With starting forward Mikala Morris injured, sophomore Tatiana Thomas played 16 minutes, her most of the season. She scored six points and had eight rebounds. (Photo for KSU Athletics by Gracie Farrall.)

Wednesday’s 57-46 loss to Ball State was a nightmare in shooting for Kent State.

The Flashes missed their first 15 three-point attempts and didn’t make one until the fourth quarter. They took 17 foul shots and made only four. Yes, four.

“I haven’t seen free-throw shooting like that in my career — not from a team that’s a good shooting team,” coach Todd Starkey said.

Kent State had been making 73.1 percent of its free throws. In MAC play, it had been making 35% of its 3s. It ended up shooting 20% from 3-point distance, with all four of its baskets coming in the fourth quarter.

“If we shoot the ball well from the free throw line and from the floor, I think we have a really good chance of winning that game,” Starkey said. “We never gave up. I’m really proud of our team’s effort and toughness, especially in the second, third and fourth quarters.”

Ball State ends the first half of the MId-American Conference schedule undefeated for the first time in school history. The Cardinals are 19-2 overall and have won 13 straight games.

Kent State is 7-2 and in third place in the MAC. The Flashes are 13-6 overall.

Ball State jumped to a 20-11 first-quarter lead but never scored more than 14 in a quarter for the rest of the game. The Flashes closed the score to 34-30 in the third quarter, but Ally Becki, BSU’s star point guard, scored nine points in the last 90 seconds of the quarter to push Ball State’s lead to 11. Kent State never got within nine in the fourth quarter.

Katie Shumate led KSU with 22 points, her second-straight 20-point game.

Starting forward Mikala Morris missed the game with a foot injury suffered against Bowling Green on Saturday. Freshman Janae Tyler started in her place, scored six points on 3-of-3 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds. Sophomore Tatiana Thomas was Tyler’s primary backup, also having six points and eight rebounds in a season-high 16 minutes.

“Janae came in for her first start against the toughest team in the league and did a nice job,” Starkey said. “Janae and Tatiana stepped up and played very well.”

Kent State outrebounded Ball State 46-38 and had 17 offensive rebounds. The Flashes outscored BSU 16-7 on second-chance points.

More numbers:

• Ball State made 37.5% of its shots, Kent State 32.9%.
• Ball State scored 18 points off of 15 KSU turnovers; Kent scored 10 off 10 Cardinal turnovers.
• Ball State also struggled on 3-point shooting, making only 5-of-27.
• The two teams entered the game as the top-scoring teams in the MAC. Ball State scored 17 below its average, and Kent State scored 28 below its.

NEXT: Home for three games, starting with Central Michigan at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Chippewas are 3-6 in the MAC and 5-14 overall. They’re tied for eighth in the league.

Next week the Flashes will host Western Michigan (4-5, 9-10) on Wednesday and Old Dominion (15-5) on Saturday. The Old Dominion game is the second of KSU’s two games in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.

Box score

Standings are from WarrenNolan.com, an analytics site. NET is the statistical measure the NCAA uses to help rank teams and determine seeds for tournaments. 

Kent State’s women won a tough game on the road at Bowling Green on Saturday.

Now they face an even tougher game on the road at Ball State on Wednesday. The game is at 6:30 p.m. and is on ESPN+.

Ball State is undefeated and in first place in the Mid-American Conference at 7-1. The Cardinals are 18-2 overall, with the losses coming only to national powers Notre Dame and Connecticut. They have won 12 games in a row, a school record.

“They have great talent,” KSU coach Todd Starkey said after his team’s 82-74 win at Bowling Green on Saturday. “They play the way they want to play. They try to dictate what you’re going to be able to do. They press defensively, and they scramble you and get you out of your stuff. Offensively they play with great pace and tempo and have a lot of different people who can score the basketball.

“We’ll have to play close to our best four quarters of the year, especially at their place.”

Starkey said he thought the Flashes were moving in that direction.

“This team still has a lot of their best basketball ahead of them,” he said. “They know we’ve been basketball games, but we haven’t been playing quite our best, and they’re confident that we can continue to improve.”

Starkey downplayed the idea that Wednesday was a critical game.

“There’s no championship attached to this game,” he said. “It’s just another conference game that gives us an opportunity to continue to get better. And quite frankly, I’m glad we’re playing a really good opponent because we need to face that to get us ready for the end of the season.”

