Katie Shumate scored 22 points in the first half and 27 for the game, both equaling career-highs. She had 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season and made four 3-point baskets. (File photo from KSU Athletics.)
Kent State went into its game with Ohio University allowing just 62 points a game in MId-American Conference play.
Ohio scored 79 points and held on through a nail-biting final minute of play to beat the Flashes 79-77 on Wednesday night in Athens
“Our defensive side of the ball really let us down,” coach Todd Starkey said. “You can’t give up 79 points in conference play. We scored 77 and expect to win games like that because of our defense.”
Kent is still in third place in the Mid-American Conference with a 10-3 record (15-8 in all games.) The Flashes are three games ahead of Buffalo and Bowling Green, which are tied for fourth. But KSU falls two games behind 11-1 Ball State and 11-1 Toledo, who are tied for first.
Ohio is 5-8 in the MAC and alone in eighth place, the last spot in the standings that makes the conference tournament. The Bobcats are 8-16 overall. Both teams have five games to play before the tournament in Cleveland next month.
In Wednesday’s second half, Ohio took only 22 shots but made 14 of them (64%). The Flashes took 15 more shots but made only 13 total. That’s 37% for the half and only 29% in the third quarter.
Kent State led 42-41 at halftime, but Ohio outscored the Flashes 34-27 in the first 15 minutes of the second half to take a 75-65 lead.
Starkey said the Flashes were struggling against Ohio’s 1-on-1 drives to the basket.
“They were spreading us out, getting downhill and scoring at the basket or scoring on a kick-out 3,” Starkey said.
Then the Flashes tried to play zone to cut off the drives, and the Bobcats made four 3-pointers in the third quarter.
Then KSU tried a smaller lineup.
“We tried to match up with them on the perimeter and that didn’t help us either,” Starkey said. “You try certain things when a team is in rhythm like that. It either throws them off or it doesn’t.”
It didn’t until the last four minutes of the game, when KSU came back to tie the score at 77 with 19 seconds left on a 3-point basket by Bridget Dunn.
The last 19 seconds saw Ohio hit two foul shots to take the lead back. Then Jenna Batsch hit a short running jump shot that would have tied the game with six seconds to go, but she was called for an offensive foul.
“That’s a huge call that didn’t go in our favor,” Starkey said. “I thought Jenna had a really good shot there.”
The Flashes forced a turnover with four seconds left, but Batsch’s 12-foot jump shot at the buzzer missed.
Katie Shumate scored 22 points in the first half, more than half of KSU’s points and equaling the best single-half output of her career. She finished with 27 points, equaling her career-high.
“She gave us everything she had,” Starkey said. “In the second half, they were really focused on her. They took away all the driving lanes and double-teamed her on post catches.”
Batsch had 15 points, 13 in the second half, and Dunn scored 13, with 10 coming in the second half.
Dionna Gray, starting her third straight game at point guard after an apparent season-ending injury to Corynne Hauser, had eight assists and only one turnover.
Ohio’s Jaya McClure had 26 points. She was injured and didn’t play when KSU pounded the Bobcats 92-63 in January.
NEXT: Akron at home on Saturday.
The Flashes will host the Zips, a team they beat 69-60 last month, at 1 p.m. Saturday at the M.A.C. Center. The game is also on ESPN+.
Akron lost to Bowling Green at home 74-68 on Wednesday. The Zips are 4-9 in the conference and 9-15 overall.
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