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.