Month: December 2020

Kent State women's basketball

Flashes play 2-0 Ohio Saturday in early MAC opener

By on Friday, December 4, 2020
Mariah Modkins controls the ball in Kent State’s 81-77 win over Ohio at the M.A.C. Center last March. The win clinched tie for the MAC East title for the Flashes. (Photo by Savannah Monk of KentWired.)

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.
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Kent State women's basketball

A very rough opener against a very good team: Flashes fall 103-47 at Ohio State

By on Wednesday, December 2, 2020
This season tipoff in an empty gym at Ohio State. (Photo from OSU athletics.)

If we look hard enough, we can find a few good things in Kent State’s 103-47 loss at No. 19 Ohio State Saturday.

  1. The Flashes got to play at all. In this season of COVID-19, that’s an accomplishment. KSU’s scheduled opener last Sunday was canceled because of COVID problems on the team.
  2. The second half was better than the first. The Flashes had 36 points and made 39% of their shots. In the first half, they made only four baskets, shot 11% and scored 14 points.
  3. KSU rebounded pretty well. They had 41, including 18 offensive rebounds. Ohio State had 44, and just six offensive rebounds.

But the score definitely reflects the game. It was the first time since 2009 that Kent State has given up 100 points. The 56-point margin was the largest in coach Todd Starkey’s five years in Kent.

The Flashes were down 26-0 before freshman Casey Santoro made a foul shot with 1:18 to go in the first quarter. KSU had missed its first 15 shots before Nila Blackford made a layup with 10 seconds to go in the quarter.

The Buckeyes led 31-4 after the quarter and 52-14 at halftime.

No doubt Ohio State is really good. The Buckeyes have five starters back from a team that went 21-12 and tied for fifth in the Big Ten. They’re one of five Big Ten teams ranked in the Top 25.

OSU was playing its second game of the season, coming off an 82-47 win Sunday over Duquesne, a good mid-major. The Buckeyes hadn’t missed a practice because of COVID.

Kent State had had just three practices since they came off a 10-day “pause” because of COVID issues.

“Coming out of quarantine, we just weren’t ready for this game,” Starkey said in a phone interview after the game. “I can second-guess playing it. But the kids just wanted to play, and that was the only game we had available to take.

“We just scheduled the game five days ago, and we weren’t even practicing then.”

And Ohio State, Starkey said, “is better than us.”

“Based on what I’ve seen so far,” he said, “I think they’re going to be a Top 10 team and battle it out for the Big Ten championship.”

The Buckeyes shot 70% in the first quarter and 64% for the game. They made seven of their 14 3-point shots. All-Big Ten forward Dorka Juhasz had 16 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes. “A future WNBA player,” Starkey said.

Ohio State played very good defense, but Kent State also just missed shots. The Flashes made 7 of 29 layups, 3 of 17 3-point shots and 12 of 22 free throws.

“We got some decent looks early,” Starkey said. “If a few of those go in, it probably feels a little different. But I don’t necessarily think there’s going to be a significantly different outcome.

“We kind of gave in mentally at the beginning because nothing was going our way. I thought that at times, we did some much better things in the second half.”

The Flashes scored more points in the third quarter (16) than they did in the whole first half, and they made seven of their 14 shots in the fourth quarter.

“I thought in the second half we played with a lot more fight and a lot more poise,” Starkey said. 

Blackford led the Flashes with nine points. Mariah Modkins had eight, including two 3-pointers.

Sophomore guard Clare Kelly led KSU with seven rebounds (“a spark off the bench,” Starkey said.) Blackford, Lindsey Thall, Indiana transfer Linsey Marchese and Annie Pavlansky all had five rebounds.

Starkey thought the rebounding statistics were somewhat misleading. “When they shoot 60%, there aren’t a lot of offensive rebounds for them to get,” he said.

Still Kent State’s rebounding percentage (the number of rebounds divided by the number of missed shots) was 48.2%, Ohio State’s was 51.8%. Against Duquesne, which shot the 22% from the field as Kent, the Buckeyes’ rebounding percentage was 74%.

 Box score

Shumate in starting lineup

Sophomore Katie Shumate, who had practiced sparingly after off-season knee surgery, was a bit of a surprise starter. At one point, it was unclear whether she would play at all this year.

She had four points and two rebounds in 15 minutes.

“She’s not 100% and a bit of a work in progress,” Starkey said. “She’s going to have to continue to gain muscle endurance and strength.”

Shumate was second on the team last season in points, rebounds, blocks and steals and third in assists. She made the MAC all-freshman team and was honorable mention all-conference.

Notes

  • The full starting lineup was Shumate, Modkins, Blackford, Marchese and Thall.
  • Thall, who scored 32 points and hit a KSU-record eight 3-pointers against Ohio State last season, was 1 for 10 with one 3-point basket and two free throws.
  • Kent State took more shots (68) than Ohio State (66).
  • The Flashes had 14 turnovers, generally a good number. But Ohio State had three.
  • KSU had five assists on 16 baskets. Ohio State had 23 on 39.
  • Kent State’s two freshmen each played about 16 minutes. Center Lexi Jackson had two points and three rebounds. Santoro had one point, two rebounds and zero turnovers. Marchese, playing in her first KSU game, scored six points.
  • Eleven Flashes played at least 11 minutes, and no one played more than 26. Every player who made the trip got in the game.
  • Pavlansky played 21 minutes, more than double her previous high against a Division I team. Her five rebounds were three fewer than she had all last season. She scored three points and had an assist.
  • Kent State is now 0-8 all-time against Ohio State. Against current Big Ten teams, the Flashes are 9-38.
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Kent State women's basketball

Asiah Dingle loses her father

By on Tuesday, December 1, 2020

One of the reasons Dingle transferred to Stony Brook on Long Island was to be closer to her family home in Boston. Her father, Maurice, had had several strokes. 

