It won’t end up being one of Kent State’s best games of the season, but the Flashes fought off a Duquesne comeback Wednesday and won 71-66.
KSU is 7-1, the fourth-best start ever for the team. Duquesne, traditionally a strong mid-major, is 4-6.
What you need to know about the game:
- Kent State led by as many as 13 in the third quarter, but in the last five mnutes, Duquesne came within one point twice and within two points four times.
- Katie Shumate had 21 points, Casey Santoro 19 and Lindsey Thall 16. The three combined to make 19-of-35 baskets and 10-of-17 3-pointers. KSU’s 3-point shooting percentage of 41.5 continues to be in the top six in the nation.
- The Flashes had assists on 14 of their 24 baskets, part of a pattern of sharing the basketball that’s much improved over the last few seasons.
“It wasn’t pretty,” coach Todd Starkey said. “Duquesne was very physical and made it a tough game for us. It’s two games in a row we weren’t necessarily playing our best and still found ways to win.
“This was a very intense game. It’s one of the reasons we schedule a tough (non-conference) schedule because this is what conference play looks like night in and night out.”
Holding off Duquesne
The Flashes led 52-39 with 1:32 to go in the third period. But behind 15 second-half points from Fatou Pouye, Duquesne closed it 58-57 with 5:02 to go. It was a two-point game with 1:05 left when Clare Kelly passed above the Duquesne defense to Thall in the opposite corner. Thall nailed the 3-pointer to give the Flashes a five-point lead.
“Our players have played a lot of minutes together,” Starkey said. (KSU’s top eight players from last season all returned.) “It comes out in moments when you’re not playing your best.
“I really liked our team’s composure down the stretch, even when they were putting on a run. Nobody looked panicked or rattled. That’s that’s experience coming out.”
1:03 4Q | Kent State 68, Duquesne 63
Lindsey Thall from the corner!
#GoFlashes ⚡ pic.twitter.com/uNB6TmJt8j— Kent State Women’s Basketball (@KentStWBB) December 9, 2021
Santoro said the game came down to “just toughness and who wanted it more.”
Duquesne’s comeback was fueled by a lot of foul shots, especially by Pouye, who made 8-of-10 in the last 11 minutes. The teams shot a total of 31 free shots in the second half after shooting just seven in the first.
“The game gets really choppy” Starkey said. “It gave them an advantage because they had the opportunity to get back on defense and switch defenses. It took us out of a flow a lot.”
The fouls definitely went both ways. Duquesne had two players foul out and another with four fouls. At one point in the fourth quarter, the Dukes were called for three fouls in one second — the first on the court and the next two on inbounds passes. For the game, KSU had 32 fouls, Duquesne 30. Thall, Kelly and NIla Blackford all had four fouls.
Wednesday’s Big Three
SHUMATE scored 21 points, making 7-of-14 shots from the field, 3-of-6 from 3-point distance and 4-of-4 from the foul line. She is fourth in the Mid-American Conference in field goal percentage (55%) and fourth in 3-point percentage (55.6%).
She leads KSU in scoring at 14.8 points a game, though she, Thall and Santoro have traded the lead all through the season.
“Katie has been making big shots since she’s been here,” Starkey said. “She’s a heckuva shooter; she led the MAC in conference games in 3-point percentage when she was a freshman.
Shumate was slowed by a knee problem all of last season but still averaged 12.2 points a game, second on the team. She says she feels better and is glad to see fewer COVID-19 restrictions.
“The team gets to see each other more,” she said. “We have fans. It just feels a lot different being on the floor this year.”
SANTORO moved into eighth place in the MAC in shooting percentage at 47.3% with her 6-of-9 performance Wednesday. She also made 4-of-5 three-pointers and is seventh in the conference in that category at 51.9%.
Santoro averaged just 31.1% shooting last season. Starkey has repeatedly how hard she worked to improve her game over the summer.
“She scored 2,400 points in high school,” Starkey said. “She made 10 3s in a game in high school and had 40 points. The reason we’re a good team is because we’ve gone out and got some really good pieces and put pieces together that fit. And they’re playing to the level of their capabilities.”
THALL made six of her 12 shots, including 3-of-6 from 3-point distance. She’s 10th in the MAC in 3-point percentage (44%) and eighth in overall shooting (47.1).
Thall also led the team with nine rebounds. She is averaging 7.9 rebounds a game. Last season she averaged 5.1.
“Reounding and defense are ‘want to’ skills,” Starkey said. “You have to want to do them to be good. Lindsey’s ‘want to’ has gone up It’s not like we’ve done like new miraculous rebounding drills. It’s just her focus and energy in that area has significantly increased.”
Assisting their teammates
The Flashes had 14 assists on their 24 baskets against Duquesne. They’re averaging 13.1 assists per game, up from 11.1 last season when they were 10th in the MAC. KSU’s current average would have put them fourth.
Santoro: “We’ve been emphasizing assists, and we’re doing a really good job of moving the ball this year. I just try to drive and kick and get my teammates open shots. It also helps me because they don’t know if I’m going to pass or shoot. They have to pick whether they want to give me the lane or close out. If they do close, my teammates are open and connect on the shots.”
Shumate: “You can just feel a difference when points are coming from assists versus individual plays.”
Starkey: “We’ve got a lot of really good players. We’ve have to make sure everybody’s getting touches by moving the basketball.”
Sunday against Clarion
Kent State hosts Division II Clarion (2-5) at 1 p.m. Saturday at the M.A.C. Center. Santoro’s younger sister Cory is a freshman for Clarion. She has started every game and averages 10.6 points.
Notes:
- The Flashes scored 14 points on 13 Duquesne turnovers. The Dukes scored only three off 10 KSU turnovers.
- Kent State outrebounded Duquesne 32-30. The Flashes have had more rebounds in every game this season.
- Junior post player Bexley Wallace, a transfer from Penn State, played her first extended moments in a Kent State uniform. She missed all of last season with a torn Achilles tendon and saw less than a minute of action at St. Bonaventure last week. She played seven minutes Wednesday and had an assist and a steal.