Katie Shumate led Kent State with 17 points, her third-straight game in double figures. She also had six rebounds. (File photo from Hayley Steffy of KSU Athletic Communications.)

Kent State’s women are playing tired, but they’re still playing plenty hard.

The Flashes came back from a 21-point deficit in the second quarter to tie Central Michigan 71-71 with 6:03 to go in the game. But KSU didn’t score again as Central won 84-71.

Kent State’s schedule has been in disarray since a COVID-19 outbreak in January. Half the team tested positive for the virus, and players still haven’t got their stamina back.

“They’re really tired,” coach Todd Starkey said. “In any normal year, you don’t go 25 days between games. And then when you come back, you don’t play five games in 11 days. It was just going like zero to a hundred.”

Starkey has had to juggle playing time to keep his players going.

“Lindsey Thall…I need to rest her desperately,” the coach said. “She’s just exhausted, but I can’t afford to take her off the court.

“I probably played Katie Shumate a little longer than I needed to. She averages close to 35, 36 minutes a game and played only 32. Nila Blackford only played 28 minutes.

“When you can’t play your best players their usual minutes because of how tired they are, it has an effect.”

The loss drops the Flashes (6-3 in the Mid-American Conference, 7-5 overall) from second place to a fourth-place tie in the league. Central jumps from fifth to third with the win and is 11-4, a half-game behind Bowling Green.

Kent State trailed 43-22 with three minutes to go in the second quarter. The Flashes outscored CMU 10-4 for the rest of the half, then 29-17 in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, two free throws each from Mariah Modkins and Blackford and 3-pointers by Shumate and Clare Kelly tied the game at 71 with 6:03 to go. But the Flashes missed their last 11 shots.

“The shooting percentages kind of tell the story,” Starkey said.

Kent State made 11-of 16 shots (69%) in the third quarter but 10% (2 of 20) in the fourth.

In Kent State’s rally, Starkey said, “We were just playing more solid basketball.”

“I think they got frustrated with the way the game started, and they didn’t want to quit,” the coach said. (KSU trailed 19-10 after making just 4-of 17 shots in the first quarter.)

“We made a few adjustments,” he said. “We did a better — though not great — job defensively. There were some moments that we looked a bit like our old selves. But overall, we’re still off the mark significantly from what we’re capable of doing.”

Central Michigan guards Micaela Kelly and Molly Davis put on a spectacular show. Kelly had 35 points, Davis had 32. The two combined to make 10-of-15 three-point shots and 22-of-36 field goals. They accounted for Central’s entire 13-0 run at the end of the game.

“They’re very good,” Starkey said. “We helped them look really good, too, at certain spots. But they are two of the top five scorers in the league and among the better guards in the country.” 

Turnovers are better again

Kent State had ranked toward the bottom of the league in turnovers but tied a season-low of 12 for the second game in a row. The Flashes had only four in the second half.

“It’s something we’ve been working on, and we’ve gotten much better,” Starkey said. “We’re getting better shots, but our legs are tired and they’re not going in. There are a lot of pieces to the equation here.”

Offensive rebounds but not enough points

Kent State had 21 offensive rebounds, one more than the season-high 20 the Flashes had against Bowling Green Wednesday. But Starkey said the 18 second-chance points they got from them still weren’t enough. “We didn’t convert as many as we needed to,” he said.

Overall, Kent State outrebounded CMU 44-33.

Three players in double figures

Shumate led Kent State with 17 points. Kelly had 15 and four 3-point baskets. Blackford had 13 points and 12 rebounds, her eighth double-double in nine MAC games.

The view from Central Michigan

Coach Heather Oesterle, as quoted on the CMU website:

“That was a very good win for us. Kent State’s a very good team, a very balanced team.”

“We did a much better job of finding their shooters when it came down the stretch. They were looking to shoot the 3. We knew they were, and then we came up with a couple of huge rebounds. (Kent State) is a very good rebounding team. I was really proud of the way we handled that adversity when they did go on their run.”

“(Kelly) and Molly, they put on a show today. That was the most efficient 35 and 32 that I’ve ever seen. I love the way they play together, and it’s hard for me to take either of them out of the game. They do have a great chemistry.”

