With two minutes to go in the third quarter, Kent State held a 48-38 lead over Miami.
But the last 17 minutes of the game — including overtime — belonged to the Redhawks as Kent State lost its first Mid-American Conference game of the year, 84-76. The Flashes are 2-1 in the MAC and 10-4 overall. Miami is 1-2 and 6-10.
KSU is tied with Toledo, Ball State, Bowling Green, and Buffalo for second place in the league. Akron is the MAC’s only undefeated team at 3-0.
“We played really poorly” during the last 17 minutes, coach Todd Starkey said. “I thought we got out-toughed and outhustled, which was really disappointing.
“We had control of the game two or three different times, and we let them back in the game. You let a team like that — at their place — hang around and hang around, and then all of a sudden you blink, and you’re playing from behind hoping to get into overtime.”
Miami took a 68-66 lead — its first since halfway through the first quarter — with 21 seconds to go. KSU’s Hannah Young tied it with two free throws seven seconds later. Miami advanced the ball to its front court but didn’t get a shot off.
Two of Miami’s top three scorers fouled out late in the game, but the Flashes couldn’t take advantage.
Kent State never led in overtime. The score was 77-74 with 1:33 to go, but the Redhawks made seven free throws in the final minute-and-a-half while Kent State missed five 3-point attempts.
“We had way too many errors on offense in overtime and gave up three or four offensive rebounds,” Starkey said.
Kent State got most of its points from three guards, two of whom aren’t usually big scorers.
Freshman Corynne Hauser had 23 points and five assists, both career highs.
Graduate student Hannah Young had career highs in points (20) and steals (5) and led the Flashes in rebounding with seven. She had been averaging 6.4 points going into the game. Young played her 125th game in a KSU uniform, breaking the record set by current assistant coach Alexa Golden. It’s a record that could last a long time. Because of special COVID rules, Young should finish after five full seasons instead of the four for players during normal times.
Freshman Dionna Gray scored 14 points, another career-high. She played 38 minutes, the most of KSU’s three point guards. Gray had been averaging five points a game.
“The three of them kept us in the game,” Starkey said.
But Kent State’s usually scorers provided little punch. Leading scorer Lindsey Thall was 1-of-9 from the field and 0-of-4 on 3-point attempts and had four rebounds. Second-leading scorer Katie Shumate had one basket and one rebound. Third-leading scorer Casey Santoro didn’t score.
“We needed more productivity from them,” Starkey said.
Running the numbers
- The Flashes made 7-of-10 three-point baskets in the first half on their way to a 36-28 lead. But they were 1-of-10 in the second half and 0-for-5 in overtime on 3s.
- Miami made 46.5 of its shots, including 4-of-5 in overtime. The Redhawks were 8-of-13 on 3-points for 44.4%. Both percentages were much better than Kent’s average opponent. Kent State shot 38.5% from the floor and 40.9% from 3-point distance.
- Kent State made 25-of-28 free throws and after shooting just two foul shots in the first half. Miami made 22-of-30 free throws.
- For the fourth straight game, Kent State was badly outscored in the paint. Miami had 32 points to KSU’s 16. Ohio had outscored KSU in the paint 30-20 on Wednesday, Buffalo 44-28 last Saturday and Coppin State 30-18 on New Year’s Eve.
- Miami outrebounded the Flashes 38-34 and outscored KSU 15-11 on second-chance points.
- Miami forward Sierra Morrow blocked six Kent State shots.
Next: Home on Saturday against 11-3 Toledo,
Kent State plays the Rockets at 2 p.m. Saturday at the M.A.C. Center. Toledo won the conference with a 19-1 record last season and was the pre-season favorite this year. The Rockets are 2-1 in the MAC, losing 67-66 at Northern Illinois, and are 11-3 overall. Toledo beat Ball State (2-1 MAC, 12-4 overall) 83-76 on Wednesday.
Other MAC scores
- Akron (3-0 MAC, 12-2 overall) 60, Eastern Michigan (1-2, 9-5) 43 at Eastern.
- Bowling Green (2-1, 13-2) 101, Central Michigan (1-2, 3-11) 68 at BG.
- Western Michigan (1-2, 6-8) 79, Northern Illinois (1-2, 9-5) 70 at Western.
- Buffalo (2-1, 7-5) 69, Ohio (0-3, 2-12) 64 at Ohio.