Kent State played four good quarters against Bowling Green, which was picked fourth in the conference but has been hurt by injuries. Against BG, Kent State made 7-of-15 three-point shots for its highest percentage of the year (46.7%). It shot 45.5% overall, its sixth-highest of the season.

The Flashes are off to their best conference start since 2000-01, when they won the MAC championship. They have won three games in a row, led by Katie Shumate (19 points a game over KSU’s last five games) and Jenna Batsch (17.2 over the same period).

KSU is 7-1 in the conference, tied with Toledo for second place, and 13-5 overall.

Here are some selected MAC team stats (conference games only):

Points per game

1. Ball State 75.3.
2. Kent State 75.0.
3. Toledo 67.5.

Points against per game

1. Ball State 55.0.
2. Toledo 56.0.
3. Kent State 61.4,

Shooting percentage

1. Ball State 44.8%.
2. Kent State 43.8%.
3. Bowling Green 41.7%.

3-point percentage

1. Ball State 39.2%.
2. Kent State 34.1%.
3. Toledo 33.3%.

Opponents shooting percentage

1. Northern Illinois 38.0%.
2. Toledo 38.4%.
3. Central Michigan 39.3%.

5. Kent State 39.9%.

7. Ball State 40.1%.

Rebounding margin

1. Toledo +9.6.
2. Central Michigian +6.3
3. Kent State +5.3.
4. Ball State +3.1.

Turnover margin

1. Ball State +6.0.
2. Kent State +4.25.
3. Ohio +4.13.

Despite losing 11 minutes to foul trouble, Katie Shumate scored 26 points, one off her career high. She made 8-of-11 field goals. (File photo from Kent State Athletics.)

Kent State got 23 second-half points from Katie Shumate and big help from bench players Janae Tyler and Dionna Gray to help it beat Bowling Green 82-74 on the road Saturday.

The win moves Kent State to its best Mid-American Conference season start since 2000-01 and keeps KSU in a tie for second in the MAC with Toledo with a 7-1 record.

Toledo held off Buffalo 67-63 on Saturday night.

Overall Kent State is 13-5 and plays at first-place Ball State (8-0 MAC, 18-2 overall) at 7 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN+.

Bowling Green lost its third-straight game to fall to 4-4 and a fourth-place tie. The Falcons have struggled since losing leading scorer Lexi Fleming to a knee injury before Christmas.

Shumate made 8-of-11 shots, including 2-of-3 from 3-point distance, and 8-of-8 free throws for the game. She scored 16 points in the fourth quarter alone.

Shumate sat out 15 minutes of the first half with foul trouble.

“She was frustrated with having to sit and watch,” coach Todd Starkey said. “She really wanted to win, and when she gets focused like she was in the second half, she’s as good as there is in the league.”

Shumate’s foul trouble and other injuries gave major playing time to Gray and Tyler.

Gray, KSU’s backup point guard, and starting point Corynne Hauser played multiple minutes together with Shumate on the bench. Gray was the playmaker much of the time as Hauser’s knee was bumped and injured.

“It’s great to be able to have her come off the bench and play big minutes for us and make some great plays,” Starkey said.

Gray had six assists against one turnover and scored seven points, including a 3-point basket.

Tyler, a freshman, scored 14 points and had six rebounds in 21 minutes, making 6-of-9 shots. She finished the game after starting post player Mikala Morris was injured in the fourth quarter.

“We needed her in big minutes down the stretch,” Starkey said, “and she had a couple of tough catches and finishes late.”

Much of Tyler and Morris’s work came against Erika Porter, a BG transfer from Baylor.

“For Janae to go back and forth with her was really good,” Starkey said. “Janae continues to learn and get better game by game. It’s fun to watch.”

Jenna Batsch scored 16 points and is averaging 17.2 over her last five games.

Bridget Dunn grabbed eight rebounds and is averaging 7.6 over the same five games.

Biggest statistical advantage was Kent State’s 40-27 margin in rebounding and 14-4 margin on the offensive boards. The Flashes led 16-6 on second-chance points.

The victory was Starkey’s 300th in his career at Kent State and Division II Lenoir-Ryne in North Carolina. It was his 135th win at Kent State, which ties him for second among women’s coaches with Laurel Wartluft. First place is Bob Lindsay’s 418 over 23 seasons.

A locker room celebration made Starkey slow to his postgame phone interview.

“I had to get the silly string out of my hair,” he said.