Box score

Notes

• Freshman Lexi Jackson had career highs in points (5), rebounds (5) and minutes (11).
• Lindsey Thall had nine rebounds and two blocked shots but had no field goals for only the second time in her career.
• For the game, Kent State made 35.8% of its shots, about 4 percentage points below its average, and 39.3% of its 3-point shots, 2 points above average. Central made 50% of its shots and 47.6% of its 3-pointers, both well above its averages.

Back on the road again

Kent State took the six-hour bus ride home from Mt. Pleasant after the game.

They’ll get the day off Sunday, then practice on Monday and Tuesday before the six-hour ride to Kalamazoo to play Western Michigan on Wednesday. Western is tied for 10th in the MAC at 2-12.

After that game, they’ll go directly to Northern Illinois, the western outpost of the conference. Next weekend they’ll play NIU on both Saturday and Sunday, games that will make up for two postponed in January. Northern moved into second place in the MAC Wednesday with an 81-75 win at home over Buffalo.

In other MAC games, Toledo won at Akron 75-62 and Ball State edged Miami at Miami 79-77.

MAC Standings

Through games of Saturday, Feb. 13.

	MAC W-L	Pct.	MAC Home	MAC Away	All  games
BGSU	11-3	.786	6-1	5-2	15-4
NIU	9-3	.750	5-2	4-1	11-6
CMU	11-4	.733	5-3	7-1	13-6
Ohio	10-5	.667	5-2	5-3	12-6
Buffalo	8-4	.667	4-1	4-3	11-6
Kent St	6-3	.667	4-1	2-2	7-5
EMU	6-4	.600	2-3	4-1	9-6
Ball St	8-6	.571	2-5	6-1	10-8
Toledo	5-9	.357	3-4	2-5	9-9
Akron	2-12	.143	1-5	1-7	5-12
WMU	2-12	.143	2-4	0-8	3-13
Miami	1-14	.066	1-7	0-7	2-17

Kent State travels to Central Michigan Saturday to face the only team coach Todd Starkey has not defeated in his five years at KSU.

The game starts at 1 p.m. on ESPN3, which is free if you get ESPN by cable, satellite or app. Online radio starts at 12:45 p.m., and you can get live statistics during the game at the CMU website.

Not many other people have beaten Central, either. The Chippewas have won four straight overall MAC regular season championships. In that run they’ve never lost more than three games.

This season CMU has already lost four games. The Chipps are 10-4 and in fifth place in the league by winning percentage (.714). In this COVID season, Central is one of only four teams that has played every scheduled MAC games.

Kent State, which had seven games postponed by the coronavirus in January, is in second place in the MAC at 6-2 (.750 winning percentage). Bowling Green, which beat the Flashes 80-79 in overtime on Wednesday, is in first at 11-3.

Because CMU is in the West Division in normal years, Starkey’s teams have played Central only four times. (This season there are no divisions.) Last season the Flashes lost by 13 in Mt. Pleasant; the previous year Central overcame a fourth-quarter deficit and beat KSU 72-75 in Kent.

This season Central has come from behind in the fourth to win its last two games. Both were by just three points against two of the weaker teams in the league — 74-71 over 10th-place Western Michigan and 81-78 over last-place Miami.

Both games were on the road, where the Chippewas have much better record in MAC games than they do at home. CMU has won seven of eight away games but is 4-3 on its home court.

Central returns five starters from last year’s championship team, but senior forward Kyra Bussell has missed the team’s last two games because of injury.

CMU’s top player is Micaela Kelly, last season’s MAC player of the year. Kelly averages 23.1 points a game, 10th highest in Division I, and scored 37 against Miami Wednesday. Point guard Molly Davis, a member of last season’s all-freshman team, averages 19.8 points a game, sixth in the MAC.

Central is second in the league in team scoring (77.8 per game) and first in field-goal percentage (45.8%). But the Chippewas are eighth in scoring defense (72.9) and seventh in field-goal defense (43%).

Kent State is fifth in scoring (74.4) and sixth in field-goal percentage. The Flashes are sixth in team defense (72.5) and fifth in field-goal defense (40.9%). All stats are for MAC games only.

