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.
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.