially in the first and fourth quarters.
  • Kent State made a season-high 12 three-point baskets with a season-high 54.5 percent three-point shooting (12 of 22). Overall the team shot 38.7 percent, about a point ahead of its average. Combined shooting percentage for the first and fourth quarter was 48 percent. For the second and third, it was 30 percent.
  • KSU has the best field-goal defensive percentage in the league and EMU the worst field-goal offense. On Saturday, Eastern made 33.8 percent of its shots, about a point below KSU’s defensive average and about 2 points below the Eagles’ offensive average.
  • Other scorers for Kent State were Ali Poole, who had seven, including two three-pointers and Merissa Barber-Smith and Megan Carter had four. Carter, Kent State’s leading scorer, struggled all night and didn’t make a field goal. Barber-Smith also had six rebounds in 12 minutes, keeping up her 0.5-rebound per minute pace. That seems to be the best in the MAC (it’s a very unofficial statistics). Freshman Mariah Modkins had three points.
  • Dingle’s 29 points were the most by a KSU freshman since Ellie Shields scored 31 vs. Toledo on Jan. 30, 2008.
  • Both teams committed 17 turnovers. Eastern scored 13 off of Kent’s; KSU had 12.
  • Kent State’s eight blocked shots tied for second best in the MAC this season. The Flashes lead the league in blocks per game at 4.0. Thall’s four moved her into the league lead at 1.5 a game. Barber-Smith, who didn’t block a shot for the first time in eight games, is second at 1.4.
  • It was the third straight game the Flashes have beaten Eastern by seven points. Starkey has won all five of his games against the Eagles. Before he arrived in Kent, KSU had lost 11 straight.
  • Attendance was first listed at 390, then changed to about 1,400 in final box score. There were probably about that number when game started, but crowd grew steadily as men’s game approached.
  • Lots of good photos and video of the game are on the KSU Twitter feed (@KentStateWbb) and photographer David Dermer’s feed (@DavidDermerPix).

The Flashes play at home again Wednesday against Northern Illinois (9-4), which beat 9-3 Miami 82-71 in DeKalb. Game time is 7 p.m.

Other MAC scores

  • Ohio stayed undefeated at 12-0 with a 74-71 overtime victory at Buffalo (8-4). The Bobcats held Buffalo’s Cierra Dillard, the country’s second-leading scorer, 10 points below her 25-point average.
  • Akron (9-3) led defending league champion Central Michigan by eight points after the first quarter. But Central dominated the rest of the game to win, 94-71, Central is 10-3 and plays at Ohio on Wednesday.
  • Western Michigan (7-6) beat Bowling Green (7-5) at BG, 84-82.
  • Toledo (9-3) beat Ball State (5-8) in Toledo, 65-58.

MAC standings

 

Flashes open MAC season at home against Eastern Michigan, also 7-4

2019 huddleThe Flashes’ huddle. (File photo from KSU website.)

Can a team have a “must-win” game in its conference opener?

For Kent State, beating Eastern Michigan is almost essential to making the first division of the Mid-American Conference this season.

Both the Flashes and Eastern have 7-4 records. KSU is higher in every national ranking system I can find. It’s a home game for the Flashes. Kent beat EMU twice last year, though the Flashes are such a different team, that doesn’t count for much.

And it’s likely not going to be easy.

“There are no easy wins in the MAC,” KSU coach Todd Starkey has said often. “The league is as good top to bottom as it’s every been.”

The game is at 5 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center. It’s the first game of a doubleheader with the KSU men, who play Bowling Green a half hour after the women finish. One ticket gets you in both games.

Like Kent State, Eastern is coming off a win over a Division II school, Northwood, 53-39. The Flashes beat Clarion 92-38 on Monday. Eastern, like KSU, has beaten only one team with a winning record; that was Illinois State (6-4) in its opener. No other team the Eagles have won against is better than 2-12. Their best game was a 72-66 loss at Illinois Dec. 1 and a 73-63 loss to Butler (12-1) Dec.21.

KSU beat 9-3 Youngstown State, 62-34. Next best record for a defeated opponent is 3-10.

