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Kent State women's basketball

4 in a row! Flashes are moving up MAC standings after 78-67 win at Central Michigan

By on Wednesday, February 9, 2022
Senior Mariah Modkins has scored 28 points in KSU’s winning streak. That’s as many as she scored in the Flashes’ first 17 games. She had 15 points, including three 3-pointers, against Central Michigan. (File photo by Ryan Moore/KSU Athletic Communications.)

We could be in for quite a stretch run in the Mid-American Conference.

Kent State beat Central Michigan 78-67 Wednesday for its fourth-straight victory. After a start of the MAC season that saw KSU go 2-6, the Flashes are 6-6 and in a three-way tie for sixth in the conference.

Only two games separate third-place Ball State (7-4) and ninth-place Northern Illinois (6-7). Akron is in fourth at 7-5 and Bowling Green fifth at 6-5. Kent State and Western Michigan are 6-6, and Ohio is 5-5.

Kent State plays six of its eight final regular-season games against those six teams. The top eight teams make the MAC Tournament in March.

“I’m not really concerned about the standings yet,” coach Todd Starkey said. “There’s a lot of basketball to play. All of our losses are by nine points or less, and they came when we weren’t at our best health-wise.

“So we’ll see how things develop. We just have to stay focused on the next game. That’s what’s got us to this point.”

4 quarters, 4 stars

The Flashes led for 38 minutes of the game, but each quarter had its own star.

Quarter 1: Nila Blackford and KSU’s defense

Blackford had four points, four rebounds and a steal as the Flashes jumped to a 15-7 lead. She and the Flashes held Central Michigan to 3-of-15 shooting and scored nine points off of five CMU turnovers.

The 6-2 forward from Louisville, Kentucky has regained her all-conference form of last season over KSU’s last seven games. She scored steadily against CMU and finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds, which is slightly below her averages for the MAC season. She also had an assist, two steals and a blocked shot, and drew five fouls on Miami players.

Quarter 2: Bridget Dunn scores 11

Dunn, a 6-3 freshman from Carmel, Indiana, scored 11 of her 16 points in the second quarter, making 4-of-5 shots and both her 3-point attempts. She had three steals in the quarter. She finished with 16 point, making 3-of-5 three-pointers and 3-of-4 foul shots. Dunn averages 12.5 points in MAC play and leads the team in 3-point percentage and 3-point baskets made.

“She’s done a really good job,” Starkey said. “With freshmen, you not sure how well they’ll adapt to the college game. She’s playing within what we thought she was capable of doing.”

Quarter 3: Casey Santoro scored 9 in 11-0 run

Central Michigan had closed KSU’s nine-point halftime lead to 46-43 when Santoro, a sophomore guard from Bellevue, hit two foul shots. Then Katie Shumate scored on a pass from Lindsey Thall. In the last 1:39 of the quarter, Santoro hit a 3-point shot, then, on the next two possessions, blew by the Central defense for two layups. Kent State led 57-43.

“She’s our quickest player,” Starkey said. “She was being guarded by multiple players that were in foul trouble. So we really wanted to attack that and get her going downhill.” 

Santoro finished with 11 points and four assists.

Quarter 4: Mariah Modkins caps season-high 15 points

When Kent State’s winning streak starter, Modkins, a senior guard from Solon, had scored 28 points in KSU’s first 17 games. In the winning streak, she has scored another 28. She scored 15 against CMU, her best this season by six points and one off of her career-high. In Wednesday’s fourth quarter, she hit two three-point baskets.

“She’s kind of got a renewed focus, just like everybody else has,” Starkey said. “The big thing for her was finally seeing the ball go through the basket. In the Eastern Michigan game, she went 3-for-4 from 3, and that kind of broke some things loose for her. She’s playing with a lot of confidence.”

Four wins in eight days

The Flashes’ win streak started last Wednesday with a 68-57 victory over Central. Then they beat Eastern Michigan 70-61 and Miami 83-61. Starkey said the packed schedule, caused by schedule changes after COVID-19 postponements, was a challenge.

“You could really tell that mentally and physically, they were really tired,” Starkey said. “They were dragging to do everything tonight. But they found a way to win, and that’s what you have to do on the road.”

Beating Central Michigan — finally

The win was Kent State’s first in Mount Pleasant since 2007. The Flashes’ victory last week was Starkey’s first over CMU in his six years at KSU and Kent’s first win over the Chippewas since 2012. The last time Kent State won two games in a season against Central Michigan was 2000. When the MAC scheduled by division, the teams rarely played twice in a season.

Central is going through its worst season since 2006-07. The Chippewas, who have won either the MAC Tournament or regular-season championship for six-straight years, are 2-11 in the MAC and 4-18 overall. CMU lost three key seniors, including league MVP Micaela Kelly, to graduation and have been hit by injuries and illness throughout the season. The Chipps had only seven players in uniform on Wednesday.

