SATURDAY’S KENT STATE-OHIO GAME HAS BEEN POSTPONED. SEE THIS LATER POST
In their week of Ohio competition, the Kent State women Saturday take on Ohio University, which has two very good wins in its first games.
The Flashes are coming off of a 103-47 loss to No. 19 Ohio State on Wednesday in their first game of the season.
Saturday they’ll host the Bobcats, who got votes of their own in the polls after beating then-No. 22 Notre Dame 86-85 in Athens last Friday. OU had opened with another home win, 76-72 over Liberty, a team picked second in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
The game is at 2 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center, but no fans are allowed because of COVID-19 protocols. The game will be streamed on the Kent State website, starting at 1:55 p.m.
The game is one of the earliest Mid-American Conference games in KSU history. In recent years, league play hasn’t started until January, but the MAC moved two games for each team before Christmas to allow scheduling flexibility in a season of COVID.
Ohio was picked second in the MAC this season. Its two wins are the most impressive in the league in the early season. Central Michigan, the conference favorite, lost its opener to Michigan by 18 points. (Michigan beat Notre Dame 76-66 Wednesday.)
Two all-MAC players lead the Bobcats. Senior guard Cece Hooks was the first 2020-21 MAC player of the week after scoring 50 points and getting 15 rebounds in OU’s first games. She scored 33 against Notre Dame. Hooks is also returning two-time MAC defensive player of the year.
Junior guard-forward Erica Johnson had 55 points last week, scoring 31 against Liberty and 24 against Notre Dame.
“They’re two of the more dynamic scorers in the conference, if not the country,” KSU coach Todd Starkey said. “Either one of them could be conference player of the year.”
The Bobcats play a very different style of play than Ohio State.
Ohio University traditionally scores a lot of points (second in the MAC in scoring so far), shoots a lot of 3-point baskets (55 in their first two games) and forces a lot of turnovers (18 against Notre Dame).
No Ohio starter stands taller than 5-11, and that sets up the most interesting matchup on Saturday.
Kent State starts 6-4 Indiana transfer Linsey Marchese, 6-2 Nila Blackford and 6-2 Lindsay Thall. None of them put up fancy numbers at Ohio State, but the Buckeyes were every bit as tall and more athletic.
Starkey said the Ohio State game, played with just three days of practice after a 10-day “pause” because of COVID, is the “kind of a game where you almost throw away the tape and start over.“
“We’ll be a better basketball team moving forward,” he said. “There’s no question in my mind.”
Likely starting lineups
KENT STATE
- Point guard Mariah Modkins, a 5-1 junior from Solon. She had eight points and two 3-point baskets against Ohio State.
- Guard Katie Shumate, a 5-11 sophomore from Newark. She’s coming off off-season knee surgery and played only 15 minutes in Columbus. She was second on the team in rebounding, blocked shots and steals and third in scoring average and assists last season. She was all-MAC honorable mention and made the MAC all-freshman team.
- Forward Lindsey Thall, a 6-2 junior from Strongsville. She led the MAC in blocked shots the last two years and made the all-MAC defensive team. She is also one of the best 3-point shooters in Kent history, already ranking fifth in the record book after two seasons.
- Forward Nila Blackford, a 6-2 sophomore from Louisville, Kentucky. She led the team in rebounding and was second in scoring last season, making the MAC all-freshman team.
- Center Linsey Marchese, a 6-4 Georgia native and transfer from Indiana. She was a top 100 recruit in high school when she was recruited by Starkey, then an assistant coach at Indiana. Marchese had six points and five rebounds against Ohio State.
OHIO
- Guard Cece Hooks, a 5-8 senior from Dayton. Averaged 25 points and 7.5 rebounds in OU’s first two games. All-MAC first two and MAC defensive player of the year the last two seasons.
- Guard Erica Johnson, a 5-11 redshirt junior from Mansfield. Averaged 27.5 points and 7 rebounds in first two games. All-MAC first team last season, MAC freshman of the year in 2018-19.
- Guard Caitlyn Knoll, a 5-10 redshirt junior from Bridgeport. Averages 4 points a game (4.4 last season).
- Forward Gabby Burris, a 5-11 senior from Baltimore, Ohio. Averages 9.5 points and 6 rebounds. Averaged 10.4 points through first three seasons.
- Forward Edecia Beck, a 5-9 junior from Grand Rapids, Mich. Averages 4.5 points and 2.5 rebounds. (3.3 points last season.)
This assumes players are healthy and available, never a guarantee this season.
Notes
- Game will also be streamed on Kent State’s Tune-In Radio channel.
- Live game statistics will be on the KSU website.
The view from Ohio State
OSU coach Kevin McGuff after the Kent State game:
“We obviously started with really good defensive energy. We were playing really well on that end of the floor, Kent State wasn’t shooting well, and so that led to a perfect storm.” (OSU led 26-0 during the first quarter.)
“With Covid-19, teams are just at different levels right now. I don’t know if the score would be what it was today a month from now.”
MAC scores catchup
Dec. 3
- Bowling Green (2-0) 63, Northern Kentucky (0-3) 49 at Northern Kentucky. Freshman guard Lexi Fleming is averaging 17.5 points a game for BG.
- VCU (2-2) 61, Buffalo (1-1) 55 at VCU. Buffalo’s Dyaisha Fair, last year’s MAC freshman of the year, is averaging 28 points a game.
Dec. 2
- Eastern Michigan (2-1) 77, Ball State (0-3) 58 at Ball State. Eastern’s Aereanna Combs is averaging 21 points a game and Ce’Nara Skanes 20.3. had 20. Ball State was without all-MAC forward Oshlynn Brown for the third straight game.
Dec. 1
- Akron (2-0) 70, Northern Kentucky (0-3) 60 at Akron. Jordyn Dawson averages 18 points a game for the Zips.
Nov. 30
- Buffalo 80, James Madison 64 at James Madison
- IUPUI 73, Ball State 49 at Ball State.
Nov. 29
- Notre Dame 88, Miami (0-1) 68 at Notre Dame.
- Illinois-Chicago 66, Eastern Michigan 62 at Eastern.
- Toledo (1-0) 71, Oakland 69 at Toledo.
- Bowling Green 70, Valparaiso 60 at BG.
- Akron 95, Bluefield State 61 at Akron.