Kent State still hasn’t found its shooting eye, but the Flashes found a way to win their first Mid-American Conference game of the season on Sunday.
The team beat Ball State 54-51 for its first win in Muncie in 25 years. The Flashes had lost 13 in a row since a 78-66 victory on Feb. 19, 1997. When the MAC played in divisions, KSU often would play Ball State every other year. In that same time period, the Flashes won 12 of 14 games in Kent. (The league abolished divisions last season.)
The game was very much like Kent State’s three losses to open the MAC season, except this time the Flashes found a way to win in the last minute. The game was low-scoring and close all of the way, and KSU still struggled shooting.
Key things to know about Sunday’s game:
- Casey Santoro hit a layup with 17 seconds to go to give the Flashes a 52-51 lead. After Ball State missed a 3-point attempt, Katie Shumate made two free throws with three seconds left.
- Kent State held the Cardinals to 32.1% shooting, the lowest of any of KSU’s Division I opponents this season. 51 points was the second-lowest KSU has allowed against Division I. It was Ball State’s poorest shooting and second-fewest points of its season.
- Playing about 50 miles from her hometown, KSU freshman Bridget Dunn equaled her career high of 15 points to lead the Flashes.
- KSU made less than 35% of its shots for the fourth game in a row and went 4-for-26 on 3-point shots.
Kent State is 9-4 on the season and 1-3 in the MAC. Ball State is 8-5 and 1-2 in the conference.
“I still don’t think we’re playing particularly well, but this time our defense held up, and we were able to make just enough shots,” coach Todd Starkey said. “We did a good job of being resilient. We had multiple times we could have given in.”
The last minute
Kent State had lost its previous two games when it missed shots in the last minute. This time Casey Santoro made one.
The Flashes hadn’t scored in more than four minutes when Santoro drove from the top of the key and made a basket as she leaned away from a crowd underneath. That gave KSU a 52-51 lead.
Here’s a 👀 at the driving layup by Casey Santoro in the final minute that put the Flashes ahead for good.#GoFlashes ⚡ pic.twitter.com/uc4yEteNdN
— Kent State Women’s Basketball (@KentStWBB) January 9, 2022
After Ball State missed a 3-pointer, KSU’s Katie Shumate was fouled and made both shots. BSU was able to get a shot off at the end, but it wasn’t close.
“Casey hadn’t been able to get to the basket most of the game,” Starkey said. “But she found a way to get in there. It was a great, great play when we really needed it to happen.”
Dunn leads a team effort
Forward Bridget Dunn was an all-state player in Carmel, Indiana, about 50 miles from Ball State. In front of more than 30 former teammates, friends and family members, she scored 15 points to lead the Flashes.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Dunn hit back-to-back 3-pointers, then stole the ball on Ball State’s next possession. After Kent State got two offensive rebounds, Dunn put in a layup off of a pass from Hannah Young. In 90 seconds, Kent State had gone from being one point down to being seven points ahead.
“It was great Bridget to play well in front of her hometown friends,” Starkey said.
Dunn has started for three-straight games in the absence of senior Lindsey Thall, who is recovering from COVID-19. Dunn has averaged 11.7 points in those games. In the previous two games, the freshman averaged 14 and is KSU’s fifth-leading scorer at 8.5 points per game.
Starkey was pleased with performances from all of his key players.
Nila Blackford has 10 points and 15 rebounds. She also had 15 rebounds against Western Michigan last Saturday and had 17 against Akron Wednesday. Blackford was KSU’s leading scorer last season at 15.5 points per game. She’s averaging five fewer this season and her shooting percentage is down almost 10 percentage points. She is third in the MAC in rebounding this season at 9.3 per game.
“She’s been struggling to finish, but she’s been coachable and is starting to make adjustments,” Starkey said. “I’m please with her effort. We really need her rebounding.”
Young made all five of her shots and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
Shumate had nine points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“Katie played really hard during the whole game,” the coach said. “She’s been playing hurt, and I’m really proud of her toughness today.”
Shots still aren’t falling
The Flashes just made 20-of-58 shots for 34.5% and made 4-of-26 three-point attempts (15.4%).
Going into MAC play, the Flashes were making 42% of their 3-point shots and ranked third in the country. In four MAC games, they have made 25-of-92 three-point attempts or 27.2%. That ranks last in the conference.
“We just aren’t making open looks,” Starkey said. “I mean, we shoot 43% as a team from the 3-point line, the first nine games of the season, and all of a sudden it goes away. I can’t help but think COVID has something to do with that. This team still has not got back to full strength.”
The Flashes missed more than 10 days of practice before Christmas after a COVID outbreak sickened more than half the team.
KSU’s 54 points were the fewest the team has scored all season. Ball State’s 51 were its fewest.
Running the numbers
- Kent State outrebounded its 13th straight opponent, posting a 43-32 advantage on the boards. The Flashes had 15 offensive rebounds and scored 12 second-chance points.
- KSU outscored Ball State 30-14 in the paint. The Flashes made 50% of their shots from there, much better than their previous three games. Ball State shot just 30% in the paint.
- KSU had a season-high 18 turnovers, with 12 coming in the first half. Ball State also finished with 18 turnovers and outscored KSU 10-6 off of turnovers.
Next: Bowling Green at the M.A.C. Center on Tuesday
The Flashes play defending MAC champion Bowling Green at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Falcons are 6-6 on the season and 1-2 in the MAC. Saturday they lost at Akron (2-1, 5-4) 79-69 as the Zips’ Jordyn Dawson posted a triple-double. KSU had lost to Akron 62-61 in Kent on Wednesday.
Other MAC scores (all from Saturday)
- Northern Illinois (1-2 MAC, 4-7 overall) 71, Ohio (0-1, 6-4) 68 at Ohio. OU was the preseason MAC favorite but had had its three previous games postponed because of COVID. It also was missing second-leading scorer Erica Johnson.
- Eastern Michigan (1-1, 4-5) 80, Central Michigan (1-3, 3-10) 60 at Eastern.
- Toledo (4-0, 10-3) 76, Western Michigan (2-1, 8-4) 67 at Western. Toledo is tied for first in the conference with Buffalo, which was idle Saturday because of COVID.
- Miami also didn’t play because of coronavirus problems.