Kent State’s 82-61 victory at Northern Illinois on Wednesday was big — 22 points.
Its 64-38 victory over Western Michigan Saturday was bigger — 26 points.
Together, the games were the first time since 2002 that the Flashes had beaten two Mid-American Conference teams in a row by more than 20 points.
Western’s 38 points were the fewest allowed by Kent State since a 46-31 defensive battle against Robert Morris in 2017. They were the fewest allowed by Kent State against a MAC team since a 78-33 romp over Buffalo in 2005.
Kent State is now 5-3 in the MAC (13-6 overall) and tied for fourth place with Akron, which is 14-5. The Zips beat Buffalo 69-47 Saturday.
Kent State and Akron play in Akron on Wednesday.
KSU took a 22-12 lead in the first quarter and never allowed more than 13 points in a quarter. The Flashes allowed only five points in the third period.
Kent held Western Michigan to one 3-point basket in 17 attempts. Overall, the Broncos shot only 27.3% in the game. That’s the lowest KSU has allowed this year against a Division I team. Northern Illinois made 29% of its shots against Kent State on Wednesday.
The two defensive performances moved Kent State into the top rank in MAC staistics.
- Against MAC opponents, KSU is allowing 62.4 points a game, lowest in the MAC. In all games, it’s 60.5, also best in the league.
- League opponents are making only 26.3% of their 3-point attempts, the lowest in the league. In all games, it’s 30.5%, which ranks sixth.
- Overall shooting percentage against the Flashes by MAC teams is 40.5%, second to Akron. All opponents average 37.7%.
Lindsey Thall and Clare Kelly led Kent State with 12 points each. Hannah Young had 10. Freshman Tatiana Thomas had eight points and five rebounds in 13 minutes of play.
Katie Shumate led KSU in rebounding with 10 as the Flashes outrebounded 48-29. Thall and Kelly each had five assists and Corynne Hauser four, leading the Flashes to a total of 19.
Both the rebounding margin and total assists are season-highs against a Division I team.
Every KSU player in uniform got in the game and 11 scored. Eleven players played more than nine minutes; No one played more than 26.
Western is 4-4 and sixth in the MAC and 9-10 overall. The Broncos were without guard Lauren Ross, who was leading the league in scoring before she suffered a season-ending knee injury last Saturday.
There are no quotes in the story because I missed the game because of a family emergency, since resolved. When KSU puts the postgame press conference online, I’ll add a separate story.