KSU’s Nila Blackford drove through heavy traffic all night and had her seventh double-double in eight MAC games. (Photo from KSU Athletic Communications.)
Mid-American Conference fans couldn’t have hoped for a better game between first-place Kent State and second-place Bowling Green.
But Kent State fans had wished for a better result.
Bowling Green beat the Flashes 80-79 on a shot with two seconds left in overtime to move past KSU into first place in the MAC.
It was Kent State’s second overtime game in three days, its third game played in five days, and fourth game in eight days. All that came after a COVID-19 outbreak on the KSU team, six postponed games, and a 25-day layoff. Kent players still haven’t fully regained their timing and strength after the illness, coach Todd Starkey said.
Bowling Green hasn’t missed a game for COVID all season and had four days off since its game on Saturday. The Falcons are now 11-3 in the MAC (.786 winning percentage). Kent State is 6-2 (.750). The MAC using winning percentage to determine standings when teams haven’t played the same number of games. Overall BG is 15-4 and Kent State 7-4.
Starkey had to gather himself for 20 seconds before he started his postgame press conference.
“That was a tough one,” Starkey said. “I thought we should have won that game. I thought we deserved to win that game.
“We played Toledo in an overtime game 48 hours ago and turned around and played the No. 1 team in the league on one day of preparation.
“Our players are giving everything that they have. For a bunch of young women to go through everything they have for the last six weeks and battle the way they have…I can’t ask them to do much more than that.”
Ten seconds to win or lose
The game came down to two baskets and a block in the last 10 seconds. Nila Blackford, who scored a total of 15 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, made an inside move for a layup. Kent State led 79-78. With two seconds left, BG’s Angela Perry grabbed an offensive rebound and scored.
Kent State advanced the ball to the front court with a timeout and got the ball to Blackford moving toward the basket. Three BG players surrounded her and her four-foot shot was blocked by BG guard Nyla Hampton. The Kent State bench screamed for a foul, but no call came. The video replay seemed to show a clean block.
“We got exactly what we wanted on that last shot — get the ball to Nila going to the basket,” Starkey said. Then he paused and chose his words carefully. (Coaches aren’t supposed to talk about officiating.)
“And three players converged on her very aggressively,” Starkey said.
Here are the last seconds.
Here’s how it finished in OT: pic.twitter.com/DBdTcYdVz9
— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) February 11, 2021
The teams fought as if it were a championship game. Neither led by more than six points. BG led for 21 minutes, mostly in the first half. Kent State led for 14, mostly in the second. Oddly, there were no ties.
BG led by four after a quarter. Kent State led by one at halftime and by five going into the fourth quarter.
Blackford is big yet again
Blackford had 23 points and 13 rebounds, her seventh double-double in eight MAC games. Starkey shuttled post players in and out all night to give her 15 minutes of clock time off during the game.
“Nila is exhausted,” Starkey said. “She was the last one out of quarantine, so she’s had the least amount of recovery time.
“And she keeps putting up double-doubles and battling, getting bounced around and finding ways to finish.”
Blackford drew 10 fouls and had an assist and a steal.
Tired legs and weak shooting
Fatigue also likely hurt the entire team’s shooting, the coach said.
The Flashes made only 3-of-15 shots in the first quarter, 6-of-17 in the second, and 1-of-7 in overtime.
“We were leg-weary,” Starkey said, “and that has an effect on your shot. We got some good looks, but the shots that normally go in when we have fresh legs weren’t going.”
For the game, the Flashes made 34.3% of their shots, six points below their season average. BG made 47.7% of its shots, six points above its average.
Solving the turnover trials
A key to keeping the game close, Starkey said, was good ball-handling by the Flashes. They had averaged almost 20 turnovers over their last three games but Tuesday had just 12. That equaled KSU’s fewest of the season and was the fewest that Bowling Green had allowed.
Falcon opponents had been averaging 20 turnovers a game. BG had led the MAC in turnover margin (+7 a game). Kent State had been second to last in the MAC in margin (-4.7).
“We’ve gotten steadily better (on turnovers) over those four games,” Starkey said. “It was going to be a key for us today against a team that is 13th in the country in steals.”