KSU’s Nila Blackford is one of four players averaging a double-double in MAC play at 17.1 points (11th in the league) and 12.1 rebounds (second). The other double-double players are Oshlyn Brown of Ball State, Ce’Nara Skanes of Eastern Michigan and Taylor Williams of Western Michigan.

Kent’s Lindsey Thall leads the MAC blocked shots at 1.9 a game and is fourth in 3-point percentage (45.2%). Katie Shumate is second in 3-point percentage (48.3%) and fifth in free-throw percentage (88.0%).

The game is the first of four straight on the road for the Flashes. They’ll play at Western Michigan Wednesday. Next weekend they’ll play back-to-back games at Northern Illinois on Saturday and Sunday to make up for two games postponed in January.

MAC Standings

Through games of Wednesday, Feb. 10.

	MAC W-L	Pct.	MAC Home	MAC Away	All  games
BGSU	11-3	.785	6-1	5-3	15-4
Kent St	6-2	.750	4-1	2-1	7-4
Buffalo	8-3	.727	4-1	4-2	11-5
NIU	8-3	.727	4-2	4-1	10-6
CMU	10-4	.714	4-3	7-1	12-6
Ohio	9-5	.643	4-2	5-3	11-6
EMU	6-4	.600	2-3	4-1	9-6
Ball St	7-6	.538	2-5	5-1	9-8
Toledo	4-9	.308	3-4	1-5	8-9
Akron	2-11	.154	1-4	1-7	5-11
WMU	2-11	.154	2-4	0-7	3-12
Miami	1-13	.071	1-6	0-6	2-16

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.”

Box score

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.

Kent State’s Mariah Modkins leads the team in assists and averages 8.3 points a game. (Photo by Hayley Steffy)

The battle for first place comes to the M.A.C. Center Wednesday.

Kent State, in first place with a 6-1 Mid-American Conference record, takes on second-place Bowling Groom, which is 10-3. The Flashes’ record gives them a .857 winning percentage, the criteria the MAC uses to determine the standings. Bowling Green’s winning percentage is .769. A Falcon win Wednesday would move it into first place.

The game starts at 6 p.m. and is streamed on ESPN+, which costs $5.99 a month. You can sign up from the link. Kent’s online radio broadcast starts at 5:45 p.m., and you can get live statistics during the game at the KSU website.

The Flashes have played far fewer games than BG — and every other team in the league — because of KSU’s three-week-long fight with COVID-19 in January. Kent made up one of its postponed games in Monday’s 93-87 overtime win over Toledo.

The Bowling Green game with be Kent State’s fourth game in eight days and third in the last five days. The Flashes haven’t quite regained the form that had them on a five-game winning streak before COVID it. But they have won two of three games since they returned to action.

Bowling Green is having the kind of season coaches and fans dream of. The Falcons finished last in the league last season and were picked to finish fifth in the six-team MAC East this season.

But they’re 14-4 overall, the best record in the league. Third-year coach Robyn Fralick recruited one of the best freshman classes in the MAC, including 5-5 guard Lexi Fleming. She’s easily the leading candidate for MAC freshman of the year, averaging 17.5 points a game, 10th in the league, and 2.8 steals per game, fifth in the conference. (Statistics are MAC games only, which I consider more indicative this time of season.)

Fleming had a season low six points against Ohio Saturday, but the Falcons still won easily, 69-53. Ohio beat Kent State 85-70 last week in the Flashes’ first game back from COVID.

Two other BG starters are freshmen: 5-6 freshman guard Nyla Hampton, who averages 3.7 assists per game, and 5-10 guard Kenzie Lewis, who averages 4.6 points and 6 rebounds.

The other starters are 5-9 junior guard Kadie Hempfling, who has started 78 of 79 games in her three years at BG, and Elissa Brett, a 5-10 sophomore guard who scored 21 points against Ohio.

Bowling Green allows the fewest points per game in the MAC (61.8) and leads the league in steals (11.7 a game) and turnover margin (+6.5).

Ohio’s five-guard starting lineup will make for an interesting matchup against Kent State starters Nila Blackford, a 6-2 sophomore post averaging a double-double; 6-2 junior Lindsey Thall, who leads the MAC in blocked shots, and 5-11 sophomore guard Katie Shumate, who scored 17 points after halftime Monday.

