Kent State women's basketball

Flashes, off to their best MAC start in 23 years, prepare to play at first-place Ball State

By on Sunday, January 28, 2024

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.
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