Box score

Jenna Batsch had a career-high 20 points, including 12 critical points in the third quarter. (File photo from Kent State Athletics.)

After scoring just three points in the first half, Jenna Batsch had 12 in the third quarter and a career-high 20 for the game to lead Kent State past Eastern Michigan 66-57 Wednesday at the M.A.C. Center.

The win gives Kent State a 7-1 Mid-American Conference record (12-5 overall) and keeps them in a tie for second place in the league. Eastern is 2-5 in the conference and 5-12 overall.

“I think a lot of times when I have a good second half, I’m just frustrated with my first half,” Batsch said. “I think I play better when I’m angry, honestly. I just come out and be aggressive and focus.”

Batsch scored KSU’s final 10 points in the third quarter to give the Flashes a 45-43 going into the final period.

“She’s a big spark for us,” point guard Corynne Hauser said. “We want to get a stop and come back and watch Jenna get another bucket. Every time she’s able to go on a run by herself, it really gets the whole team going.”

The Flashes outscored Eastern Michigan 21-14 in the fourth quarter and took the lead for good after a 3-point basket by Hauser with 6:28 to go.

“I thought we executed really well in the fourth quarter,” coach Todd Starkey said. “But somehow we have to get to a point where we’re playing four solid quarters instead of allowing one or two quarters to affect us in a negative way.”

For the second game in a row, 6-3 forward Bridget Dunn had a big impact on the game without scoring a lot of points. Dunn had 11 rebounds and her defense helped hold a big, strong EMU front line in check.

Hauser and Katie Shumate each had 13 points for the Flashes, and Mikala Morris had 10.

Numbers:

• Kent State had a season-low six turnovers. EMU had 14, which Kent turned into 14 points.
• Eastern outrebounded the Flashes 43-38.
• KSU made 24-of-61 shots for 39.3%; Eastern was 23-of-61 for 37.7%.

NEXT: Bowling Green and Ball State, two of the MAC’s best. The Flashes play at BG at 4 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+. Bowling Green is 4-3 in the league and 10-7 overall. The Falcons have struggled somewhat since Lexi Fleming, their leading scorer, went down with a knee injury before Christmas. BG lost at Buffalo (also 4-3, 10-7) 82-72 on Wednesday.

Ball State, whom the Flashes play next Wednesday, leads the MAC at 7-0, is 16-2 overall and has won 11 straight games. Its losses came to No. 14 Notre Dame and No. 17 Connecticut.

MAC standings

Standings are from WarrenNolan.com, an analytics site. NET is the statistical measure the NCAA uses to help rank teams and determine seeds for tournaments. It includes things like strength of schedule, scoring margin, points per possession on offense and defense, and the quality of wins and losses, based on the opponent and whether a game was home or away.

Jenna Batsch missed equaling her career-high of 19 by a point but did set a career-best in steals with five and 3-point baskets with four.. (Photo from KSU ‘X’ feed — former Twitter.)

Jenna Batsch and Katie Shumate combined for 24 for Kent State’s 40 second-half points as the Flashes beat Akron 69-60 at the James A. Rhodes Arena on Saturday.

The victory moves KSU’s Mid-American Conference record to 5-1 and overall to 11-5. The Flashes are third in the league behind Ball State and Toledo, who play Sunday. Bowling Green, which had been tied with Kent State, lost at Miami 56-47 on Saturday.

Akron is 1-5 in the MAC and 6-10 overall.

Kent State fell behind 19-10 early in the second quarter but finished the first half on a 19-6 run and led for the rest of the game. Akron got within three points with 3:21 to go, but Shumate answered with a 3-point basket 30 seconds later. Akron never challenged over the last two minutes.

Batsch and Shumate have been Kent State’s top scorers all season. Shumate currently averages 13 points a game, and Batsch 12.4. On Saturday, Batsch scored seven of KSU’s points in the third quarter, and Shumate had eight of the team’s 21 points in the fourth. At one point, Batsch scored 11 straight KSU points.

“It’s almost like Katie handed it to Jenna, and Jenna ran her lap and handed the baton back off to Katie,” coach Todd Starkey said “When you have those two doing that type of thing…we have two players and if you can take one away, the other one’s gonna step up. Then if you try and take that away, the other one steps back up.”

