In five years, Lindsey Thall, Hannah Young and Annie Pavlansky have won 79 games with the Kent State women’s basketball team. Clare Kelly joined the team for the last 59 of those victories.
After a 73-58 victory in their last regular-season game on Senior Day Saturday, they and coach Todd Starkey talked about what it all meant.
“You would be hard-pressed to find a senior class that has done more collectively as a group,” Starkey said. “I’m talking about their team GPA, their quality of character, their ability to win games in a really tough league. They’ve been a joy to coach and are ready for whatever comes next in life.”
The victory sends Kent State into the Mid-American Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed with a 20-9 record (12-6 in the conference). The Flashes will again play fifth-seeded Northern Illinois at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. NIU finished 8-10 in the MAC and 16-13 overall.
It is the first time since 2010-11 that Kent State has won 20 games in the regular season.
Here are some thoughts from the seniors after their last game in the M.A.C. Center:
Lindsey Thall, 6-2 forward from Strongsville, Ohio
“We’ve been in this group for so long, and we’ve just gone through so much together. I think it’s taught us a lot about building relationships around you. That’s something so important that I’ll take with me.”
Thall’s undergraduate degree was in biology/pre-med. She is working on her master’s in sports information
Thall has made 264 three-point baskets, the most in KSU history, including two on Saturday. She has blocked 200 shots, second highest in the Kent record book. With her blocked shot Saturday, she became the first player in MAC history to total 1,500 points, 200 three-point field goals and 200 blocks.
Thall has started every one of the 138 games she played in over five years. She missed four games last season because of COVID and one game this year because of illness.
Hannah Young, 5-10 guard from Forest, Virginia (Brookville High School)
“I came in pretty shy. Over the past five years, my teammates helped me break open my shell and just become more confident.”
Young got her bachelor’s degree in physical education in December 2021 and is studying for her master’s. She did her student teaching in Kent schools.
She has played in 140 games, the most ever by a Kent State player. (Thall’s 138 is second.) During her career, Young has made 42.3% of her 236 three-point attempts, which ranks second in school history, and leads the MAC in 3-point percentage this season at .438.
Young said she first saw Thall in an elevator at the Kent State Hotel. They didn’t know who each other was until they got out on the first floor. “We didn’t say a word to each other,” Young said. “Now we’re best friends.”
Annie Pavlansky, 6-foot guard/forward from Cortland, Ohio (Lakeview High School)
“Being here really taught me, especially with Covid and the uncertainty of everything, just to be present. As coach always says, be where your feet are. So just taking advantage of every second and not take any of it for granted.”
Pavlansky got her bachelor’s in middle school education in May 21 and is working on her master’s in K-12 reading/literacy specialization. The last I knew, she had a 4.0 GPA.
Pavlansky played the most minutes of her career this season at 168.
She and Thall live about an hour apart and had met each other when they attended KSU games while being recruited. Pavlansky and Young were freshman roommates. “It didn’t take long for us to become best friends,” Pavlansky said.
Clare Kelly, 5-8 guard from Olmsted Falls
“This group has taught me just how to be a better person. They always have your back, and it makes you want to be that same person for them.”
Kelly has played in 106 games in four years and started 31. Starkey said many times this season that he considered her a sixth starter and said that she could have started for many other teams in the MAC.
Kelly has received her bachelor’s in sports administration and started her master’s.
Kelly and Thall played against each other in high school didn’t particularly like each other. “We got over it,” Kelly said.
Once they went against each other in the opening tip of a game. “I didn’t even touch the ball,” said Kelly, who is six inches shorter than her teammate.
The NCAA’s COVID rules would allow Kelly to play a fifth season, but she said it was time to stop.
Beating the Huskies
Kent State made 13 three-point baskets, its second-highest of the season, in beating Northern Illinois for a second time. (The Flashes won 82-61 in DeKalb on Jan. 25.)
KSU made four-of-nine 3s in the first quarter on its way to a 20-13 lead. After missing all five of their attempts in the second quarter, the Flashes made 9-of-14 in the second half — a 64% clip.
Casey Santoro made 4-of-6 from 3-point distance, equaling her career high for 3s, and led the Flashes with 19 points. She also tied for the team lead with seven rebounds and had four assists and two steals.
Two of Santoro’s 3-pointers came toward the end of the third quarter, when Kent State hit four-straight 3s to put the game out of reach.
“Everybody was celebrating with each other on the court,” Thall said. “It just gives a hundred percent confidence to everybody else.”
Katie Shumate had 17 points for the Flashes and hit three 3-pointers. She also had seven rebounds, which is the fewest she’s had in the last 11 games, to go with two assists.
On to the tournament
“I think we’re in a good place,” Starkey said. “I think this team is ready to do good things. We just have to execute. You can’t have an off game, and everybody you play moving forward is going to be a good team.
“We’re just feeling confident going into it knowing that we can beat anybody. We’re not satisfied by any means, but we couldn’t have asked for a better end to the regular season.”
Here are the tournament matchups. All eight teams play Wednesday, starting with top seed Toledo (25-4, 16-2 MAC) playing No. 8 Buffalo (12-15, 7-11) at noon. A half-hour after that game ends, Kent State will play Northern Illinois.
Then it’s No. 2 Bowling Green (25-5, 14-4) against No. 7 Eastern Michigan (15-14, 7-11). The final game is No. 3 Ball State (24-7, 14-4) against sixth-seeded Akron (17-12, 8-10).
The winners of the Toledo-Buffalo game and the Kent State-NIU games will play at 10 a.m. Friday, followed by the game between the winners of Bowling Green-Eastern Michigan and Ball State-Akron.
The championship game is at 11 a.m. Saturday.
All games except the championship are on ESPN+. The title game is on the CBS Sports Network.
Numbers
- Thall had 12 points for the Flashes. Kelly had six and Young and Corynne Hauser five each.
- Northern Illinois outshot KSU 44.2% to 41%. Kent State shot just 26.7% in the second quarter.
- Kent State committed just seven turnovers, the fifth time in six games the Flashes made fewer than 10. NIU had 15 turnovers, and Kent outscored the Huskies 19-6 off of turnovers.
- Northern outrebounded KSU 34-31. A’Jah Davis, the MAC’s leading rebounder, had 12 for the Huskies. Davis also had 11 points but on 5-for-12 shooting. She had led the conference in field-goal percentage at .545.