Sophomore Clare Kelly makes two of her career-high 27 points. Kelly made three 3-points, hit all 12 of her free throws and had six rebounds. (KSU athletic department photo by Hayley Steffy.)
Kent State’s 93-87 overtime victory over Toledo Monday came hard and long.
The Flashes fought back from a 13-point deficit in the third quarter and led most of the last eight minutes of the fourth quarter.
They overcame two 3-point baskets by Toledo in the last 3.2 seconds of the fourth quarter. Those shots sent the game into overtime.
And they survived 45 minutes of basketball in their third game in six days. Before then, they hadn’t played in 25 days because of a COVID-19 outbreak that sickened half the team.
Kent State is now 6-1 in the Mid-American Conference and in first place by winning percentage (.857), the standard the MAC uses. Bowling Green is in second at 10-3 (.769 winning percentage). BG and the Flashes meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the M.A.C. Center in a battle for first place.
Toledo is 4-8 and in ninth place in the MAC. The Rockets are 8-8 overall. Kent State is 7-3 in all games.
“I’m really proud of our team’s resilience,” coach Todd Starkey said. “The last few seconds of regulation, they had one really solid 3 and one miracle 3. That really can be demoralizing for a team.”
Starkey said the players were “down for a few seconds” while officials checked the clock. (There were 0.2 seconds left.)
“They did a great job of coming back in and battling for five minutes, being aggressive offensively, and putting ourselves in a position to win the game,” Starkey said. “We earned that win the way we dug in and battled every possession.”
Clare Kelly’s biggest game
Sophomore guard Clare Kelly had started the team’s last five games, but this one was a breakout.
She scored 27 points, a career high. Her previous high had been 20 points against Division III Hiram last season. Her best against Division I opposition had been 14 against Ohio earlier this season.
Kelly made 6-of-14 shots, three 3-point baskets and 12-of-12 free throws. The perfect foul shooting put her into the Kent State record book. Only five other players had hit 12 of 12; Only three were perfect with more than 12 attempts.
Kelly’s four free throws in the last 12 seconds of overtime clinched the game. She also had six rebounds and played 42 of the 45 minutes.
“I can’t really say I’m surprised,” Starkey said. “I wouldn’t say any of her teammates are surprised. They know she’s a good player.
“Clare was a prolific scorer in high school and AAU. She’s playing with more confidence, getting her feet under her. She’s just a sophomore — a young sophomore because she didn’t play a ton of minutes last year, and we’ve only played 10 games this year.”
Kelly modestly credited “great passes and great teammates.”
“It’s just good to be back out there playing,” she said.
Shumate’s big second half
Katie Shumate, who had started every game this season, sat on the bench for the first half. Starkey declined to say why.
The Flashes trailed 39-30 at halftime.
In the rest of the game, Shumate, a sophomore guard, made a huge difference.
She scored 17 points and made two 3-pointers and 5-of-6 free throws. Nine of her points came in overtime, when she made every shot she took from the field, 3-point distance and the foul line.
“We really needed her spark,” Starkey said. “Without her coming in with her aggressive mentality, offensively and defensively, we certainly wouldn’t have won this game.”
Lots of double figures after halftime
Four Kent State players scored more than 10 points during the second half and overtime. Kelly had 16 and Shumate 17.
Nila Blackford scored 13 and had 11 rebounds. She had played only seven minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. Blackford had her sixth double-double in seven MAC games, finishing with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Lindsey Thall had 10 points after halftime and finished with 14. She made 5-of-8 shots and 2-of-3 three-pointer baskets. She blocked three shots (a category where she leads the MAC), had six rebounds and two assists.
3.2 seconds of agony
Kent led for the last eight minutes of the fourth quarter — until those last 3.2 seconds.
With seven seconds left, Kent State led 72-67 after making 1-of-2 free throws.
Toledo called a timeout and advanced the ball to the front court. The Rockets’ Sophia Wiard, who earlier this season had scored 42 points in a game, hit a 3 with 3.2 seconds to go. After Kent split another pair of free throws, Toledo called time and advanced the ball again.
Ward hit another 3-pointer, this one an off-balance, twisting shot over tight defense by Thall from just in front of her team’s bench.
Notes
- With Shumate on the bench, freshman Casey Santoro made her first college start. She had seven points and five assists, giving her 12 assists in the last two games. Fellow guard Mariah Modkins had four assists, four steals and five points.
- As the Flashes had in their previous two games, the Flashes struggled in the first half with 10 turnovers. But they had seven in the second half and none in overtime. Both teams ended with 17 turnovers and each scored 17 points from them. KSU equaled a season high with eight steals.
- 6-foot-4 freshman Lexi Jackson played in her first game since KSU’s opener. She had four points, two rebounds and a steal in the first half, when Blackford and Thall both had two fouls. “We needed her at that point,” Starkey said.
- Senior Monique Smith also gave Kent help in the post. She had four rebounds, two steals and two points in eight minutes.
- The Flashes outrebounded Toledo 48-32, equaling their most rebounds of the season. (The other time was against Toledo in December.) 15 of those rebounds were on the offensive board, and Kent State outscored Toledo 12-6 on second-chance points.
- Kent State made 30-of-40 free throws. It was their most made free throws of the season by 12 and most attempts by nine. Many of the foul shots came as Toledo fouled in attempts to come back at the end of the fourth quarter and in overtime.
- Toledo shot 44% from the field, KSU 40.3%. Both teams were 9-of-25 (36%) from 3-point distance.
- The Flashes had 25 fast-break points to Toledo’s 13.