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.
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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