Batsch finished with 18 points, one off her career-high, and career-highs of four 3-point baskets and five steals. Shumate had 14 points, three assists, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

Kent State kept Akron’s Reagan Bass, who leads the MAC in rebounding and is second in scoring, in relative check. Bass scored 15 points, three below her average, and made 6-of-16 shots, well below the 45% rate at which she had been shooting. Bass also had six rebounds, five below her average. Starkey credited Kent’s 6-3 forward, Bridget Dunn.

“A heckuva defensive game,” Starkey said. “That’s a really good player she did a good job on. She did a good job of crowding her.”

Bass committeed five turnovers.

Akron became the first MAC team to outrebound Kent State this season 33-25. The Zips had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half and added four more in the second. But Akron only managed four second-chance points.

Kent State made 51.2% of its shots, a season-high against a Division I team.

Other numbers:

• Blocked shots: Kent State 5, Akron 0.
• Points off turnovers: Kent State 17 on 16 Akron turnovers. Akron 13 off 14 KSU turnovers.
• Fast-break points: Kent State 19, Akron 3.
• Free throws: KSU 17-of-19, Akron 8-of-12.

NEXT: Kent State hosts Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the M.A.C. Center. Eastern is 2-4 in the MAC and 5-11 overall. The Eagles lost at Ohio 72-62 on Saturday.

Box score

Katie Shumate’s 26 points were the most by a Kent State player this season and one off her career high. She made 8-of-15 shots and had four 3-point baskets. (File photo from Kent State Athletics.)

Statistically, Kent State game into its Wednesday’s game against Toledo as the best defensive team in the Mid-American Conference.

Toledo scored 87 points, 29 above Kent State’s defensive average.

Rocket guard Sophia Wiard came into the game averaging 15.3 points, fifth in the MAC. She scored 40.

That’s about all you need to know about KSU’s 87-76 loss to Toledo. The Flashes drop to a tie for third place in the MAC with Bowling Green with a 4-1 conference record. Kent is 10-5 overall.

Toledo (12-3) is tied for first with Ball State at 5-0. Those teams play Sunday at Ball State (15-2 overall).

Against Kent State, the Rockets made 50.8% of their shots — second highest only to No. 10 LSU against the Flashes this season.

“The defensive side let us down,” coach Todd Starkey said. “Toledo did a really good job of executing what they wanted and getting what they wanted.”

Wiard scored every way she wanted. She made 12-of-17 shots, 3-of-4 three-pointers and 13-of-14 free throws.

“Wiard’s obviously a great point guard,” Starkey said. “But we can’t give up 40 points to her. I was more concerned about her effortless scoring opportunities than (anything else Toledo did offensively).”

Kent State got its best offensive performance of the season from redshirt senior guard Katie Shumate. She had 26 points, one off her career high, and made four 4-pointers and 6-of-6 foul shots.

Junior forward Jenna Batsch had 17 points, 13 coming in the fourth quarter when Kent State cut a 19-point Toledo lead to nine. Batsch also blocked three shots.

Freshman forward Janae Tyler had 10 points in 14 minutes for the Flashes.

Toledo committed only five turnovers, six fewer than any other team has against KSU this season. Kent State committed only 10, but the Rockets outscored KSU off turnovers 12-2, about the final margin of the game.

NEXT: Kent State plays at Akron at 2 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+. Akron, 1-4 in the MAC and 6-9 overall, lost at Bowling Green 70-59 on Wednesday.

Box score

Junior forward Jenna Batsch ranks 13th in the MAC in scoring and second for Kent State with an 11.7 per game average. (Photo by Scott Galvin for Kent State Athletics.)

There’s plenty of history between Kent State and Toledo. The teams meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the M.A.C. Center and on ESPN+ in an early-season battle between teams that are undefeated in the Mid-American Conference.

• Toledo swept three games from the Flashes last season, including a 68-58 win in the MAC Tournament semifinals that knocked KSU out of the tournament.
• The Rockets also swept Kent State in 2021-22.
• Before that, Kent State had won six of seven games, four of them on UT’s home floor. The Flashes’ 80-76 overtime win in 2018 in Toledo knocked the Rockets out of the league tournament.
• In coach Todd Starkey’s first season in 2016-17, the Flashes were picked last in the MAC and finished third. But Toledo beat them in the tournament quarterfinals 67-63.
• The two teams met in the tournament finals seven times in 10 years between 1992 and 2001. Toledo won five times, and KSU twice.

This year, Rockets and Kent State each have 4-0 MAC records and are tied with Ball State for first place in the league.

