Buffalo made it quite clear Saturday that it was among the Mid-American Conference’s best teams and that Kent State was solidly in the center of the league.

The second-place Bulls (14-4 MAC, 20-8 overall) handed KSU its worst loss of the season by a score of 82-64 at the M.A.C. Center Saturday. The Flashes are 9-9 in the conference and in a three-way tie for sixth place with two games to play in the regular season. They are a half-game ahead of ninth-place Ohio, whom they host next Saturday in the last game of the season.

On Wednesday, Kent State plays at Bowling Green, one of the teams it is tied with.

Mathematically, the Flashes could finish as high as fourth in the conference or as low as ninth. Only the MAC’s top eight teams made the league tournament in Cleveland March 9-12.

On Saturday, Buffalo overwhelmed the Flashes with 61% shooting in the first half and led 44-24. The closest Kent State got in the second half was 11 points in the third quarter.

“We ran into a buzz saw today,” coach Todd Starkey said. “We obviously could have done some things better. It’s been an up and down season for us, and I expect this team to be up again.

“That’s the message to our players: Just keep fighting as long as we have opportunities.”

The game really came down to what has been the story of the season for the Flashes: When the team shoots well, it can win against any team. When it doesn’t, it’s likely to lose.

Saturday the Flashes made only 29.4% of their shots and 26.9% of their 3-point attempts, both more than 10 points below its season average. Buffalo shot 50.8% from the field and 35.3% from distance.

Buffalo’s Dayaisha Fair, who is the fourth-leading scorer in the country at 23.7 points per game, had 28 to lead the Bulls. She made 10-of-18 shots and 4-of-7 three-pointers.

“She’s as good as anybody when she gets cooking,” Starkey said. “She was playing in rhythm, and it’s really difficult to stop her when she gets going like that.”

Kent State was led by junior guard Katie Shumate, who had 18 points, including 14 of KSU’s 24 points in the first half. Lindsey Thall had 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Nila Blackford had nine points and nine rebounds.

Buffalo outscored the Flashes 42-20 in the paint, mostly on drives to the baskets and strong post play. Other statistics were almost even.

Box score

Video of postgame press conference with Starkey and Thall.

MAC standings

After Kent State lost to Northern Illinois on Jan. 26 and fell to 2-6 in the Mid-American Conference, coach Todd Starkey vowed, “February will be our month.”

So far, he’s a prophet.

The Flashes beat third-place Ball State 64-61 at the M.A.C. Center Saturday for their fifth straight victory, all in the last 11 days. The win moves KSU to 7-6 in the MAC and into a tie for fifth place, just a game behind third-place Akron (8-5). Kent is 15-7 overall.

Ball State is fourth in the league at 7-5 and 14-8 overall.

“This team had multiple opportunities to pack it when things weren’t going our way in January,” Starkey said. “We pressed the reset button and said, ‘Let’s dig in our heels and fight through February.’ That’s what they decided to do.”

The first four games in KSU’s winning streak came against the bottom three teams in the standings. But Ball State had won five games in a row before Saturday.

Starkey warned that there are still seven games to go in the regular season.

“All we’ve done is dig our way out of a hole,” Starkey said. “We’re back in the mix but still only one game above .500. We’ve still got a long way to go. I think we have pretty significant room to grow on the offensive end, which gives me great hope.”

Senior Lindsey Thall said KSU’s January losses, which were all by fewer than seven points, were a testing for a team.

“We’ve just learned our lesson from those games,” she said. “We’re learning how to pull away or keep a lead and we know how to play when we don’t have a lead.” 

On the defensive

The victory was the second for the Flashes over Ball State this season. Like KSU’s 54-51 win in January, it was a close, defensive battle.

Kent State jumped to a 20-11 first-quarter lead, but Ball State put on a 17-4 run in the second. KSU led 30-27 at halftime.

Both teams scored 17 points in the third and fourth quarter, and neither team led by more than five in the second half.

Ball State went into the game making 9.5 three-point baskets per game and shooting more than 36% behind the arc. Against KSU, the Cardinals had seven 3-pointers and shot 30.4%.

