After falling behind 21-10 against Bowling Green last Saturday, Kent State coach Todd Starkey wanted a much better start against Northern Illinois.
His Flashes delivered in a big way. In the first quarter, KSU made 6-of-7 three-point attempts and 10-of-15 field-goal attempts and raced to a 27-13 lead. Kent State didn’t stop until it had beaten the Huskies 82-61.
The score was the team’s biggest margin of victory in a road game this season and the second biggest of the year against a Division I team. The win moves Kent State into a tie with Akron and Western Michigan for fourth place in the Mid-American Conference. KSU is 4-3 in the league and 12-6 overall.
Ball State and Bowling Green are tied for first at 6-1; Toledo is third at 5-2.
“We wanted to make sure that we were the aggressor from start to finish,” Starkey said. “In our losses to Miami and Bowling Green, we played way too passive on the offensive end to start the game.”
It was a matter of “playing with more intention — put pressure on the other team to defend you without fouling,” the coach said.
Kent State made a season-high 54.9% of its shots and equaled its season-high on 3-pointers at 45.8%
The Flashes’ defense was just as intense as its offense.
Northern Illinois made fewer than 30% of its field-goal and 3-point attempts.
“We’ve executed our defensive game plan well for three games in a row,” Starkey said.
The key to the defense, the coach said, was making things difficult for NIU’s two all-MAC players — center A’Jah Davis and guard Chelby Koker. Davis leads the league in rebounding and is eighth in scoring; Koker is seventh in scoring.
“We wanted to crowd them both — to really make their touches difficult,” Starkey said. “Our guards were key to that.”
Starkey singled out KSU point guard Casey Santoro for her coverage of Koker, who scored 21 points but made only 5-of-14 shots. Davis made just 5-of-13 shots.
Kent State graduate student Lindsey Thall played one of the best games of her career. She had 28 points, the most for a Kent State player this season and the third most of her five-year career. She made 9-of-13 shots and 5-of-9 three-pointers, along with having two assists.
“She did a good job of screening tonight, and that got her more open,” Starkey said. “On the other side of those screens, (guards Casey Santoro, Corynne Hauser and Clare Kelly) were able to start getting downhill. (NIU) had to help off of Lindsay, or it would’ve been a layup.
“The guards did a good job of finding (Thall) behind them. Lindsey was prepared before the ball got to her hands and shot with confidence.”
Kelly’s 13 points and three 3-pointers marked her third-straight game in double figures and multiple 3-point baskets.
“She’s letting the game come to her a little bit more,” Starkey said. “Earlier in the year she was forcing things sometimes, trying to be aggressive. But just the quality of the shots wasn’t as good. Now she’s letting the game come to her a little bit better, and it’s paying off.”
Santoro had 13 points to go with four assists, two steals and 6-of-6 foul shooting. She led Kent State with eight rebounds, even though she’s the shortest player on the team at 5-foot-4.
Hauser had 12 points, her fifth straight game in double figures. She is now averaging 10.2 points per game, second on the team.
Two post players go down to knee injuries
NIU’s Davis and Kent State’s Bridget Dunn both had to leave the game with knee injuries.
Dunn, a 6-3 sophomore, lay on the floor for several minutes after she fell while battling Davis for a rebound. She was taken to the locker room and later returned to the bench with an ice pack one her knee and her leg rapped in celephane.
Dunn leads KSU in rebounding. She and Thall are the only true post players on the KSU roster, though they don’t usually play at the the same.
NIU’s Davis, who is eighth in Division I in rebounding, went down late in the third quarter. She also returned to the bench with ice on her knee.
Both teams won’t know their player’s status going ahead until medical tests over the next few days.
Points in the paint
Kent State outscored its opponent in the paint for the first time in eight Division I games. The Flashes had 28, NIU 24.
Next: Western Michigan on Saturday
The Flashes will host WMU at 2 p.m. Saturday at the M.A.C. Center. Like Kent, Western is 4-3 in the MAC (9-9 overall). The Broncos lost 62-51 at home to Eastern Michigan on Wednesday.