Kent’s RPI is 140 (of 351 teams), according to WarrenNolan.com. Eastern’s is 221.

Eastern’s 7-4 record is the best in the three years of coach Fred Castro, who was a highly regarded assistant coach at the University of Washington before EMU hired him. Castro has had two of the MAC’s best recruiting classes in two years. Last season the Eagles surprisingly were in the first division of the MAC for half the season but faded toward the end.

As it usually does, Eastern plays tough pressure defense. The Eagles are second in the conference in field goal defense at 35.4 percent. (Kent State is first at 34.9.) Eastern in third in the MAC in steals (9.55 per game) (KSU is 8.55) and has a plus-2.82 turnover margin. (KSU’s is plus-4.09.)

The teams are 11th and 12 in the conference in assists and assist-to-turnover margin and among the worst in scoring and shooting percentage.

Top Eastern scorers are three guards — 5-8 redshirt sophomore Corrione Cardwell  (14.6 points per game), 5-8 redshirt senior Danielle Minott (13.5) and 5-10 sophomore Courtnie Lewis (11.6). Cardwell is averaging 10 points more than she did as a freshman. Minott was Eastern’s leading scorer last season and a preseason all-MAC West selection. Lewis made last year’s all-freshman and third–team all-MAC teams.

Top rebounder is 6-1 redshirt senior forward Lorraine Enabulele at 6.3 per game. Freshman point guard Jenna Annecchiarico. a 5-5 four-star recruit from New York, leads the MAC and is third in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.8). (Kent’s best is Alexa Golden at 1.05.) Annecchiarico averages 5.2 assists per game, eighth in the league.

Keys to the game simply seem to be (1) which team wins the turnover battle and (2) which team shoots better.

To follow the game

The game starts at 5 p.m. Saturday at the M.A.C. Center. Reserved seat tickets are $10, general admission $5. S KSU students get in free. Your women’s ticket also gets you into the KSU men’s game against Bowling Green, which follows the women’s.

Video is through ESPN3. You can get if you subscribe to ESPN on your cable or satellite system or on the ESPN app. David Wilson is the play-by-play  announcer.

Audio starts at about 4:45 p.m. on Golden Flash iHeart Radio. Jacob Pavilack is the announcer.

Live statistics are available through the KSU website.

Links

Preview from Kent State women’s website, including links to statistics, roster and more.

Detailed media game notes for Kent State.

Preview from Eastern Michigan website, including links.

Media notes for Eastern Michigan.

MAC statistics

MAC standings

In case you missed it, here are the wbbFlashes Keys to the MAC season, a detailed look on where the team stands now.

 

 

 

 

 

Keys to the MAC season: Five things Kent State needs to do to compete

KSU’s leading scorers: Junior Megan Carter (15.6 points per game) and freshman Asiah Dingle (12.0 points per game). (File photos from KSU website)

 

The women’s basketball team enters Mid-American Conference play Saturday with a 7-4 record, tied for eighth best in that MAC. That’s also about where various national ranking systems place them.

Last year at this point, the Flashes were 7-5, then went 5-13 in conference play and finished 10th in the league.

Two years ago, KSU was 5-7, then surprised everyone and won the MAC East with a 13-5 record.

So which will it be this year? The Flashes have some very good young players and some some solid upperclassmen. They also are unproven against MAC-quality teams and have struggled to score.

I’ve watched this team for two months and still am not sure how good it is. I do know it’s completely different from the last two years. Those teams had very experienced line-ups. This year’s team starts two freshmen, and two more are among its top eight players. Those teams had a strong post player in all-MAC forward Jordan Korinek. There’s no one like her on current team.

But this year’s team is faster, more athletic and — though the statistics don’t show it — probably a better-shooting team.

But the MAC competition is going to be better than the non-conference schedule. The Flashes have beaten only one team with a winning record (Youngstown State, now 8-3, which they routed 62-34). No other school KSU has beaten has won more than three games. Every team in the MAC except Ball State has a winning record. Five teams are in the top 100 in the country in RPI.

I’d be happy with a .500 MAC record. Here are my keys to the Flashes doing than — or better.

