Three years ago, Lindsey Thall, Katie Shumate and Clare Kelly sat on a bus in Cleveland, about to head back to Kent to prepare for the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
They never returned to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. COVID-19 canceled their season the next day.
This Friday they’re heading to the semifinals for real, having beaten Northern Illinois 75-68 in the first round of this season’s tournament.
The Flashes will play regular-season champion Toledo (26-4), which eked out a 75-74 overtime win over No. 8 seed Buffalo on Friday. The game is on ESPN+ at 10 a.m.
Kent State is 21-9, its most victories in a season since 2005-06.
Kent State lost to Toledo twice in the regular season, most recently a 64-60 defeat in Toledo a week ago. The Flashes led the Rockets going into the last two minutes of that game.
Against Northern Illinois, Kent State never trailed. It led by as many as 14 in the first half, and NIU never got within five points in the second half.
“(2020’s canceled tournament) stings to this day,” Thall said in the team’s postgame press conference. “It just makes us want to take advantage of this opportunity even more. We know we deserve to be here, and we’re just gonna give it all we got for two more games.”
Kent State built a 38-25 halftime lead with defense and a barrage of 3-point baskets. The Flashes made 9-of-18 threes, led by Kelly’s 4-of-4, and held NIU to 34% shooting and just two 3s.
“When we’re defending the way we’re capable of and we’re knocking down shots, we can win games against just about anybody,” coach Todd Starkey said. “It’s hard to defend us when we’re making shots. We can really spread the floor and the way Katie and Lindsay are playing in the paint, it makes it difficult.”
Four Flashes scored in double figures, led by Shumate’s 20. She also had 12 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. She also had three assists, a steal and made 4-of-6 from 3-point distance.
“When Katie Schumate plays that aggressive from the start of the game, it really livens the whole team. She’s been doing that for about almost two months now, playing as as good at basketball as I’ve seen in four years.”
Shumate, who has averaged about 17 points and 8.5 rebounds over KSU’s last 12 games, was named to the all-MAC third team this week.
Kelly scored season-high 16 points and missed only one of her seven shots.
“Claire was catching and shooting without a conscience, and knocking down shots,” Starkey said.
Thall was 7-of-15 shooting, with most of her baskets coming inside. (She owns KSU’s career record for 3-point baskets.) She had two assists, four rebounds and a blocked shot.
Casey Santoro had 12 points, including 7-of-8 free throws in the fourth quarter.
The victory gives KSU a three-game sweep of the Huskies this season. It’s the first time KSU has won three against an opponent since 2001.
The Flashes had beaten NIU 82-61 in January and 73-58 in the final regular-season game last Saturday. Starkey said the team’s strategy was the same as it was four days ago.
“Coaches sometimes tend to overthink — like we need two change something up,” the coach said. “We wanted to make sure we stuck with the same formula. The message to our players is just,’ Play through your shot.’ If they’re good shots, they’re good shots in Rocket Mortgage, just like they are at the M.A.C. Center, just like they’re on the road.”
The view from Northern Illinois
Coach Lisa Carlsen in her postgame press conference:
“Credit Kent State, especially in the first half. They really shot it well.”
“I thought Kent did a great job of really having an answer every time we tried to make it run.”
“I think Kent is the best defensive team in the league, and they make it really hard, especially on our guards. They probably match up better with Shelby (Koker, NIU’s all-MAC point guard). It’s hard to get her going just because of their length and their ability to stay in front of the basketball.”
Numbers
- Kent State had 15 assists on 26 baskets. Sophomore guard Jenna Batsch had three in 14 minutes and also had two points and three rebounds. Santoro and Shumate also had three assists.
- Kent State had just six turnovers, the fifth time in six games the Flashes have had fewer than 10. NIU committed seven. KSU scored five points off turnovers, Northern seven.
- For the game, Kent made 41.9% of its shots and 42.3% of its 3-pointers. NIU shot 41.5% from the field and 35.3% from 3-point distance.
- Northern outrebounded Kent State 42-37.
- A’Jah Davis, a first-team all-MAC selection, led NIU with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Jayden Marable had 20 points for the Huskies.
The rest of the tournament
No. 2 Bowling Green (26-5) beat No. 7 Eastern Michigan (15-15) 70-36.
No. 3 Ball State (24-7) beat Akron (17-13) 92-68.
Bowling Green and Ball State will play Friday after the KSU-Toledo game, probably about 12:30 p.m. The game is on ESPN+.
The championship game will be at 11 a.m. Saturday on the CBS Sports Network.