The Flashes also start 5-8 sophomore guard Clare Kelly, who scored 27 against Toledo, and 5-1 junior guard Mariah Modkins, who averages 8.3 points and 2.9 assists.

MAC Standings

Through games of Monday, Feb. 8.

	MAC W-L	Pct.	MAC Home	MAC Away	All  games
Kent St	6-1	.857	4-0	2-1	7-3
BGSU	10-3	.769	6-1	4-2	14-4
Buffalo	7-3	.700	4-1	3-2	10-5
NIU	8-3	.727	4-2	4-1	10-6
CMU	9-4	.692	4-3	6-1	11-6
Ohio	8-5	.615	4-2	4-3	10-6
EMU	6-4	.600	2-3	4-1	9-6
Ball St	7-5	.583	2-4	5-1	9-5
Toledo	4-8	.333	3-3	1-5	8-8
Akron	2-10	.166	1-4	1-6	5-9
WMU	1-11	.083	1-4	0-7	2-12
Miami	1-12	.076	1-5	0-6	2-14

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.

Box score

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.

Kent State plays its third game in six days when it hosts Toledo at 2 p.m. Monday at the M.A.C. Center. The Flashes will then play another Mid-American Conference home game against Bowling Green on Wednesday.

The Toledo game was postponed during Kent’s COVID-19 outbreak in January. The Flashes went 25 days without playing a game.

They’ve had two games in the last week, losing at Ohio 85-70 Wednesday and beating Miami 71-69 Saturday. Kent State is 5-1 in the MAC and in first place by winning percentage (.833), which is how the league determines standings. Second-place Bowling Green is 10-3 (.769 winning percentage).

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Lindsey Thall’s basket with 1.8 seconds to go gave Kent State its victory over Miami on Saturday.

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The game will be streamed on Boxcast through the Kent State website. (Not ESPN+.) Online radio starts at 1:45 on the Kent State Radio Network. Live statistics during the game are on the KSU website.

Kent State beat Toledo 61-57 in December at Toledo. The Rockets went 4-0 in non-conference play, but are 4-7 and in ninth place in the MAC. Their leading scorer is guard Quinesha Lockett at 18.1 points a game. Guard Sophia Wiard averages 13.9 points and 4.6 assists.

Kent State’s leading scorer is sophomore forward Nila Blackford, who averages 15.4 points a game. She had 21 and 15 rebounds in the earlier Toledo game.

Lindsey Thall shoots one of her four 3-pointers against Miami. She made three — and the game winning shot.

Kent State’s women are still far from back to normal after their COVID-19 outbreak, but the Flashes made two big plays in the last seconds Saturday to beat Miami 71-69.

Lindsey Thall rebounded a missed shot and banked in the follow-up with 1.8 seconds to go. Then Katie Shumate snatched the inbounds pass inches out after it was thrown to clinch the game.

The win gives Kent State a 5-1 record in the MAC (6-3 overall). The Flashes are still technically in first place with a .833 winning percentage, but second-place Bowling Green is 10-3 with a winning percentage of .769. KSU plays the Falcons Wednesday. Miami is 1-12 in the MAC and 2-15 overall.

The game was KSU’s second after a 25-day layoff that saw more than half the team come down with COVID.

“We found a way to win today, and we have to let the natural process of improving and getting into a rhythm happen,” coach Todd Starkey said at his postgame press conference. “It’s not like you sprinkle fairy dust on it, and their legs are in game shape and their lungs are in game shape.”

“It takes awhile to get back into mid-season rhythm, coming back from almost a month of not just playing but also not practicing.

“I keep telling them that we want to be playing our best basketball when the tournaments come around at the end of the season. We’re just trying to stay patient but also continue to get their game edge back and steadily improve. It’s a delicate balance.”

Thall said the team was having to re-connect on the floor.

“Since we haven’t been playing, it’s been hard to get back in the rhythm of the game the way we were before this whole break happened,” she said “It’s being connected on the floor with your teammates, knowing where they’re going to be, knowing when to make the extra pass, knowing when to take your shots.

“I think slowly but surely we’ll get back to where we were and even better.“

The Flashes had won five straight games before COVID hit the team.