1, 2, and 3: Score more points

In his preseason press conference, coach Todd Starkey said he wanted his team to average than 70 points a game. Without that, Starkey said “62 points probably will put us right squarely at 5-13 again in the league.” (That was last year’s scoring average and last year’s MAC record.)

In 10 non-conference games against Division I opponents, the Flashes averaged 63.4. They scored more than 70 only three times. 70 would be slightly above average for the league. Five teams average more than 73; seven average fewer than 67.

KSU’s shooting percentage against Division I competition schools is 36.3. (I don’t think it gives a fair picture if we count the 92-38 shellacking of Division II Clarion, when KSU made 52 percent of its shots.)

That is 10th in the MAC, a full 5 percentage points below the conference average. It’s 2 percentage points below last year’s team, which was ninth in the league in shooting. So how does KSU do better?

A. Shoot better — at least 40 percent.

How? Starkey says the team needs to (1) Score more in transition and (2) run the offense better.

“The goal is to get out and score before they can get their defense set up,” Starkey said. The Flashes have pushed the ball; there’s be very little walking it up the court. But they haven’t scored a lot of points doing it. Over the last five games, when KSU is 3-2, it has scored an average of about eight points a game on fast breaks, loosely defined as scoring without setting up the offense. Worst case was the 57-40 win over NJIT, when Kent had 10 steals and outrebounded the Highlanders 47-40 — and four fast-break points.

The Flashes have the speed to run — freshman point guard Asiah Dingle, for example, can look like a force of nature in the open court. But so far, it hasn’t happened consistently.

Starkey says the young team is still figuring out how college offense works.

“These players are still learning how to play together,” he said. “It’s a different thing when you have one or two freshmen that are playing major minutes, but we have four. That mix of things can throw some things off. They don’t know what to look for.”

Some players, he said, are “falling victim to the scouting report.”

“It’s new to many of them,” he said, “and they’re learning to understand that teams are going to know what their strengths are, and they’re going to try to take them away.”

The Clarion game was an example of what could be. Against Division II competition, the Flashes had 17 steals and scored 32 fast-break points. When they were in their half-court offense, Starkey called out play after play and the Flashes made 52 percent of their shots, a season high.

Whether that can translate to MAC play is something we’ll see starting Saturday.

B. Pass the ball

The Flashes are dead last in the conference in assists at 10.3 a game. Her Hoop Stats, an analytic wensite, says 47.7 percent of KSU’s scoring comes off of assists. That’s 313th of 351 Division I teams.

It’s certainly one reason the offense isn’t working well some of the time. The team is obviously working on that. KSU made it a point of emphasis between wins against Robert Morris and Saint Bonaventure. Assists went from eight to 15, and KSU scored its most points of the season against a Division I opponent.

One reason for the lack of assists is a different style of play. Much of last year’s offense was getting the ball to Korinek in the post. Leading scorers this year are guards Dingle and Megan Carter, who are excellent at creating their own shots off the dribble or through drives to the basket. But they’ve held the ball too much at times this season — “we’re been working on getting the ball out of their hands quickly,” Starkey said after one game. Both players can be good passers; they do lead the team in assists.

C. More players must score more

Carter (15.6 points per game) and Dingle (12.0) are the only players averaging in double figures. Freshman forward Lindsey Thall is almost there at 9.6.

It’s hard to reach 70 points at those levels. Starkey has said he’s comfortable with Carter at 15 or 16. So where’s the additional scoring going to come from?

Dingle certainly has the potential to score five more points a game. Thall could go up four or five. After that, it’s going to have to be starters Ali Poole (currently 8.3) and Alexa Golden (6.3) moving toward double digits. If the Flashes could get six or seven points a game out of rebounding machine Merissa Barber-Smith (she currently averages 2.6 points), it could change the way teams defend Kent State. Freshman Mariah Modkins (5.4) and Hannah Young (4.8) can score off the bench. Young scored 1,998 points in high school.

KSU’s team of two years ago didn’t win the MAC East just because Larissa Lurken averaged 23 points a game. She already was going into the conference season. The Flashes came together when Korinek, Carter and McKenna Stephens stepped up their games in the second half of the season.

