Megan Carter had 14 points against Central Michigan, her first time in double figures in four games. (File photo by Nick Cammett from KSU Twitter feed.)
Kent State did about as poorly on its report card categories against Central Michigan as it did well against Toledo. The Flashes hit only one of eight benchmarks — they had 19 points fromm their bench. Against Toledo, they hit seven. Of course, a lot of that is the difference between 13-0 Central and 6-7 Toledo.
GAME STORY: After first quarter, KSU offense dries up against first-place CMU.
Central Michigan 71, Kent State 58
Score 70 points on offense: 58. Flashes had great start with25 points in first quarter, but didn’t score more than 12 in a quarter the rest of the game. NOT ACHIEVED.
Hold opponent under 70: 71. Nine points below CMUK’s average, but still above 70. NOT ACHIEVED.
Make 40% of shots: 34.6. Just 29 percent over last three quarters. NOT ACHIEVED.
Hold opponent under 40%: 50.0. Worst of the MAC season. (Central leads the MAC in shooting percentage.) NOT ACHIEVED.
Outscore opponent by five on free throws: Central made 9 of 11, Kent State 8 of 11. NOT ACHIEVED.
Outscore opponent by five points off turnovers: Kent State forced more turnovers (16-9). But teams were even at 12-12 in points off of them. NOT ACHIEVED.
Have 14 assists: Seven, tied for second lowest of season. (Central, second in the league in assists, had just eight.) NOT ACHIEVED.
Get 10 points from the bench: 19, led by 16 from Asiah Dingle. Her move to the first reserve into the game has made this category less meaningful. ACHIEVED.
BOTTOM LINE: Even considering the competition, a D+.
Around the MAC
Akron was the only team to win on the road and gain “golf” points. Western Michigan’s win and Kent State’s loss dropped the two teams into a tie with Eastern Michigan for fourth place in the regular standings. KSU and Eastern are tied for fourth in the “golf” standings.
Akron beat Buffalo 69-63, sending the Bulls to their sixth straight defeat. The last time Buffalo lost six in a row was 2012-13. A 7-1 run toward the end of the third quarter gave Buffalo a brief lead, but Akron finished the quarter with seven straight points, then outscored the Bulls 20-17 in the fourth quarter. Haliegh Reinoehl had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Akron; Jordan Dawson had 13 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Theresa Onwuka had 21 points and 12 rebounds for Buffalo.
Western Michigan led by as many as 17 points in beating Bowling Green 69-55. Breanna Mobley had 23 points and 13 rebounds for her 16th double-double of the season. Redshirt junior guard Caterrion Thompson had a career-high 23 off the bench for BG.
Ball State went to 7-0 at home with a 97-89 win over Northern Illinois. Oshlynn Brown had 28 points and 13 rebounds for the Cardinals, who had five players score in double figures. Courtney Brown led four players in double figures for NIU with 18 points.
Ohio went on a 28-1 run over 12 minutes in the third and fourth quarter and beat Toledo 86-58. OU’s Erica Johnson, the MAC’s leading scorer in conference games, had 31 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and four steals. Cece Hooks had 20 and fur steals. Tanaya Beachkam had 20 and 14 rebounds for Toledo.
BEST GAMES THIS SATURDAY: Ball State at Eastern Michigan. Western Michigan at Toledo.
The ‘golf’ standings
They 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”).
-6
- Central Michigan (13-0, 20-4)
-3
- Ball State (10-3, 18-7)
- Ohio (10-3, 17-7)
-1
- Kent State (7-6, 14-10)
- Eastern Michigan (7-6, 12-12)
Even
- Western Michigan (7-6, 14-10)
- Toledo (6-7, 11-13)
+1
- Akron (5-8, 12-12)
+2
- Northern Illinois (3-9, 7-16)
+3
- Buffalo (4-9, 13-11)
- Miami (4-9, 11-14)
+5
- Bowling Green (1-12, 8-17)