“We’ve been able to hang our hat on defense recently,” Starkey said. “That’s the way we’ve gotten back in the conference race. Other than their run, I thought we were pretty dominant defensively.”

The Flashes rank second in the MAC in scoring defense, allowing 61.4 per game.

“We talked about if we can hold them close to our conference average, we’d have a good chance to win,” Starkey said.

One of Kent State’s mottos is “defend without fouling.” Ball State shot just four free throws, making all of them. KSU was 12-of-15 from the line.

Down to the last minute (again)

Half of Kent State’s games (and five of their six losses) have been decided in the last minute.

On Saturday, KSU led 59-56 with 35 seconds to go. Ball State cut it to one with a layup, then close again to 62-61 on a 3-point basket with 12 seconds to go. After Casey Santoro made two free throws, 6-2 Thall played good defense in the corner to make 5-8 Ally Becki miss at the buzzer.

Driving into the paint

Ball State came in with a defense designed to slow KSU’s Nila Blackford, who had averaged 18 points in Kent’s last six games.

So the Flashes went to drives to the basket by Katie Shumate and Santoro to get many of their points.

Shumate scored 20 on 7-of-16 shooting and 2-of-3 three-point attempts.

“It was their game plan to really, really clog the paint,” Starkey said. “It opened up some stuff for Katie and Nila.”

Shumate regularly drove into the paint, where “she’s really good at scoring,” the coach said.

“That kind of got us rolling,” he said. “She’s tough to handle when she has that mindset.”

Santoro had two 3-pointers and two hard drives to the basket on her way to 16 points. She made 5-of-6 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Blackford got off just seven shots and had six points and six rebounds. She did have a key basket in the fourth quarter when she ripped the ball out of a Ball State players’ hands after a rebound, then put back a layup. That gave KSU a 55-54 lead.

3:16 4Q | Kent State 55, BSU 54

“Gimme that!” – Nila Blackford (probably)#GoFlashes ⚡️#Play4Kay 💗 pic.twitter.com/7xhukFEbOT

— Kent State Women’s Basketball (@KentStWBB) February 12, 2022

Box score

Video highlights, with many nice scoring plays and KSU’s defensive stop in the last seconds.

Running the numbers

• Kent State made 25-of-58 shots for 41.% and 8-of23 (34.8%) from 3-point distance, both close to its MAC averages.
• The Flashes had 10 turnovers in the first half but just three in the second. The led to six BSU points. Ball State had 11 turnovers, from which Kent scored seven.
• The Flashes outrebounced Ball State 34-30, the 19th time in 22 games KSU has outrebounded its opponents. Blackford, Thall, Bridget Dunn and Clare Kelly all had at lest four.
• Kent State’s bench outscored Ball State’s 26-4. “We have eight players who could start for us,” Starkey said.
• BSU freshman Marie Kiefer blocked five Kent State shots, and Becki, also a freshman, had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Junior guard Sydney Freeman led the Cardinals with 17 points.

Next: Northern Illinois at the M.A.C.C.

Kent State hosts NIU at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Huskies (7-7 MAC, 10-12 overall) beat Kent State 61-55 in the last minute in January.

Northern, which is tied for seventh place, upset second-place Buffalo (10-4, 16-8) 69-64 in overtime in DeKalb on Saturday.

Other MAC scores

• First-place Toledo (13-1, 19-4) 80, Bowling Green (6-6, 11-10) 51 at Toledo.
• Third-place Akron (8-5, 11-8) 64, Eastern Michigan (2-11, 5-15) 53 at Eastern.
• Fifth-place Western Michigan (7-6, 13-9) 80, Ohio (5-6, 11-9) 73 at Ohio.
• Miami (4-9, 8-14) 90, Central Michigan (2-12, 4-19) 77 at Miami.

MAC standings.

A lot of things have changed since Kent State beat Ball State 54-51 back on Jan. 9.

It was the Flashes’ first victory of the Mid-American Conference4 season after four losses. BSU was 1-2 after the loss.