4. Reduce turnovers at guard

For the first time in seven years, Kent State has a positive turnover margin. It’s plus-4.09, fourth in the MAC, compared with minus-3.78 last year. The Flashes are still committing turnovers — 16 a game, ninth in the conference and about one-and-a-half fewer than last season. But they’re forcing more — up about six a game from last year.

But Carter and Golden lead the Flashes in turnovers. Their combined assist-to-turnover ratio is 0.77. The top ball handlers in the league have an average of better  than 2.0. Five teams in the MAC has assist-to-turnover ratios over more than 1.05.

As we said before, the offense runs through Carter and Dingle. So they have the ball more and therefore more opportunities to turn it over. They’re both aggressive, and when a player is too aggressive, she can force plays that aren’t there.

The two guards are the heart of the team. The Flashes need their scoring; they also need their not costing the team so many possessions.

5. Keep playing good defense

If the offense hasn’t produced the points we hoped for, the defense has exceeded expectations. 

KSU leads the conference in field goal defense. Opponents have made just 34.9 percent of their shots. Last season the percentage was 41.4. The Flashes are allowing 57.9 points a game, fourth best in the MAC.

“This is a more athletic group, especially on the perimeter,” Starkey said.

“This year we’ve had people that have bought into defense,” said Golden, the team’s best defender.

Dingle and Modkins have extremely quick hands. Modkins, who is just 5 feet tall, can harass an opponent’s point guard like no Kent player I’ve seen in 15 years. And having the 6-4 Barber-Smith in the middle can change an opponent’s offense. She leads the MAC in blocked shots despite just playing 16 minutes a game.

The bottom line

So how many games can the Flashes win in the MAC?

My prediction is seven to 11, which is a pretty big range in an 18-game season. Here’s how I get there.

If the season isn’t a complete disaster, the /flashes have to beat Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Akron and Bowling Green in Kent. All rank below the Flashes in RPI. That’s four wins.

I see six games they have a solid chance to win: Those four teams away, Northern Illinois at home, and Ball State away. Say they win four of those. That’s a total of eight.

I could see KSU upsetting Miami here or away and maybe winning at Toledo.

It would be a significant upset if Kent State beat Ohio (11-0), Central Michigan (9-3) or Buffalo (8-3). All are potential NCAA tournament teams. Kent isn’t there yet.

So that’s eight wins. Win four of the “decent chance” games or beat Miami or Toledo. Or pull a big upset. That would be .500 or better. One more win is a .500 MAC season.

We’ll get a good idea very soon. The Flashes play Eastern Michigan Saturday and Northern Illinois Wednesday. Both games are in Kent.

And, by the way:

Could the Flashes contend for a MAC title? I’d be surprised. But who knows? KSU surprised all of us two years ago.

KSU non-conference statistics

MAC non-conference statistics

MAC standings

Her Hoop Stats for Kent State

The wbbFlashes preview of the MAC season

 

MAC looks strong again, with Central Michigan and Ohio leading the way

Women’s basketball in the  Mid-American Conference had its best season in history last year. This year’s could be as good.

The MAC ranked eighth among the 33 Division I leagues in RPI, according to WarrenNolan.com, the ratings service I use most. Central Michigan and Buffalo reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament, the first time any mid-major conference had done that. It was the first time in 20 years two MAC teams had made the tournament. Five MAC teams, led by CMU (15) and Buffalo (20)  had RPIs in the top 100 in the country.

As conference play begins this week, the MAC ranks ninth in RPI. It’s very close behind the American Athletic Conference, which is eighth and includes No. 1 Connecticut. The American Athletic is considerably weaker than the MAC from about fourth place down.

Five MAC teams are again in the top 100: Central (44), Buffalo (58), Ohio (61), Toledo (82) and Northern Illinois (90).

Warning: the rest of this post in really number heavy and wonky. Skip to the bulleted rankings to see the bottom line on the conference.

MAC teams won 67 percent of their non-conference games, seventh best in the country. Ohio (11-0) is among seven  undefeated teams in the country. Only Ball State (5-7) has a record below .500.

Non-conference records are Ohio (11-0), Akron and Miami (9-2), Central Michigan (9-3), Buffalo and Toledo (8-3), Northern Illinois (8-4) Kent State, Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan (7-4), Western Michigan (6-5) and Ball State (5-7).