Thall’s winning basket

⚡️ @LindseyThall GAME WINNER ⚡️

The junior forward gets the putback to go for @KentStWBB #MACtion pic.twitter.com/B7b2Oa33qF

— #MACtion (@MACSports) February 6, 2021

At the press conference, Thall and Starkey took reporters through the last two seconds.

“Before that last play,” Starkey said, “I told them: ‘Be opportunistic. Once the shot goes up, you’ve got the crash the boards and find a way.‘ It was a great bang-bang play for Lindsey.”

Thall said she knew she had little time to work with.

“We weren’t going to have an opportunity to play much offense,” she said. “So all of our mindset was just crash the boards, rebound and get it back up.”

Miami called timeout right after the basket to advance the ball to the front court. Shumate, one of KSU’s best defenders, guarded Miami’s Peyton Scott as she prepared to pass the ball into play. Scott had already scored 34 points.

“We put Katie on the ball because she’s long and bouncy,” Starkey said. “And I said, ‘Katie, just follow the ball with your eyes and your hands and find a way to get a deflection. Because if you can touch the ball, the clock’s going to start.’ And they only had 1.8 seconds left.

“And she did more than touch it. She stole it.”

As in Wednesday’s 85-70 loss at Ohio, the Flashes played a solid first quarter. They led 20-14 but were outscored 19-9 in the second. Against Ohio, it was 24-12 in the second.

“Our offense get very stagnant, very passive,” Starkey said. “We have a saying on our team, ‘Passive always fails.’

“The offensive side of the ball suffers when you have these breaks (from illness). Offense is much more rhythm-based. So we’ve got to figure that piece out, maybe figure out some offensive actions that keep us aggressive and moving.”

The scorers

4:55 1Q | Kent State 8, Miami 5

Blackford gives the Flashes the lead with back-to-back steals that lead to layups. pic.twitter.com/tcIGHQxjb8

— Kent State Women’s Basketball (@KentStWBB) February 6, 2021

Thall, Nila Blackford and Clare Kelly led the Flashes in scoring.

Blackford, KSU’s leading scorer and rebounder, had her fifth double-double in six MAC games. (The sixth game she had nine points and nine rebounds.)

Blackford scored 23 points and had 10 rebounds, an assist, two steals and a blocked shot. She also drew 10 fouls from Miami players.

“Sometimes I think we just go ‘ho hum’ when she gets a double-double,” Starkey said. “I mean, she went eight for 12 shooting, made all of her free throws, got 10 rebounds — a really good performance. 

“And she was in quarantine the longest — the last one back.”

5:15 4Q | Kent State 62, Miami 55

Kelly from 3! pic.twitter.com/1rQ70Yp2Yu

— Kent State Women’s Basketball (@KentStWBB) February 6, 2021

Sophomore guard Clare Kelly had 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting, made 2-of-2 three-pointers and grabbed five rebounds.

“She was not happy with the way that she played against Ohio — no points, no rebounds,” Starkey said. “She came back and she played like herself again today.”

Thall scored a season-high 17 points, hitting on 6-of-10 field-goal attempts and 3-of-4 three-point shots. She blocked four shots and continues to lead the MAC in that category for the third straight year. Thall played a team-high 36 minutes and leads Kent State in minutes played this season. She has started every game of her three-year career.

Freshman guard Casey Santoro had seven assists, second-best for any player on the team this season, against two turnovers. She scored five points and had three rebounds and a steal in 24 minutes.

“We needed that,” ‘Starkey said. “She did a good job of really taking care of the ball. She’s a tough player.”

Turnover trouble

The Flashes committed 20 turnovers after having 22 against Ohio. Miami scored 22 points off of KSU turnovers.

“We’ve got to get better at taking care of the basketball,” Starkey said. “Averaging 21 turnovers a game in this league is not a good sign.“

Miami, which averaged 17 turnovers a game going into the game, had only eight. Kent State scored 12 points off of them.

A big night at the foul line

Kent State made 17 of its 18 free throws, by far its best performance of the season.

“We needed every single one of them,” Starkey said.

The only missed throw was by Shumate, who had missed only one previously all season. She ranked second in the MAC in free-throw percentage (.909).

Going into the game, Kent ranked last in the conference in free-throw percentage. After Saturday, it’s up to 69.5% in league games, 10th in the league.