The teams meet again at 1 p.m. Saturday at the M.A.C. Center. Now they’re two of the hottest teams in the MAC. Ball State (7-4 MAC, 14-7 overall) has won five straight games and is third in the conference; Kent State (6-6, 14-7) has won four straight and is tied for sixth. Both are part of a jammed center of the standings that has only two games separating Ball State and ninth-place Northern Illinois.

Kent State’s winning streak has come against four teams below it in the standings. KSU won those games by an average of 13 points.

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Flashes beat Central Michigan 78-67 to run winning streak to 4

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Ball State’s last three wins have come at second-place Buffalo (72-70), at Ohio (84-74) and at home against fifth-place Bowling Green (91-80). OU is tied with Kent in the standings.

Bowling Green’s leading scorer, junior guard Anna Clephane, went down with a season-ending knee injury against KSU. But freshman guard Ally Becki has made up a lot of the difference since, averaging 20.5 points over her last four games. She is third in the MAC in 3-point percentage at .467. Another freshman, 6-2 Marie Kiefer, leads the Cardinals in rebounding at 6.6 per game and scored 24 points last week against Bowling Green. That was 12 more above here previous high.

Kent State’s streak has come behind much-improved shooting and a surging Nila Blackford, KSU’s 6-2 junior forward. The Flashes, after averaging less than 35% shooting in its first five games, have shot 48.9% in its winning streak.

Blackford, who led KSU in scoring and rebounding last season but struggled in non-conference and early MAC play, has averaged 17.5 points and 9.8 rebounds over the team’s last four games. In league play, she ranks third in rebounding (10.9 per game) and fourth in field-goal percentage (.512).

In MAC play, Kent State has allowed only 61.4 points per game and 38.6 shooting by its opponents. Both rank second in the league.

The Flashes are playing their fifth game in 11 games. Ball State’s Wednesday game against Ohio was postponed when the Bobcats didn’t have the league minimum of seven healthy players. So the Cardinals have had seven days off. Ball State will likely have to make up that game in what would otherwise by a bye day.

The game will be streamed at ESPN3 and the Golden Flashes Radio Network.

The game is Kent’s annual Play4Kay game, which honors hall-of-fame coach Kay Yow, who coached at North Carolina State and died of breast cancer in 2009. Games in her name are played across the country to honor women’s cancer victims and survivors and to raise money for her foundation, which funds support and research.

Kent State fans can donate money to the foundation for every free throw the Flashes make in February. Here’s link to donor page.

Preview from KSU website, including links to statistics, roster, schedule and more.

MAC standings.

MAC statistics.

Kent State goes for its fourth-straight victory when it travels to Central Michigan for a 7 p.m. Wednesday game.

The game will be streamed on ESPN3 and the Golden Flashes Radio Network.

The Flashes, who started the Mid-American Conference season 1-4, have beaten Central 57-57, Eastern Michigan 70-61 and Miami 83-61 in the last seven days.

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KSU’s 48% shooting and Blackford’s 22 points send Flashes past Miami 83-61

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They are now 5-6 in the conference (13-7 overall) and in ninth place. But they’re only a half-game behind Northern Illinois (6-6), Ohio (5-5) and Bowling Green (5-5), who are tied for sixth. They’re one game behind Western Michigan and Akron, who are tied for fourth at 6-5.

The Flashes’ winning streak has come against teams below it in the standings. KSU’s six losses came against upper-division MAC teams. None of the defeats were by more than 10 points, five were by less than seven, and three were by less than four. Four of the losses were on the road.

Central Michigan is headed toward its worst season in at least 14 years. The Chippewas are in last place in the MAC at 2-8 (4-17 overall) and have lost eight of their last nine games. CMU, which has won either the MAC Tournament or regular-season championship for six years in a row, lost three key starters to graduation and has struggled in almost every facet of the game. The Chipps are 11th in the conference in scoring and 10th in shooting percentage and 3-point percentage. They are last in scoring defense.

Point guard Molly Davis leads the team in scoring at 21.7 points a game, fourth in the MAC. Forward Jahari Smith is second in the league in rebounding at 12.8. (All statistics are for MAC games only.)