Records include all games. All other ratings system don’t count games against non-Division I teams.

The conference has four teams — more than any other league — in the CollegeInsider’s Top 25. Ohio, CMU and Buffalo are 5, 6 and 7. Toledo is 23.

Perhaps most important for the chance of getting two bids to the tournament again, MAC teams have some quality wins, something that wasn’t true last year until Central and Buffalo knocked off rated teams in the NXAA tournament.

CMU beat then-No. 24 Miami of Florida (RPI 39) on Miami’s floor, 90-80. The Chippewas beat Central Florida (19 RPI) in Mount Pleasant, 75-68. They took No. 3 Louisville to the final minute before losing 72-68 at home.

Buffalo beat mid-major power South Dakota State (34 RPI). 61-55 in a Thanksgiving tournament, and lost at home to No. 8 Stanford (10-1, RPI 4), 62-55.

Ohio beat Purdue (10-5), RPI 73). 80-73, and Lamar (3-4 and strangely No 26 in the RPI apparently because of two wins over highly ranked teams), 87-62.

Toledo beat Belmont (RPI 46), another strong mid-major, on the road and lost to No. 2 Notre Dame by 16 at home.

Rankings are all from the most recent AP Poll, which obviously doesn’t always track with the RPI. That system is based 25 percent on a team’s record, 25 percent on its opponents’ records, and 50 percent on its opponents’ opponents’ record. Road wins and home losses are rated heavily.

The biggest thing going against the MAC statistically is strength of schedule. As a whole, the league ranks 26th of 33 conferences. Only Central Michigan (65) is in the top 100.

Undefeated Ohio is 299. Akron and Miami (both 9-2) are over 300. So are Eastern Michigan (316) and Western Michigan (342). That’s out of 351 teams. So Western had the ninth easiest schedule in the country and is still only 5-5 against Division I opponents.

I averaged five rating systems to compare MAC teams, giving a team one point for first, two for second, etc. The results were pretty consistent. Here’s what I came up with:

  • Ohio (10)
  • Central Michigan (10)
  • Buffalo (18)
  • Toledo (19)
  • Miami (27)
  • Northern Illinois (28)
  • Kent State (37)
  • Akron (37)
  • Bowling Green (44)
  • Eastern Michigan (49)
  • Ball State (51)
  • Western Michigan (56)

The five systems were:

Record (see above).

RPI, which ranks teams like this:

  • Central Michigan (44 nationally): Buffalo (58), Ohio (61), Toledo (82), Northern Illinois (90), Miami (131), Kent State (152), Bowling Green (154), Akron (207), Eastern Michigan (222), Ball State (235), Western Michigan (435).

Her Hoop Stats, a really interesting analytics site that rates teams based on its own offensive and defensive ratings.

  • Rankings: Central Michigan (33 nationally), Ohio (52), Buffalo (64), Toledo (91), Miami (99), Northern Illinois (100), Kent State (100), Bowling Green (133), Akron (161), Eastern Michigan (175), Ball State (223), Western Michigan (294).

Elo rankings, which are based on a complicated system of head-to-head competition. Teams get points for winning, especially against higher-ranked opponents. Here’s Wikipedia’s explanation.

  • Rankings: Central Michigan (25 nationally), Ohio (43), Toledo (51), Buffalo (59), Kent State (121), Northern Illinois (122), Ball State (149), Miami (163), Western Michigan (174), Akron (187), Bowling Green (215), Eastern Michigan (245).

WbbFlashes’ own system, which gives points for wins against RPI-ranked teams: Four points for the top-ranked 50, three points for 51-100, two points for 101- to 200, one point for 300 and above.

  • Rankings: Central Michigan (21), Ohio (19), Toledo (14), Buffalo and Northern Illinois (12), Miami (11), Akron (8), Kent State and Eastern Michigan (7), Bowling Green and Ball State (6), Western Michigan (5).

Some of the rankings, especially RPI and Her Hoop Stats, change daily. So don’t hold me to the precise numbers.

Later in the week, we’ll look at each team and give our keys to the conference season for Kent State.