Kent State trailed Buffalo for 34 of the first 35 minutes of Wednesday’s game, but a zone defense at the end of the game helped the Flashes win their first game since 2011 on the Bulls’ home court.
KSU’s 72-69 win keeps the Flashes’ solid grip on fourth place in the Mid-American Conference with five games left in the regular season. A win over Akron at the M.A.C. Center on Saturday would clinch a spot in the MAC Tournament for the Flashes.
Kent State is 8-5 in the MAC and 16-8 on the season. Buffalo is 4-9 in the league and 9-13 overall.
The Flashes went to the zone defense after Buffalo guard Re’Shawna Stone had scored 33 of the Bulls’ 66 points, mostly on drives to the basket.
“They were carving us up in man coverage,” KSU coach Todd Starkey said. “The zone slowed them down and took them out of their offensive rhythm. We got three or four straight possessions where we stopped them, and we did a good job on the defensive glass down the stretch.”
Buffalo didn’t score from the time Kent State tied the game at 66 with 4:05 to go until Stone hit a 3-point basket with 54 seconds left. Meanwhile, the Flashes were scoring on their last four possessions:
- 66-66: Lindsey Thall scored on a reverse layup four feet from the basketball
- 68-66: Katie Shumate stole the ball and passed forward to Jenna Batsch for a fastbreak layup.
- 69-66: After two offensive rebounds by Hannah Young, Shumate sinks one of two free throws.
- 71- 66: Casey Santoro makes a layup off of an out-of-bounds play.
After Stone hits her 3 to make it 71-69, Corynne Hauser makes a free throw, and Stone’s last-second 3-pointer missed badly.
Batsch, Santoro, Shumate and Thall were difference-makers.
BATSCH, who had averaged 2.5 points and 10.8 minutes before the game, played 24 minutes — including key time at the end of the game — and scored 13 points.
“Because of her length, she’s one of our better zone defenders, ” Starkey said. “She did a really good job of contesting shots, and her 13 points was big off the bench for us.”
Batsch made her first three shots and had eight points in the first half, when Kent State was struggling to score.
SANTORO’s team-leading 16 points were her most of the season. She was 6-of-11 from the field, 2-of-4 from 3-point distance, and had four rebounds, two assists and a steal.
“She had a couple of big, big shots — including those back-to-back 3s,” Starkey said.
SHUMATE led Kent State with nine rebounds and had three assists, a steal and a blocked shot. She has averaged 8.2 rebounds over eight games since sophomore forward Bridget Dunn went down with a knee injury Jan. 25. Dunn, a 6-3 forward, had been KSU’s leading rebounder.
“I challenged Katie,” Starkey said. “I said, ‘Bridget’s out. We need someone to fill that gap.’ Katie’s answered the bell. She’s really turned the corner on that and really helped us out.”
Shumate also scored 11 points.
THALL, Kent State’s leading scorer, had two points in the first half and was 0-for-3 from 3-point distance, where she does much of her scoring. In the second half, KSU used her at much closer range. In the third quarter, Thall made 4-of-5 shots from within 10 feet. She finished the game with 15 points, three assists and a blocked shot.
“With Bridget out, we try to protect Lindsey,” ‘Starkey said. “When we got to the third quarter tonight and she wasn’t in foul trouble, we wanted to emphasize playing through her. When we do that, we get better shot selection.”
STONE’S 36
Buffalo’s Stone, a 5-6 guard, is a transfer from Division II Glenville State. She was Division II player of the year last season. Her numbers Wednesday were a sight: She made 13-of-20 shots, 3-of-5 three-pointers, and had five rebounds and three assists. She drew nine fouls on Kent State players. She was, Starkey said, “a one-woman wrecking crew.” Her 36 points tie for the second-highest in the MAC this season. (Highest is 40 by Ohio’s Yaya Felder.)
A LONG DROUGHT IN BUFFALO
The game was the first time Starkey had won a game in Buffalo in his seven years as coach. The last time Kent State had won there was on Jan. 8, 2011, when Bob Lindsay led the team. Since then, the Bulls have won 25-of-30 games (home and away). Many of those games were when Felicia Legette-Jack was Buffalo’s coach. She left last summer to become head coach at Syracuse, her alma mater, where she is 16-10. Legette-Jack took five Buffalo players with her, and only one of her players remains at Buffalo.
Kent State is 32-23 all-time against the Bulls and won the first 19 games of the series, which started in 1999.
NUMBERS
- At halftime, Buffalo had outrebounded Kent State 22-16 and outscored the Flashes 28-16 in the paint. KSU more than reversed that in the second half and finished with a 37-36 edge on the boards and a 42-40 margin in the paint.
- Kent State had four — yes, just four — turnovers. That’s the lowest I can remember in the 32 years I’ve followed the team. Starkey said it was a point of emphasis after Buffalo scored 16 points off of KSU turnovers in Kent’s 64-63 win over the Bulls in January.
- Kent State’s bench, led by Batsch, senior Clare Kelly and freshman Tatiana Thomas, outscored Buffalo’s reserves 26-4. Only seven Buffalo players got in the game, and one played only five minutes. Four played more than 35 minutes.
- Kelly’s 3-pointer in the first quarter was the 100th of her career.
UPSET ALERT
Bowling Green dropped out of a first-place tie in the MAC when it lost to Northern Illinois 85-81 at home.
The Falcons and Toledo are now tied for second at 11-2, a game behind 12-1 Ball State.
NEXT: A WAGON WHEEL CHALLENGE SATURDAY
The Flashes host Akron at 2 p.m. Saturday. Akron is in fifth in the MAC at 6-7 and is 15-9 overall. The Zips outscored Eastern Michigan 16-4 in the fourth quarter to win 72-70 Wednesday in Akron.
Kent State beat Akron 57-55 in Akron on Feb. 1.