Toledo comes into the game as defending MAC champions and preseason favorites to win again. The Rockets are 11-3 and had the league’s marquee non-conference victory, a 69-46 win over then-No. 25 Michigan in December. The Rockets have won five games in a row.

Kent State (10-4) comes into the game on a six-game winning streak.

“We’ve been on the losing side recently (against Toledo), and I think that’s motivating for our team,” Starkey said. “But at the same time, just because it’s motivating doesn’t mean you’re going to get the win. You have to play better than the other team, and Toledo’s a formidable opponent.” 

Toledo has all five starters back from their championship team. They’ve been winning without Quinesha Lockett, last season’s MAC player of the year. She suffered a knee sprain in December, but it’s close to the time expected for her return. Her status for Saturday’s game is unclear.

“We’re preparing as if she’s playing,” Starkey said.

In Lockett’s absence, fifth-year point guard Sophia Ward leads the Rockets with a 14.8 per game average.

The teams dominate MAC statistics, especially on defense. Toledo ranks first in points allowed at 57.3; KSU is second at 58.4. The Flashes rank first in field-goal defense, allowing opponents to make 35.7% of their shots. Toledo is tied for second at 37.4%.

Kent State leads the MAC in scoring at 74.0 points per game. Toledo is third at 67.9.

The

What are Kent State’s players thinking? Asked what she was looking forward to in Saturday’s game, junior forward Jenna Batsch said:

“Revenge. It’s our turn.”

MAC standings

Standings from WarrenNolan.com, an analytics site that I use. NET is the statistical measure the NCAA uses to help rank teams and determine seeds for tournaments. It includes things like strength of schedule, scoring margin, points per possession on offense and defense, and the quality of wins and losses, based on the opponent and whether a game was home or away.

Mikala Morris muscles her way to one of her five baskets against Northern Illinois. The graduate student forward took only six shots. She also tied Bridget Dunn for a team-high six rebounds. (Photo by Scott Galvin for Kent State Athletics.)

A 16-0 run in the second quarter propelled the Kent State women to a 73-48 pounding of Northern Illinois on Sunday, setting up an early-season Mid-American Conference clash with Toledo later this week.

Both Toledo and Kent State are 4-0 and tied for first place with Ball State in the early conference season. Overall Kent State is 10-4 and has won six games in a row. Toledo is 11-3 and has won five straight, and Ball State is 14-2 and has won eight straight. BSU won at home against Bowling Green (3-1 MAC, 9-5 overall) 76-61 on Saturday.

Kent State and Toledo will play at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the M.A.C. Center. The Rockets beat KSU three times last season, including knocking them out of the MAC Tournament in the semifinals.

The Flashes made 48.4% of their shots against Northern, tying for their second-best of the season. (Best was 50% against Ohio last Saturday.) In the second quarter against NIU, they were 9-of-14 for 64.3% and made 4-of-5 three-pointers. Junior forward Bridget Dunn made three of the 3-pointers and added a layup for 11 of her 15 points.

“When we start making threes, it really puts the other team on their heels,” coach Todd Starkey said. “That’s what spurred the 25-point quarter.”

Redshirt senior guard Katie Shumate led the Flashes with 16 points, a career-high five assists, and five rebounds. Jenna Batsch also had 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

Box score

Abby Ogle had six steals to lead the Flashes past Miami. (File photo from Kent State website.)

Abby Ogle led a pack of thieves as the Kent State women’s basketball team routed Miami 69-38 Wednesday.

The Flashes had a total of 20 steals and Ogle six as Kent State won its third-straight game to start the Mid-Aamerican Conference season. KSU remains in a four-way tie for first place in the MAC at 3-0 with Bowling Green, Toledo and Ball State.

“Really active hands,” coach Todd Starkey said, “starting obviously with Abby. She did a really good job of picking her spots. The game set up well for her, and once she started to anticipate and read what they were doing, she was able to compound things.”

Mikala Morris had three more steals and Bridget Dunn, Corynne Hauser and Janae Tyler had two each.

Tyler led four KSU players in double figures with 16 points. She made 4-of-8 shots from the floor and 8-of-10 from the foul line. Jenna Batsch had 12, Hauser 10 and Katie Shumate 11 to go with 12 rebounds for her second-straight double-double.