Notes

• Scott, Miami’s sophomore point guard, scored 34 points on 14-of-25 shooting. She had scored 37 points against Western Michigan on Wednesday. She also had four steals, three assists and five rebounds. But no other Redhawk scored in double figures.
• Miami had 22 more field goal attempts than KSU and led the Flashes in points off turnovers, points in the paint and second-chance points. But Kent State outshot the Redhawks 48% to 40% and made 11 more free throws.
• Kent State leads the all-time series against Miami 48-46.

Box score

Video of postgame press conference with Starkey and Thall.

MAC Standings

Through games of Saturday, Feb. 6.

	MAC W-L	Pct.	MAC Home	MAC Away	All games
Kent St	5-1	.833	3-0	2-1	6-3
BGSU	10-3	.769	6-1	4-2	14-4
Buffalo	7-3	.700	4-1	3-2	10-5
NIU	7-3	700	4-2	3-1	9-6
CMU	9-4	.692	4-3	6-1	11-6
Ball St	7-4	.636	2-3	5-1	9-6
Ohio	8-5	.615	4-2	4-3	10-6
EMU	6-4	.600	2-3	4-1	9-6
Toledo	4-7	.364	3-3	1-4	8-7
Akron	2-10	.166	1-4	1-6	5-9
WMU	1-11	.083	1-4	0-7	2-12
Miami	1-12	.076	1-5	0-6	2-14

Saturday in the MAC

Central Michigan scored five points in the last minute to avoid an upset at Western Michigan 74-71.

Akron won its second MAC game by beating third-place Ball State at Ball State 89-94 in overtime.

Bowling Green beat Ohio 69-53 at BG. The Falcons held Ohio’s Cece Hooks, the nation’s second-leading scorer, to 12 points.

Next up for the Flashes

Kent State plays Toledo at the M.A.C. Center at 2 p.m. Monday. It’s a makeup game for one postponed by COVID. The Flashes won 61-57 at Toledo in December. Toledo is 4-7 in the MAC and 8-7 overall. The Rockets were off on Saturday.

Wednesday the Flashes will host second-place Bowling Green at 6 p.m.

Both games are on ESPN+.

Over her last two games (separated by a 25-day COVID-19 layoff), Hannah Young has scored a total of 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Both numbers are twice as many as she put up in KSU’s first six games combined. (Photo from team website.)

The Kent State women return home Saturday to play last-place Miami at noon.

The game is on ESPN+, which costs $5.99 a month. You can sign up after you click on the link. Internet radio starts at 11:45 a.m. You can get live statistics during the game on the KSU website.

Miami (1-11 MAC, 2-14 overall) won its first MAC game Wednesday, beating 10th-place Western Michigan 73-64 in Oxford.

Kent State, which lost 85-70 at Ohio Wednesday, is still technically in first place in the league with a 4-1 record and .800 winning percentage. But the Flashes had seven games postponed in January because of COVID-19 issues. Every other team in the conference has played at least twice as many games. Kent’s game against Ohio was its first in 25 days.

Six Flashes average at least seven points a game in MAC play: Nila Blackford (15.2), Katie Shumate (12.4), Mariah Modkins (10.0), Casey Santoro (9.6), Lindsey Thall (8.4) and Clare Kelly (7.2).

Shumate (23 points), Hannah Young (11 points) and Santoro (10 points) had among their best games of the season against Ohio.

Blackford just missed her fifth straight double-double in MAC play with nine points and nine rebounds. She is tied for first in the conference in rebounding, averaging 12.2 per game.

Miami’s Peyton Scott, a 5-8 point guard who made the MAC all-freshman team a year ago, scored 37 points against Western Michigan. It tied for the sixth highest point total in team history. She is averaging 20.8 points a game in MAC play, sixth in the league.

Freshman wing guard Katie Davidson averages 11.9 points a game for the Redhawks. 6-3 senior forward Kelly McLaughlin averages 11.2 and leads the team in rebounding at 6.9.

The game is the first of three at home this week for the Flashes. They are scheduled to play Toledo at 2 p.m. Monday afternoon in a game rescheduled from an earlier COVID postponement. Wednesday they will play Bowling Green at 6 p.m.

