KSU’s bench erupts late in the Flashes’ win over Ball State. (Photo by Nick Cammett from KSU Twitter feed.)
As they did on the scoreboard, the Flashes checked just enough of the right boxes in the game report card on their over Ball State.
Kent State 69, Ball State 68
GAME STORY: Megan Carter’s basket with 10 seconds to go is key to win.
Score 70 points on offense: 69, close enough to count with the win. ACHIEVED IN SPIRIT.
Hold opponent under 70: 68. Again very close, but it counts for real. ACHIEVED.
Make 40% of shots: 46.3. The Flashes’ fifth best of the season, second best in MAC play and best by four points against a team with a winning record. ACHIEVED.
Hold opponent under 40%: 43.9. KSU held Ball State under 35% for every quarter except the second, but in that time the Cardinals shot 68% and outscored the Flashes 30-14. NOT ACHIEVED.
Outscore opponent by five on free throws: Neither team shot well. Kent State was 13 of 21, Ball State 14 of 24. In a one-point game, any of those shots could have made the difference. NOT ACHIEVED.
Outscore opponent by five points off turnovers: Kent State 16 off of 14 Cardinal turnovers, Ball State nine off 11 from the Flashes. ACHIEVED.
Have 14 assists: 12 on 25 baskets. The percentage of assisted baskets is good. Total assists are a little below the benchmark. Coach Todd Starkey has said to look at the shooting percentage; if it’s good, number of assists isn’t quite as important. NOT ACHIEVED.
Get 10 points from the bench: Just three on a basket and free throw from Hannah Young. Mariah Modkins, who usually comes off the bench, started and hit two 3-point baskets. Ball State reserves scored 21. NOT ACHIEVED.
BOTTOM LINE: Good shooting and points.off turnovers made the different. Strictly by the benchmarks, game was a B. The win was one of Flashes’ best.
Around the MAC
Central Michigan won yet another road game against strong competition to continue to run away in the “golf” and regular standings. Eastern Michigan also won on the road.
Central beat Buffalo 98-83 in double overtime in Buffalo. The Chippewas came from behind in the fourth quarter for the fourth straight game and won despite star guard Micaela Kelly’s fouling out in the first minute of the first overtime. Kelly had the first triple-double of her career with 14 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Molly Davis scored 25 points for CMU. Buffalo’s Dyaisha Fair had 29 points but didn’t score in either overtime. It was Central’s fifth road win of the MAC season. Chips are 8-0 in the league.
Eastern Michigan beat Toledo 77-62 at Toledo. Oklahoma State transfer Areanna Combs scored 27 point for the Eagles, who won at Toledo for the first time in four years. Nakiah Black had 13 for the Rockers.
Ohio beat Akron 70-57 in Athens for its fourth straight win. Senior guard Amani Burke had 20 points, junior guard Cece Hooks 17, nine rebounds and seven steals. Akron led 34-32 at halftime but was held to 23 points in the second half.
The Western Michigan game at Miami was postponed at Western’s request in a somewhat over-reaction to two suspected Coronovirus cases in Miami. The university remained open and operated normally. The game will be played Monday at Miami. The Miami-Central Michigan men’s game was also postposed until Feb. 27.
Bowling Green and Northern Illinois had their midweek byes.
The ‘golf’ standings
The “golf” standings give a team -1 for a road win (a “birdie”) and adds a point for a home loss (a “bogey.” A home win or road loss gets zero (“par”).
-5
- Central Michigan (8-0, 15-4)
-1
- Ohio (6-2, 13-6)
- Ball State (5-3, 13-7)
- Eastern Michigan (5-3, 10-9)
Even
- Buffalo (4-4, 13-6)
- Western Michigan (4-3, 11-7)
- Kent State (4-3, 11-7)
- Toledo (4-3, 9-9)
+2
- Akron (2-6, 9-10)
- Miami (1-6, 8-11)
- Bowling Green (1-6, 8-11)
- Northern Illinois (1-6, 5-13)