Katie Shumate led Kent State with 23 points, her highest total of the season. She also had six rebounds and two steals.
With 6:08 to go in Wednesday’s game at Ohio, Kent State had closed a 14-point deficit to 70-64.
Ohio star guard Cece Hooks, who had already scored 29 points, had the ball. She moved to drive to the basket and her trailing hand hit KSU freshman Casey Santoro in the face.
It was an offensive foul, Hooks’ fifth. The stage seemed set for Kent State to continue its rally.
But things went the other direction. Kent State missed its last eight field-goal attempts while Ohio made 11 free throws in the last four minutes and pulled away for an 85-70 victory.
It was Kent State’s first game in three weeks. The Flashes had had six-straight games called off, the first five because of a COVID-19 outbreak on the team, the last because of virus problems at Eastern Michigan.
The loss is the Flashes’ first of the MAC season. They are 4-1 in the conference and 5-3 overall. They’re still technically in first place with an .800 winning percentage, though every other team in the league has played twice as many games. Ohio is tied for sixth in the MAC at 8-4 in the MAC and 10-5 overall.
Kent State’s rally in the fourth quarter came from a full-court press.
The Flashes trailed by 70-56 with 6:57 to go. In the next 52 seconds, the Flashes got two steals by Nila Blackford, one from Katie Shumate, leading to two baskets by Shumate and two by Santoro.
Then Hooks fouled out. Santoro made two more baskets, and the score was 72-68. But the Flashes only managed two free throws for the rest of the game.
“After we pressed, we didn’t have anything left to be able to make shots at the end of the game,” coach Todd Starkey said. “We were gassed; you just had to look at their faces.”
You can blame that on the coronavirus. Half the team, Starkey said, had had COVID-19. The other half couldn’t get in the gym to work out because of the outbreak and contact testing.
“It’s not like the last three or four weeks we’ve just been hanging out, practicing and healthy,” Starkey said.
The team had had only four full practices before the Ohio game.
“We probably looked the way you’d think we would, not having played a game in almost a month,” Starkey said. “We were out of sync. We had 22 turnovers. A lot of those were just very careless.
“Some of our best players struggled today, and that’s sort of to be expected.”
Blackford, KSU’s leading scorer and rebounder, had nine points, nine rebounds, three assists and four steals. She also had six turnovers as the Ohio defense double and tripled teamed her when she got the ball close to the basket.
“We knew that was going to happen,” Starkey said. “We didn’t want our players to put the ball on the ground and (instead) really move the basketball as we did the first time we played them.”
Shumate led the team with 23 points, her highest of the season. She became the first player besides Blackford to score more than 20. Shumate made nine-of-15 shots and three-of-five 3-point attempts, had six rebounds, an assist and two steals in 35 minutes. But even she was struggling with the effects of the long layoff, Starkey said.
Hannah Young had 11 points and eight rebounds, her second good game in a row after a slow start to the season.
“It’s going to do is continue to provide her with more opportunities to play,” Starkey said. “It helps her confidence and our confidence in her.“
Santoro had 10 points, all in the fourth quarter. Blackford and Mariah Modkins each had nine, and Lindsey Thall scored eight.
“It was so good that we finally were able to get back and play,” Starkey said. “The best thing is that our players are happy and healthy.
“Now we need to continue to work back at a pace that makes sense us to be our best as we get to the end of the season.”
Besides Hooks, a different look from Ohio
Erica Johnson, Ohio’s second-leading scorer and the fourth-leading scorer in the MAC (19.8 points per game), didn’t play because of a knee injury suffered in Saturday’s win over Akron.
Senior forward Gabby Burris had a season-high 22 points and made nine-of-10 four shots, eight of them in the last three minutes.
Despite missing the last six minutes, Hooks made 12 of 21 shots, had nine assists, seven steals and six rebounds. Over her last six games, she has averaged 30.3 points, and she is second in the country in scoring at 26.7 points per game.
“She’s so good,” Starkey said, “and when she gets going, she’s a handful.”
Notes
- The game was the first in the last seven between Kent State and Ohio that was decided by more than four points.
- Ohio had 14 steals and scored 21 points off of 22 KSU turnovers. The Flashes had a equaled a season-high eight steals and scored 15 points off of Ohio’s 17 turnovers.
- Ohio scored 48 of its points in the paint. The scoring wasn’t muscle moves inside; they wereit was on drives to the basket. All of Hooks’ 12 baskets were layups. Kent State had 36 points in the paint.
- Kent State made 42.9% of its shots and eight-of-27 3-pointers (29.6%). The Flashes were two-for-12 on 3s in the second half. In its 84-80 win over the Bobcats in December, the Flashes shot 54% from distance and made a school-record 16 3-point baskets. The Bobcats shot 49.2% and 29.7% on 3-pointers.
- Ohio made 19 of its 25 foul shots. Kent State was eight of nine.
- Ohio outrebounded the Flashes 37-33.
Next up
The Flashes host Miami at noon Saturday on ESPN+. Miami (1-11 in the MAC and 2-14 overall) won its first league game Wednesday, beating Western Michigan (1-10 MAC) 73-64 in Miami.
On Monday, the Flashes host Toledo (4-7 MAC, 8-7 overall) at 2 p.m. in a game rescheduled from one earlier postponed by COVID.
In the MAC
Second-place Bowling Green (9-3, 13-4) lost at Northern Illinois (7-3, 9-6) 79-78.
NIU, Buffalo and Ball State are all tied for third at 7-3. Ohio and Central Michigan are tied for sixth at 8-4, and Eastern Michigan is 6-4.
Other Wednesday scores:
- Ball State 69, Central Michigan 66 at Central.
- Buffalo 77, Akron 55 at Akron.