Dingle led Stoney Brook with 22 points in its 62-58 season-opening loss to Fordham Wednesday.

And after the game, she learned that her father had died.

Dingle chose to remain with her teammates through the Thanksgiving weekend and played Sunday against No. 23 Syracuse. She scored 11 points in a 50-39 loss.

Afterwards, Stony Brook coach Caroline McCombs drove Dingle to Boston to be with her family.

“For Asiah to be able to stay here and play was something she wanted to do,” McCombs said on the Stony Brook team website. “She knows her team and coaches love her and were here for her. This is going to be something that doesn’t ever go away. She was as locked in and focused as anyone was, or could be, at this time.”

Monday Dingle was named American East player of the week.

There is a GoFundMe page for Asiah’s family.

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Kent State women's basketball

Suddenly, Flashes are opening Wednesday at Ohio State

By on Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Lindsey Thall takes aim at the basket against Ohio State last season. She scored 32 points in KSU’s75-65 loss.

As fast as games can disappear in this COVID-19 basketball season, a new one can appear.

Kent State announced Monday morning that it would play its first game of the year 48 hours later.

So the Flashes will open their 2020-21 season at noon Wednesday against Ohio State in Columbus. The game will be on BTN+, the Big Ten’s paid streaming service. Here’s link to broadcast. Details on how to sign up are in the “Notes” section below.

“We are excited about finally playing,” Kent State coach Todd Starkey told Allen Moff of the Record-Courier. “I’m not sure what we’ll look like on only three days of practice. Ohio State is a very talented team. I think they have a chance to win the Big Ten this year.”

Junior point guard Mariah Modkins put it like this in an interview: “We’re just excited to touch the ball, honestly, and get up and down the floor.”

Modkins said the fall on campus has been tough, but the key has been “just being able to go with the flow.“

“Everything is up in the air,” she said. “You never know from day to day, honestly from hour to hour. So just being ready to do whatever is one of the most important things.”

Modkins the team’s pause in practice because of COVID “kind of sucked.“

“We were so close,” she said (just 10 days before their first game after having been able to practice all fall). “We’re ready to go now. Everybody’s excited.”

It will be the second game between KSU and Ohio State in two years and the second in 39 years. The Buckeyes beat the Flashes 75-65 at the M.A.C. Center last season before the biggest women’s crowd (4,272) in Kent State history. Before then, the teams hadn’t met since 1981.

Like Kent State, OSU had its first game — against Akron — canceled last week because of COVID-related issues (on the Zips team). The Flashes had their first game — at Northern Kentucky — canceled after COVID issues in Kent.

The Buckeyes played their first game Sunday, beating Duquesne 82-47. The Flashes are scheduled to play Duquesne of the Atlantic 10 on Dec. 21.

Ohio State started the season ranked 20th in the country and moved up to 19th with the Duquesne win. The Buckeyes have five starters back from last season’s team, which went 21-12 and tied for fifth in the Big Ten.

Top starter is 6-4 senior forward Dorka Juhasz, an all-Big Ten selection last season. She averaged 13.2 points and 9.4 rebounds last season and made 40 three-point shots last season. She had 10 points and 12 rebounds in 23 minutes against Duquesne.

Guard Jacy Sheldon led the Buckeyes in that game with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Guard Braxtin Miller had 16 points, including two of OSU’s three 3-point baskets.

Ohio State outrebounded Duquesne 52-37 even though the Dukes have a 6-4 center and two other 6-2 starters.

Duquesne coach Dan Burt after the game said his team had been able to have only six or seven full practices all fall while Ohio State hadn’t had any kind of shutdown. “It was like lions waiting for their meat, and unfortunately today we were that meat,” he told pittsburghsportsnow.com.

Kent State also likely will start a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 front line. The 6-4 center is Linsey Marchese, a transfer from Indiana who will be playing her first game for KSU. She would have played against Ohio State two years ago.

Kent’s 6-2 forwards are junior Lindsey Thall, who set a school record by making eight 3-point baskets against Ohio State last season, and Nila Blackford, an all-MAC freshman team member last season who led the Flashes in rebounding.

Kent State will look different at guard, where starter Megan Carter graduated, leading scorer Asiah Dingle transferred, and second-leading scorer Katie Shumate is injured.

Kent State’s pregame media notes list Marchese, Thall, Blackford, Modkins and Hannah Young as probable starters.

Modkins started 13 games at point guard last season; Young started four and guard. Also expect sophomore guard Clare Kelly and sophomore wing Annie Pavlansky, along with 5-4 freshman guard Casey Santoro and 6-4 freshman center Lexi Jackson, to see considerable action.

That’s if everyone is healthy, and this year, that’s never guaranteed for any team.

Notes

• The game will at the Covelli Center, the new 3,700-seat home of Ohio State’s volleyball, gymnastics, wrestling and fencing teams. No fans will be allowed; Columbus and Franklin County are under the state’s highest “purple” COVID rating.

• Best price to watch the game on BTN+ is to buy a $7.95 monthly pass for Ohio State games only. It will be renewed automatically every month, so cancel after the game if you don’t want to watch more Buckeye sports. You can buy a season pass for OSU events for $79.95. You’ll get Ohio State men’s and women’s basketball games that aren’t shown on the Big Ten Network, plus sports like gymnastics, baseball and softball. You can also subscribe to get all sports from all Big Ten Schools or all of the Big Ten’s games in a single sport like women’s basketball.

Other key links

KSU’s home opener is Saturday vs. Ohio U.

Kent State’s second game, assuming no COVID problems, will be Saturday against Ohio University at the M.A.C. Center. Tipoff is at 2 p.m., but no fans will be allowed. Game will be streamed on the KSU website.

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