Team statistics were as overhelming as you’d expect:

• Points off turnovers: Kent State 25, Miami 6.
• Points in the paint: KSU 36, Miami 14/
• Second-chance points: Kent 21, Miami 8
• Fast-break points: KSU 15, Miami 4.

Corynne Hauser has 31 assists in her last four games and has helped Kent State lead the conference team in assists per game. (Photo by David Dermer for Kent State Athletics.)

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This is the first of what I hope will be weekly analyses of the Kent State women’s basketball team. I’ve cut back individual game stories to six or eight paragraphs, emphasizing the score and brief highlights. I’ll write longer pieces like this one on weekends, wrapping up where the team stands going forward. As wbbFlashes has been from the start, it’s a mixture of news and commentary, with the emphasis being on news and opinion I can back up with facts.

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For Kent State, it’s so far, so good in Mid-American Conference play.

The Flashes were never really challenged in winning their first two games, 73-64 at Buffalo and 92-63 at home against Ohio. KSU is tied with Ball State, Toledo and Bowling Green for first place in the infant MAC season.

Overall, the team is 8-4 and has won four games.

“I really like how we’re looking right now,” point guard Corynne Hauser said after the Buffalo game. “We have a lot of really good spurts when we look like a top team in the MAC. But our consistency isn’t there yet. I think once we get to playing to our full potential for a full 40 minutes, that’s when we’ll be rolling.”

Coach Todd Starkey: “In the first two games, I think we performed well. But this team still has a lot of room for improvement, and I think we have the potential to be one of the best teams in the league.”

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Links to game stories

• Kent State 73, Buffalo 64.
• Kent State 92, Ohio 63.

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Scoring with assistance

Kent State leads the MAC in scoring by a hair over Ball State, 74.5 points per game to 74.2.

The Flashes have had assists on almost 60% of their baskets. In the last three years, the percentage was closer to 50%.

“We’re scoring at a good clip in the paint, which are high percentage shots,” Starkey said. “So we have people that can finish plays and a point guard like Corin, who is a very unselfish player and likes setting her teammates up. So it’s having a talented point guard with a lot of talented players around her.”

It’s not just Hauser passing the ball. Against Buffalo, Katie Shumate had five assists and forward Jenna Batsch three. Backup point guard Dionna Gray had four against Ohio.

Hauser is tied for second in the MAC in assists per game at 5.3 and second in assist/turnover ratio at 2.0. As a team, Kent leads the league with 16.4 assists per game.

The elusive 3-pointer

The Flashes still haven’t found their accuracy from long distance, where they are making just 29.3% of their 3-point attempts. That ranks seventh in the MAC. They did make 10-of-26 at Buffalo for 38.5%, which is KSU’s third-best of the season. Against Ohio, though, it was 9-of-34 for 26.5%.

Kent State is holding its opponents to an even worse percentage. The Flashes lead the league in 3-point defense, limiting opponents to just 26.8%.

A look down the roster

• Katie Shumate leads the Flashes in scoring at 11.8 points a game and rebounding at 6.8. “Katie’s really a player that’s focused on doing whatever it takes to win,” Starkey said. “So today (Saturday) we needed her to rebound.” Shumate had 10 rebounds to go with 10 points for the 11th double-double of her five-year career. Against Buffalo, she led KSU with 18 points and seven rebounds.
• Graduate transfer MIkala Morris and freshman Janae Tyler, who share the low post for the Flashes, continue to combine for about 17 points and eight rebounds a game. Tyler made seven of her 10 shots for the week and is making 52% of her shots for the season.
• Junior forward Jenna Batsch has started all of Kent’s 12 games and scored 137 points. In her first two years, she never started and scored a total of 125 points. Asked whether she ever expected to be one of the team’s leading scorers, she laughed. “Definitely not,” she said. “My biggest focus has been defense and rebounding. A lot of times I’m guarding the other team’s best player, so my focus is on that. I’ve tried to just let the offense come to me.”

Around the MAC

Standings from WarrenNolan.com, an analytics site that I use. NET is the statistical measure the NCAA uses to help rank teams and determine seeds for tournaments. It includes things like strength of schedule, scoring margin, points per possession on offense and defense, and the quality of wins and losses, based on the opponent and whether a game was home or away.

The top four teams start to play each other this week, when Bowling Green plays at Ball State on Saturday. On Wednesday, Jan. 17, Kent hosts Toledo, the team that knocked Kent out of the MAC Tournament last year, won the MAC title, and is predicted to win it again.