Kent State has won its first two games against solid mid-majors, showing good offense in one gave and very good defense in the other.
The Flashes’ third game is Thursday morning against Division III John Carroll. It’s “Education Day,” in which Kent State invites hundreds of public school students to a midday game.
The Flashes are strong favorites, even though John Carroll is a very good Division III program. The Blue Streaks are ranked eighth in the country in their division and are a unanimous choice to win the Ohio Athletic Conference for the third year in a row. They’re 2-0, having won their own tipoff tournament last weekend with wins over Case Western and Carnegie Mellon
But like all Division III schools, John Carroll offers no athletic scholarships. Division I programs like Kent State can offer 15. John Carroll’s best player — grad student wing Nicole Hefferington was honorable mention all-Ohio at Solon High School. KSU has seven first-team all-state players on its roster. Hefferington is still a good one; she was a Division III first-team All-American last season.
Kent State made 51% of its shots in its opening 80-73 win over Northern Kentucky, a higher percentage than they made in any game last season. The Flashes scored 80 points only twice last season.
In its second game, KSU beat Saint Francis of Pennsylvania 71-45. That was an opponent’s lowest point total since 2018.
Both Northern Kentucky and Saint Francis look to be solid mid-major teams this season; Northern Kentucky was picked to finish third in the Horizon League, Saint Francis third in the North East Conference.
“They were two good performances, two different types of wins,” coach Todd Starkey said. “It tells us early on that we have the ability to win in different ways.”
Junior guard Katie Shumate, sophomore guard Casey Santoro, Senior forward Lindsay Thall and junior forward Nila Blackford all average in double figures for the Flashes. Nine different players average more than 12 minutes a game.
“We have size off the bench that has ability,” Starkey said. “Our guard depth is good, and we have different types of guards. So we have the ability to do different types of lineups. If we need to get more aggressive, we can. If we need to play ball control and focus on where we’re trying to get the ball, we can play that way. It’s a nice luxury to have.”
The Flashes has scheduled a non-Division I team most years in Starkey’s time in Kent. This season, they also play Division II Clarion on Dec. 11. Why schedule them?
“We have to have some balance in there,” Starkey said. “We’ve got some really tough games in there. We’re playing in one of the toughest preseason non-conference tournaments in the country. We have Florida State (currently ranked 17th) coming in here (Dec. 21 at the M.A.C. Center).”
After Thursday’s game, the Flashes will have a week to prepare for that tournament, the Gulf Coast Showcase. The Flashes will open with No. 20 UCLA. Then they could play South Dakota, one of the top mid-major programs in the country, and could meet No. 14 Iowa State. The field also includes Penn State of the Big Ten, St. Johns of the Big East and Massachusetts of the Atlantic 10.