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.