When Kent and Central played last week, Katie Shumate scored 21 points and Nila Blackford had 15 points and 11 rebounds. The Flashes made 45.6% of their shots. KSU leads the MAC in scoring defense, allowing 60.9 a game, and is holding opponents to 38.6% on field goals, third in the conference, and 30.3% on 3-pointers, which is fourth.

Preview from KSU website, including links to statistics, roster, schedule and more.

Nila Blackford is rolling, Kent State’s shots are falling and the Flashes have won three games in a row.

Blackford’s 22 points led four KSU players in double figures in an 83-61 victory over Miami Monday at the M.A.C. Center. Blackford made 10-of-15 shots (67%) and her team made 48%.

Kent State is now 5-6 and in ninth place in the Mid-American Conference. The Flashes (13-7 overall) are a half-game behind a three-way tie for sixth in the league. Miami is 10th in the MAC at 3-8 and 5-12 overall.

Lots of offense

Kent State’s 83 points equaled its highest total this season against a Division I team. Its 22-point margin of victory was its second-highest.

It was the fourth straight game KSU shot more than 45% from the field. After their first five MAC games, the Flashes were shooting only 35% in league play while going 1-4.

The improved shooting comes as Blackford found her stride. She had led the team in scoring and shooting percentage last season but was well below last year’s numbers in the non-conference season and KSU’s first four MAC games.

Over the Flashes’ last six games, Blackford has averaged 19.5 points and made 60.2% of her shots (41-of-68). In that span, she also has averaged 10.6 rebounds and ranks third in the MAC in rebounding.

“When she’s playing like that, it gives everybody else more confidence,” coach Todd Starkey said. “When we’ve been playing our best recently, we’ve been playing through the paint, playing through Nila.”

Blackford said that as she attacks the basket:

“Teams are going to be drawn toward that, and that’s going to be open everything up. It’s not just me. When we’re scoring in the paint like that, we’re really dangerous.

“We’re playing way more aggressive — like with a chip on our shoulder. We know we’re a good team, and when we’re going at a high level, there’s no one who can really stop us.”

Starkey said that even when the Flashes went 8-1 in non-conference play, the team was somewhat one-dimensional.

“We didn’t have much of an inside presence,” the coach said. “We were just really shooting the ball. Now Nila’s really come back around and is playing like an all-conference player again. That makes it really difficult for teams to defend us.”

And about Blackford’s recent play:

“We’ve told her that whatever she’s eating, just keep eating it,” Starkey said.

Lots of free throws

Kent State made 25 free throws, its most this season, in 28 attempts.

Starkey said the team has made that a strategy as it tried to recover from its 1-5 start in the MAC.

“One of the big solutions was to play more aggressively and get to the free-throw line,” he said. “The last five years, we have been one of the better teams in the country at getting to the free-throw line and keeping the other team off the line. So we’ve gotten back to that.”

Miami shot only six foul shots, making five.

Hannah Young was 6-of-6 from the line, Katie Shumate 7-of-8, Lindsey Thall 3-of-3, Casey Santoro 3-of-4, and Blackford, Mariah Modkins and Clare Kelly 2-of-2.

Lots of Lindsey Thall 3-pointers

Thall hit the 200th 3-point basket of her career four minutes into the game and made another one in the third quarter. The only other player in Kent State history to make 200 is Larissa Lurken, the MAC’s 2017 most valuable player. She made 212. Thall has at least 10 more games this season to try to catch her.

Thall scored 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had two assists against Miami.

Let’s take a 👀 at a couple angles of @LindseyThall‘s historic 200th career 3-pointer, courtesy of #GFTV.#GoFlashes ⚡ pic.twitter.com/vUzCs97xo7

— Kent State Women’s Basketball (@KentStWBB) February 8, 2022

Lots of scorers

Blackford led four Kent State players in double figures.

KATIE SHUMATE had 15 points 4-of-6 shooting and seven foul shots. She also had four rebounds, two assists, a steal and drew five Miami fouls.

