Lindsey Thall had 19 points, seven rebounds, four blocks and two assists in KSU’s 61-47 win over Bowling Green. (Photo by KentWired’s Gina Schlegel.)
The Flashes made almost 46% of their shots and held Bowling Green to making 32% of theirs. That was more than enough for a victory and one of their best report cards of the season
GAME STORY: Kent State defense smothers Falcons
Kent State 61, Bowling Green 47
Score 70 points on offense: 61. It was a surprisingly defensive-oriented game for two teams known more for scoring. Kent State also slowed the game down late to lessen the chances of a BG comeback. NOT ACHIEVED but with the big win, who cares?
Hold opponent under 70: 47. Kent’s best defense of the season except for against Division III Hiram. ACHIEVED IN A BIG WAY.
Make 40% of shots: 45.5. Among KSU’s best of the season. ACHIEVED.
Hold opponent under 40%: 31.8. Again Kent State’s best of the season against Division I opposition. Bowling Green’s worst shooting of the year. ACHIEVED IN A BIG WAY.
Outscore opponent by five on free throws: Fewest free throws of the season Flashes and their opponent combined. Kent State was five of seven, BG two of five. NOT ACHIEVED but irrelevant to results.
Outscore opponent by five points off turnovers: Bowling Green scored 13 off of KSU’s 18 turnovers. Kent State had 10 off of 14 from BG. In second half, when KSU outscored Falcons 34-19, points off turnovers went to Flashes 8-4.
Have 14 assists: 13 on 25 baskets. With that percentage and 45% shooting, we can count this ACHIEVED.
Get 10 points from the bench: 18 but mostly because Asiah Dingle didn’t start but still scored 16 points in 20 minutes. ACHIEVED with an asterisk.
BOTTOM LINE: Kent State’s shooting percentage and defense were good enough to give Flashes an A-.
Around the MAC
Ohio beat Eastern Michigan 75-65 at Eastern for the league’s only road win Wednesday night. Bobcats are in second place in MAC at 7-3 and have lost those three games by a total of four points. Kent State plays at Ohio Saturday.
The Bobcats never had consecutive turnovers in the game. Sophomore guard Erica Johnson had 20 points and 10 rebounds, junior forward Gabby Burris 19 points and junior guard Cece Hooks 16. Eastern was without three of its top players — leading scorers Areanna Combs and Aaliyah Stanley and leading rebounder Autumn Hudson. Combs was out with an injury. I found nothing about Hudson, who played Saturday against Akron, or Stanley, who has missed two straight games.
Central Michigan went 10-0 in the MAC with a 66-60 victory over Northern Illinois in Mt. Pleasant. It was one of CMU’s worst conference games; the Chippewas scored 13 points below their average, shot 37%, eight below their average, and were outrebounded 52-40. They still had enough to beat NIU, which is 2-7 and 11th in the league.
Miami won its third straight, scoring a season-high in beating Toledo 92-83 in Miami. Freshman guard Peyton Scott had her second straight career-high with 28 points. Lauren Dickerson had 23 and Savannah Kluesner 21. Toledo got a career-high 31 points from guard Mariella Santucci.
Akron, Ball State, Buffalo and Western Michigan all had midweek byes.
The ‘golf’ standings
Ohio was the only team to pick up points in the “golf” standings, which 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 (10-0, 17-4)
-2
- Ohio (7-3, 14-7)
-1
- Ball State (6-3, 14-7)
Even
- Kent State (5-4, 12-8)
- Toledo (5-4, 10-10)
- Eastern Michigan (5-5, 10-11)
- Buffalo (4-5, 13-7)
- Western Michigan (4-5, 11-9)
+1
- Miami (4-6, 11-11)
+2
- Akron (3-6, 10-10)
- Northern Illinois (2-7, 6-14)
+3
- Bowling Green (1-8, 8-13)