Shooting was supposed to be Kent State’s strength this season.
But so far it’s been defense that has carried the Flashes to a 3-2 record against five strong opponents.
Kent State held their fourth opponent of the season under 60 points in beating Quinnipiac 58-55 in the first game of the Christmas City Classic in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
Both Kent and Quinnipiac were ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25 going into the game — Quinnipiac 12th and Kent State 17th. The Flashes are now 3-2 on the season with their losses coming to Power 5 schools Florida State and Arkansas. Quinnipiac’s previous two losses came to schools ranked in the Top 10 of the most recent AP Poll — No. 6 Indiana and No. 8 North Carolina. The Bobcats are 2-3.
Kent’s winning recofrd has come even though the team has made over 40% of its shots only once this season. The Flashes have made more than 30% of their 3-pointers only twice.
“We’ve got really good shooters who just aren’t seeing the ball go through,” coach Todd Starkey said. “In the past, that really has affected our level of defensive buy-in. This year it’s not affecting them to any large degree at the defensive end. They’re playing through that, and our defense has been something we’ve been able to really depend on.”
Graduate student forward Lindsey Thall led Kent State with 18 points and two 3-point baskets. Casey Santoro had 15 points, six rebounds, six free throws and three assists — all season highs for the junior guard.
But a more obscure statistic impressed Starkey even more.
“Lindsey drew 10 fouls, and Casey drew eight,” he said. “That’s huge.”
Santoro and Thall each got to the foul line 10 times and helped lead the Flashes to a 19-12 advantage in free throws. Quinnipiac point guard Rose Caverly, who was guarding Santoro, missed much of the fourth quarter with four fouls. She and forward Mary Baskerville both fouled out in the last minutes.
The Flashes trailed by nine points after eight minutes of the first quarter and trailed 16-11 at the end of the quarter.
Starkey’s message to the team?
“We did not play well, and we were only down five,” he told them. “I think that changed their mindset. They stayed pretty positive, and we held them to eight points in the second quarter.”
Kent State tied the game on a floater by Santoro four seconds before halftime. They took they lead on a 3-point basket by Clare Kelly a minute into the third quarter, and the Flashes never trailed after that.
In the fourth quarter, KSU held Quinnipiac to 4-of-17 shooting in the fourth quarter. At one point, the Bobcats went 1-for-15 from the field in the quarter.
Thall, who is 6-2, and 6-3 sophomore Bridget Dunn anchored the KSU defense.
“We only had three blocked shots, but the number of shots that Bridget and Lindsay altered were significant,” Starkey said. “Bridget contested a ton of shots.”
Dunn tied Thall for the most 3s on the team last season but has made only 2-of-16 so far. But she’s become the team’s leading rebounder.
“She’s really taken that role to heart,” Starkey said.
Dunn and Thall played significant minutes together for the first time this season because of Quinnipiac’s tall front line. Otherwise, Kent State has played a four-guard offense.
For the game, Thall made 4-of-10 field goal attempts, 2-of-8 three-point shots and 8-of-10 free throws. She also had four rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot.
Santoro was 4-of-6 from the field. Her six rebounds tied her for the team lead with Hannah Young. Dunn had five. The Flashes outrebounded Quinnipiac 33-31.
Next: Southern Illinois in the championship
The Flashes play Southern Illinois at at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the championship game of the tournament. SIU won its first game of the season Saturday, beating host Lehigh 87-81. Overall, Southern is 1-4, with losses to Middle Tennesee State, IUPUI, Northwetern and Memphis. 5-7 guard Ashley Jones is the Salukis’ leading scorer. She had 16 against Lehigh.