Ten days ago, Shumate didn’t score at all in a 61-55 loss to Northern Illinois.

“We had a tough conversation,” Starkey said. “We just said, ‘Hey, we need you to be more aggressive. Just lay your ears back and go. We’ll live with the results.'”

And, the coach said: “Boy, she’s responded.”

Shumate has scored 47 points in the three games since NIU.

FORWARD BRIDGET DUNN, back in action after missing a game because of illness, had 13 points and hit 3-of-6 three-pointers. She has made most 3-point shots of anyone on the KSU roster.

“It was great to have her back and knocking down some big 3s early,” Starkey said. “She’s continuing to grow as a player and is starting to score in the paint as well, so teams can’t just stand at the 3-point line and guard her there.”

Dunn, who is just a freshman, said coaches had been pushing her to diversify her game.

“A big emphasis that they’ve had is to work on my inside game — just stay low and be aggressive down there,” she said. “So I’ve started to try to do that as much as I can. Being able to play inside and having a shot outside definitely makes me more dangerous as a player.”

In MAC play, Dunn averages 12.2 points a game, second on the team.

YOUNG had eight points and seven rebounds and CLARE KELLY had six points, two assists and two steals.

Lots of defense

Miami’s 61 points were exactly Kent State’s defensive average, which ranks third in the MAC. The Redhawks shot 37.3% from the field and 26.1% from 3-point distance.

Miami had scored 26 points in the fourth quarter in its previous two games and 29 the game before that. Against KSU, the Redhawks scored 11.

Running the numbers

• After being outrebounded 35-20 against Eastern Michigan Saturday, Kent State won Monday’s battle of the boards 39-32. It was the 16th time in 19 games the Flashes have outrebounded their opponent.
• Each team had 12 turnovers. KSU’s led to 15 Miami points, Miami’s to 10 Kent points.
• In the second half, the Flashes outscored Miami 26-6 in the paint. For the game, it was 38-22.
• Kent State never trailed and led for 36 minutes of the game.

Box score

Next: Wedneday at Central Michigan

The Flashes make the six-hour bus ride to Central Michigan for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday. KSU beat last-place CMU (2-10 MAC, 4-17) in Kent last Wedneday by a score of 68-57.

Elsewhere in the MAC

In Monday’s other game, second-place Buffalo (9-3 MAC, 15-7 overall) beat fourth-place Western Michigan (6-5, 12-8) 71-64 in Buffalo.

Link to game replay on ESPN3

The women host Miami at 7 p.m. Monday at the M.A.C. Center. The game is one of a number rescheduled from COVID-10 cancellations earlier in the season.

It will be KSU’s third game in six days. The Flashes won the first two, beating Central Michigan 68-57 Wednesday and winning at Eastern Michigan 70-61 Saturday. They’re 4-8 and in ninth place in the Mid-American Conference, a game behind a three-team tie for sixth between Northern Illinois, Ohio and Bowling Green. NIU beat Ohio 80-70 on Sunday.

Miami is 3-7 but played one of its best games of the season Saturday, winning at fourth-place Western Michigan 80-67. The Redhawks’ best player is junior guard Peyton Scott, who averages 18.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. She beat Kent State on a 3-point shot at the buzzer last year in Oxford.

Kent State is allowing 61.3 points a game in MAC play, third in the league. It scores 62.8, which ranks 10th. Miami ranks ninth in scoring 65.0 points and allows 69.1, which ranks seventh.

The game is on ESPN3 and the Golden Flashes Radio Network. Statistics during the game can be found on the KSU website.

The Kent State women found their 3-point shooting in a big way in the second half Saturday and turned it into a 70-61 road win over Eastern Michigan.

The Flashes were the country’s third-best 3-point shooting team before Christmas but had made only 31% of their shots in MAC play going into the EMU.

On Saturday, they made 8-of-13 three-pointers (62%) in the second half as they came from 10 points behind to win.

The victory is Kent’s second straight and moves the team’s MAC record to 4-6. The Flashes are in ninth place, just a half-game behind Northern Illinois in the fight for the eighth and final spot in March’s MAC Tournament. Overall KSU is 12-7.