BG had seven steals Wednesday. Kent State had three.
A scoring trio
Junior forward Lindsey Thall and sophomore guards Clare Kelly and Katie Shumate provided lots of scoring for Kent State.
Though Thall is one of the MAC’s best 3-point shooters, 16 of her 18 points against Bowling Green came close to the basket and on free throws. She had six offensive rebounds (seven total).
“They were guarding her with a guard a lot,” Starkey said. “So we decided to really try and feature her in the post. She was patient and finished. And six offensive rebounds is an excellent number for her.”
Kelly had her third-straight game with double-figure scoring. She didn’t reach the career-high 27 points she had Monday against Toledo, but she scored 11 and had five rebounds, four assists and no turnovers.
“You start to really see progress in players when they’re able to stack good games one after another,” Starkey said.
Shumate had 15 points and five rebounds. She led Kent State with 11 points in the first half.
Bunches of boards
Kent State had 20 offensive rebounds, its most of the season, and outrebounded BG 46-34.
“The rebounding was big for us and showed a great deal of toughness,” Starkey said. “But I look down at second-chance points and see only 19 on 20 offensive boards. We probably needed that to be more like 25.”
Senior Monique Smith was third behind Blackford and Thall with six rebounds in just 10 minutes, equaling her career high.
No trophies in February
Starkey reminded reporters that it was just one midseason game.
“We knew that this was a big game” he said, “but nobody gives out trophies for being in first place at the beginning of February. The quote I often use in tough losses in the middle of the season is, ‘Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.’ This was a single game.
“We’re not playing our best basketball yet,” he said. “We’re certainly not in mid-season form. We’re continuing to get better. It gives me a lot of hope for this group.”
The view from Bowling Green
Coach Robyn Fralick, quoted on the BG website:
“This was a really gutsy win. I felt like we had a lot of tough things happen — a lot of foul trouble and a lot of things that could have taken us out of what we like to do. We had to grind it out, and I’m really proud of our team for keeping their composure and finding a way.”
Notes
- The two teams will meet against in Bowling Green in the second-to-last game of the regular season on March 3.
- It was Kent State’s first home loss of the season.
- Kent State made 22-of-33 free throws, its second-highest totals of the season in both attempts and successful shots. KSU’s highest came Monday, when the Flashes made 30-of-40.
- Bowling Green committed a season-high 26 fouls. Two starters fouled out and two more had four fouls at the end.
- The last time BG and Kent played, it went to double overtime. KSU won 96-86 last February. The Falcons had lost five consecutive overtime games before Wednesday.
- Bowling Green made only one 3-point shot in the last 37 minutes and four 3-pointers for the game. That ties a season low for the Falcons. Kent State made nine, one above its average.
- Bowling Green leads the MAC in defense, allowing only 61 points a game. Kent State’s 79 points equaled the second highest against the Falcons this season.
Next up for Kent State
The Flashes start a four-game road streak at defending MAC champion Central Michigan Saturday. Central is in fifth place in the MAC with a 10-4 record. On Wednesday, the Chippewas trailed by 15 points in the third quarter but scored 34 in the fourth to beat last-place Miami 81-78 at Miami.
The Flashes play at Western Michigan next Wednesday, then play at Northern Illinois on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 20-21. The NIU games make up for two postponed during Kent State’s January of COVID. KSU had been scheduled to have a bye on those days.
Other MAC scores
- Buffalo (8-3 and tied for third in MAC, 11-5 overall), 82, Toledo (4-9 and ninth, 8-9 overall) 73 at Toledo.
- Ohio (9-5 and sixth, 11-6 overall) 88, Ball State (7-6 and eighth, 9-8 overall) 66 at Ball State.
- Western Michigan (2-11 and tied with Akron for 10th, 3-12 overall ) 74, Akron (5-11 overall) 66 at Western.
- The Eastern Michigan-Northern Illinois game was postponed. EMU, fighting a COVID outbreak, has had six straight games called off. Eastern is 6-4 and seventh in the league. NIU is 8-3 and tied for third.