MAC Standings

Through games of Wednesday, Feb. 3.

	MAC W-L	Pct.	Home	Away	All
Kent St	4-1	.800	2-0	2-1	5-3
BGSU	9-3	.750	5-1	4-2	13-4
Buffalo	7-3	.700	4-1	3-2	10-5
Ball St	7-3	.700	2-2	5-1	9-5
NIU	7-3	.700	4-2	3-1	9-6
CMU	8-4	.667	4-3	4-1	10-6
Ohio	8-4	.667	4-2	4-2	10-5
EMU	6-4	.600	2-3	4-1	9-6
Toledo	4-7	.364	3-3	1-4	8-7
Akron	1-10	.091	1-4	0-6	4-9
WMU	1-10	.091	1-4	0-6	2-11
Miami	1-11	.083	1-5	0-6	2-14

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.”

Box score

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.

Sophomore Nila Blackford leads Kent State is scoring (16.8 points her game in MAC play) and rebounding (13.0). Her rebounding average also leads the MAC. Her 52.2% field-goal average is third in the league.

Barring any last-minute problems, the Kent State women return to action for the first time in three weeks at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Ohio University.

The game is on ESPN+, which costs $5.99 a month. Almost all of the women’s game games are on the ESPN+ stream, as are most of the KSU men’s games and most other games in the MAC. Radio streaming of the game starts at 5:45 p.m. on the Kent State Radio Network.

Kent State had five straight games in January postponed by a COVID-19 outbreak on the KSU team. A game scheduled for last Saturday was postponed on less than 24 hours notice because of COVID problems at Eastern Michigan.

The Flashes are 4-0 and in first place in the Mid-American Conference (5-2 overall). But every other team in the league has played at least twice as many games as Kent State.

Ohio is 7-4 and 9-5 overall and in seventh place in the MAC, but the Bobcats are only a half game out of third place and two games behind second-place Bowling Green. Ohio senior guard Cece Hooks is averaging 30.4 points over her last five years and ranks second in Division I in scoring.

Kent State beat the Bobcats 84-80 in Kent on Dec. 11, the first victory in its current five-game winning streak.

In conference play, the Flashes have six players averaging at least 8.5 points a game: Blackford (16.8), point guard Mariah Modkins (10.3), sophomore guard Katie Shumate (9.5), freshman guard Casey Santoro (9.0) and junior forward Lindsey Thall (8.5).

The makeup games begin Monday

The MAC has rescheduled the first of Kent State postponed games.

The Flashes will host Eastern Michigan at 2 p.m. Monday afternoon (Feb. 8).

The game between the two teams was originally scheduled for last Saturday, but postponed because of COVID issues in the Eastern Michigan program.

It means Kent State will play four games in eight days — Saturday vs. Miami, Monday vs. Toledo, next Wednesday vs. Bowling Green and Saturday, Feb. 13, at Central Michigan.

It’s hard to figure out how Kent State can make up all seven games that have been postponed in the five weeks before the MAC Tournament starts March 10.

But I suspect we’ll see a number of Monday-Wednesday-Saturday game weeks before then. KUS also has a bye Feb. 20 that likely will be filled with a makeup game.

The MAC hasn’t announced how it will seed teams for the tournament if they haven’t all played the same number of games. In football, the league went by winning percentage. For example, a team with a 12-2 record (.833 winning percentage) would rank ahead of a 14-3 team (.823).

MAC Standings

Through games of Saturday, Jan. 30

	MAC W-L	Pct.	Home	Away	All
KSU	4-0	1.000	2-0	2-0	5-2
BGSU	9-2	.817	5-1	4-1	13-3
CMU	8-3	,727	4-2	4-1	10-5
Buff	6-3	.667	4-1	2-2	9-5
BSU	6-3	.667	2-2	4-1	8-5
NIU	6-3	.667	3-2	3-1	8-6
Ohio	7-4	.636	3-2	4-2	9-5
EMU	6-4	.600	2-3	4-1	9-6
Toledo	4-7	.364	3-3	1-4	8-7
Akron	1-9	.100	1-3	0-6	4-9
WMU	1-9	.100	1-4	0-5	2-10
Miami	0-11	.000	0-5	0-6	1-14