Eastern has lost eight of its last nine games and is in 11th place. The Eagles are 2-8 in the league and 5-13 overall.

The 3-point story

“We really weren’t running plays to get 3-point shots,” coach Todd Starkey said. “We were just running our offense and those were good opportunities.

“We weren’t running any new actions, and I don’t they the shots were better than what we’ve been taking, to be honest. It’s just that finally, hopefully, we can get in some sort of game rhythm. When we play that way and we’re knocking down 3-point shots, I think we’re as good as anybody in the league.”

Big plays and big shots

7:51 4Q | Kent State 52, EMU 50

Clare Kelly rewards Lindsey Thall for her hustle, and the senior buries the triple to give the Flashes the lead!#GoFlashes ⚡ pic.twitter.com/iLP9TZM1QM

— Kent State Women’s Basketball (@KentStWBB) February 5, 2022

With just under 8 minutes to go, Lindsay Thall chased down an offensive rebound as it was going out of bounds. In midair, she tossed it to Hannah Young, who passed to Clare Kelly. Kelly moved toward the basket, then fed the ball back to Thall, who nailed a 3-point shot from the corner. The basket gave Kent State the lead for the first time since the first quarter. Eastern called timeout, and the Kent State huddle was pumped up.

“We’ve lost some close games early in conference play,” Starkey said. “The girls looked at me and said, ‘We’re not doing that anymore.’ They got incredibly tough down the stretch.”

Five minutes later, Kelly stood her ground as Areanna Combs, EMU’s leading scorer, backed in to get in position for a shot. Kelly drew an offensive foul to get the ball back for Kent.

“A great, great defensive play,” Starkey said.

On Kent State’s possession, Kelly hit a 3-point basket to put KSU up 71-64 with 3:04 to go. Eastern Michigan never got closer.

Contributions from everywhere

Kelly and Kent State’s starting five all played big roles in the victory.

KELLY, coming off the bench, had a career-high six assists in 31 minutes. The assist total is KSU’s second-highest this season to Casey Santoro’s 10 against Clarion, when Santoro posted the first triple-double in Kent history.

Kelly was initially recruited as a 3-point shooter, but she has become one of the team’s best passers and defensive guards. “Clare is really working hard at the defensive end,” Starkey said. “She played really within herself today and was seeing the defense well, and her teammates were making shots after her passes.”

MARIAH MODKINS had a season-high in points (9), 3-point baskets (3-in-4 attempts) and minutes (28). She also had two rebounds, two assists and a steal. “It was nice to see her coming our of her little shooting slump,” Starkey said.

NILA BLACKFORD led the Flashes with 17 points and eight rebounds, making 8 of her 12 shots. In non-conference play, Blackford was shooting just 38%. In her last seven games, she has shot 56% and averaged 14.4 points and 11.8 rebounds.

THALL had her consistently solid statistical line: 16 points, including 3-of-5 three-pointers, three assists, two blocked shots and a steal.

YOUNG, playing on two hurt ankles, scored 10 points while going 2-of-2 on 3-point attempts. She also had five rebounds. Young missed the last 30 minutes of KSU’s Buffalo game Jan. 17 when she went down with an ankle injury. Starkey said she had hurt her other ankle in practice Friday. She still played 26 minutes.

The Flashes were without freshman forward Bridget Dunn, the team’s leading scorer in MAC games at 12.1 points per game. She and reserve guard Jenna Batsch were ill and didn’t make the trip. Starkey said he didn’t think they’d miss extended time.

Outrebounded by a ton

The Flashes had outrebounded 16 of their previous 18 opponents. In the other two games, they tied and were beaten by one.

But Saturday Eastern overwhelmed them on the boards 45-30 with 20 offensive rebounds. Blackford, the MAC’s No. 3 rebounder, had only one rebound in the first half.

“You could tell that was a big scouting things for them,” Starkey said. “They were so focused on boxing her out.”

Blackford came back with seven rebounds in the second half. “We just needed some other players to join the party with rebounding,” Starkey said.

