Kent State fans get a chance on Wednesday to see a women’s team that is off to one of its starts ever.
The Flashes host Duquesne (4-5) at 7 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center in their first home game in three weeks. General admission tickets are $10 for chairback seats and $5 for the bleachers. The game is also on ESPN+.
Since they beat John Carroll 101-49 at home on Nov. 18, the Flashes have:
- Run their record to 6-1, the best in the Mid-American Conference and equaling the fourth-best start in KSU history.
- Beaten UCLA and Penn State, only the third time in the program’s 45-year history they won against two Power 5 schools in a season.
- Ranked 17th-ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Poll.
They’ve done that with some of the best 3-point shooting in the country and very balanced scoring.
Coach Todd Starkey offers plenty of reasons to like this team.
“This is an exciting bunch to watch,” Starkey said. “They’re high character young women and really good students. They play hard and the right way, and I’m excited to coach them.”
Top student athletics
The team had an average GPA of 3.655 last year, 16th among about 325 Division I women’s basketball teams. Last fall, the group’s average was 3.710, the team’s highest ever.
All five of the team’s current starters and three other players earned academic all-MAC honors last season. That’s the most ever for Kent State and the most in the MAC last year. To earn academic honors, a player has to have a 3.2 cumulative GPA and appear in half her team’s game. Sixty women’s players got academic honors last season. Current Kent State senior Annie Pavansky was one of three MAC players with a 4.0 average.
Other current Flashes honored last season were current seniors Mariah Modkins, Lindsey Thall and Hannah Young and juniors Nila Blackford, Clare Kelly and Katie Shumate. Linsey Marchese, a junior last season who transferred in the summer, also was honored. Freshmen aren’t eligible for the award.
Running the numbers
Some statistics from the team’s first seven games:
- Kent State is making 41.4% of its 3-point shots, which ranks fifth in the country. The current average is 2.5 points above school record. The Flashes make an average of 9.6 3-point shots a game, 12th in Division I.
- The team has outrebounded every opponent so far this season. It averages 10.1 rebounds more than its opponents, first in the MAC by two full rebounds.
- The team is fourth among conference teams in scoring (76.6) per game, second in scoring defense (60.9) and first in scoring margin (15.7 points).
- Four players average more than 10 points a game: Thall (14.4), Shumate (13.9), sophomore Casey Santoro (13.3) and Blackford (10.99). That’s the most in double figures in the MAC.
- Blackford is sixth in the league in rebounding at 8.3 per game, Thall eighth at 7.7 and Young 13th at 6.6.
- Shumate is third in the league in shooting percentage at 53.6 and third in 3-point percentage at 57.1. Thall is eighth in shooting percentage at 46.7.
- Young is seventh in 3-point percentage (50), Santoro ninth (45.5), Thall 10th (45.2) and freshman Bridget Dunn 15th (41.7). With Shumate, that’s five players in the top 15. No other school has more than one in the top 15 and three in the top 25.
All about Duquesne
Wednesday’s opponent, Duquesne, has a 4-5 record. Its best win was 58-47 against Akron at home when it held the Zips’ leading scorer, senior wing Jordyn Dawson, to four points. That’s 20 below her average.
Duquesne’s best game probably was a 69-64 loss to Pittsburgh, which is 7-2.
The Dukes’ leading scorer is Fatou Pouye, a 6-foot graduate student guard from Senegal. She averages 12.4 points in just 23 minutes a game. 5-7 freshman guard Megan McConnell averages 10.4 points and 5-9 freshman guard Tess Myers 10.1.
McConnell and 5-9 guard grad student guard Libby Bazelak lead Duquesne in rebounding at 5.9 per game.
McConnell has two double-doubles this season and leads Duquesne in assists and steals.
The Dukes start four guards and 6-4 center Precious Johnson.
Kent State is 4-5 against Duquesne overall but has won the last two games, including a 73-66 win in Kent last season.
If you can’t make the game in person, you can watch it on ESPN+, listen to it online on the Kent State Radio network and follow statistics during the game on the Kent State website.
The game is the first of four-straight home games for the Flashes, who play Division II Clarion on Saturday, Florida State on Dec. 21 and open MAC play against Toledo Dec. 29.
Preview from KSU website, including links to roster, statistics, schedule and more.
Preview from Duquesne website, including links.