There’s something about the 2nd half against EMU

The Flashes outscored Eastern 45-29 in the second half. In the first game between the teams, KSU won the second half 42-18. The Kent State men, coincidentally playing Eastern in Kent on Saturday, outscored the Eagle men 55-32 in the final 20 minutes of their 90-71 victory.

Box score

Running the numbers

• Kent State made 25-of-51 shots for 49.5%. That’s the team’s second-highest percentage in MAC play and fourth highest of the season. Highest of the year was 51.9% in the Flashes’ first game against Eastern, an 83-58 win in Kent.
• Eastern made 24-of-67 shots for35.8% and were 4-of-14 on 3-pointers.
• The Flashes committed 10 turnovers in the first half and gave up 11 points from them. In the second half, they gave up only two points off five turnovers. Eastern committed 13 turnovers for the game, leading to 10 KSU points.
• Combs led Eastern with 15 points but went 6-of-24 shooting and committed six turnovers.

Next: Miami in Kent on Monday

The Flashes play Miami at 7 p.m. Monday at the M.A.C. Center in their third game in six days.

Miami is 3-7 in the MAC, a game behind Kent State, and 3-12 overall. The Redhawks beat Western Michigan 80-67 Saturday in Kalamazoo. The loss dropped WMU (6-4, 12-7 from third to fourth in the league.

On Wednesday, Kent State will travel to Central Michigan for its fourth game in eight days. Asked whether the busy week would wear on the team, Starkey said:

“I think this time of year players would much rather play games than practice. Anyway, they’re probably tired of my voice.”

Other MAC scores from Saturday

• First-place Toledo (11-1, 17-4) outlasted sixth-place Akron (6-5, 9-8) 73-70 in Akron.
• Second-place Buffalo (8-3, 14-7) beat last-place Central Michigan (2-10, 4-17) 82-74 at Central Michigan.
• Third-place Ball State (7-4, 14-7) beat seventh-place Bowling Green (5-5, 10-9) 91-80 at Ball State.
• Fifth-place Ohio (5-4, 11-7) and eighth-place Northern Illinois (5-6, 8-11) were idle.

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Kent State heads to Eastern Michigan Saturday to play the second of four-straight games against teams below it in the Mid-American Conference standings.

The game is at 2 p.m. and is streamed on ESPN+ and the Golden Flashes Radio Network. Statistics during and after the game will be on the EMU website.

The games give KSU a chance to climb into the top eight in the MAC, which would qualify them for the MAC Tournament in Cleveland in March. The Flashes are currently in ninth place, a game behind Northern Illinois and two behind Bowling Green and Ohio.

Kent State’s MAC record is 3-6, with all six losses coming by fewer than 10 points. Five of the losses and one win have been decided during the last minute. The Flashes are 11-7 overall after their 68-57 win over Central Michigan on Wednesday.

MAC standings

Kent State held Eastern Michigan to 18 points in the second half on Jan. 15 on the way to its best win of the MAC season. The Flashes shot a season-best 51.9% from the field in winning that game 83-58.

Eastern has lost seven of its last eight games and is 2-8 in the MAC (5-12 overall). The Eagles are led by senior wing Areanna Combs, who averages 18.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.8 steals per game. Forward Ce’Nara Skanes leads EMU in rebounding at 8.1 per game and averages 12.6 points. Guard Danielle Rainey is third in the conference in 3-point baskets per game (2.6) and third in 3-point percentage (.393).

Seven different players have led Kent State in scoring in games this season. Guard Katie Shumate, who equaled a season-high of 21 against CMU on Wedneday, has done it six times. She averages 12.0 per game. Point guard Casey Santoro (12.4 points a game) has led the team four times, freshman forward Bridget Dunn (9.5) has done it three times and Hannah Young (6.3) and Lindsey Thall (12.8) twice. Nila Blackford (10.4) and Clare Kelly (3.5) have led the team in scoring once each.

KSU game notes for Eastern Michigan, which has a wealth of team information and statistics.

MAC statistics.