Box score

Running the numbers

  • Kent State made 29-of-55 shots for 51.8%, its second highest percetnage of the season by just .1 percentage point. The Flashes were 8-of-19 (41%) from 3-point distance. Central shot 39.8% from the field and 45.5% on 3-pointers.
  • The Flashes scored 25 points off turnovers, equaling its total of last week’s game against CMU. That’s the most points KSU has scored off turnovers against a Division I team this season. Central committed 17 turnovers, KSU 14.
  • Kent State outscored CMU 38-24 in the paint. KSU’s bench players outscored Central’s 28-11.
  • Clare Kelly started her first game of the season and scored nine points. She replaced Hannah Young in the lineup. Young, who has been fighting ankle problems, fell to the court as her team was ringing the victory bell Monday. She was on the bench against CMU but didn’t play.

Next: Ball State on Saturday

The Flashes play third-place Ball State (7-4 MAC, 14-7) at 1 p.m. Sunday on the M.A.C. Center. The Cardinals have won five games in a row and were idle Wednesday because of injury and illness at Ohio, their scheduled opponent.

The Bobcats didn’t have seven players available for the game, which is the minimum allowed by the MAC. Ohio ended its 80-70 loss at Northern Illinois Sunday with only four players on the court after leading scorer Cece Hooks went down with an injury with 3:31 to go.

Kent State beat BSU 54-51 on Jan. 9, but Ball State has won five games in a row.

Other MAC scores

  • First-place Toledo (11-1 MAC, 17-4 overall) 86, Miami (3-8, 7-13) 63 at Miami.
  • Second-place Buffalo (10-3, 16-7) 93, Eastern Michigan (2-10, 5-14) 68 at Buffalo.
  • Bowling Green (6-5, 11-9) 81, Northern Illinois (6-7, 9-12) 52 at BG.
  • Akron (7-5, 10-8) 86, Western Michigan (6-6, 12-9) 70 at Western.

MAC standings

MAC statistics

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Kent State women's basketball

KSU’s 4th-quarter rally can’t overcome slow start, 19 turnovers as Flashes fall to Buffalo in MAC quarterfinals

By on Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Buffalo’s Dayaisha Fair shoots over Kent State’s Lindsey Thall. Fair, the seventh leading scorer in Division I, had 30 points and six steals. (Photo from Buffalo website.)

It took three quarters for the Kent State women’s basketball team to get its offense scoring. But by then, it was too late.

The Flashes scored the game’s first basket, then missed three straight shots and committed three turnovers. Suddenly Buffalo led 12-2.

It didn’t get much closer until the fourth quarter, when the Flashes cut the lead to three twice. But Buffalo answered both times.

The 73-66 loss in the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals ends Kent State’s season with an 11-9 record. Buffalo (15-8) advances to face regular-season champion Bowling Green Friday in the semifinals.

In the first quarter, coach Todd Starkey said, it seems as if the Flashes “were trying to feel our way into the game.”

“Against the team like Buffalo, you can’t do that,” he said. “You have come out of the gate a hundred miles an hour — just like them.” 

Sophomore forward Nila Blackford said the team lost its focus early on.

“We put ourselves in a really difficult position, especially against a team like Buffalo,” she said. “They got us scrambling, and we lost our composure. When you have so many live-ball turnovers, it’s going to lead to layup after layup. It’s hard to come back from that.”

For the game, Kent State committed 19 turnovers. Buffalo scored 24 points from them. Buffalo had just nine turnovers, which led to only five KSU points.

The fourth-quarter comeback

Trailing by 12 going into the quarter, Mariah Modkins hit a layup, then fed Katie Shumate for a 3-point basket a minute later. The lead was down to seven, and Hannah Young hit a short jump shot to make it 56-53 with 4:35 to go.

Buffalo then made two free throws. A minute later, Dayaisha Fair, Buffalo’s star 5-5 guard, missed a layup but got her own rebound in heavy traffic. She passed the ball out to Jessika Schiffer, who hit a 3-point basket to push the lead back to 61-53.

Kent State had one last-minute push in it. With 1:06 to go, Modkins passed to Lindsey Thall, who hit a long 3-pointer. Twelve seconds later, Modkins hit her own 3, then hit another 20 seconds later. All three shots came from well behind the NBA 3-point line at Rocket Mortgage Arena, and the score was 69-66.

That was as far as Kent State could go. Buffalo made four free throws (and missed three more) in the last 22 seconds to clinch the win.

“We couldn’t quite get over the hump,” Starkey said. “We fought so hard, and we needed some good fortune down the stretch. We didn’t get it on a few key plays in the last couple minutes. But I’m really proud of our team for not giving in.”

For three quarters, shooting woes for the Flashes

Kent State made 10 of its 19 shots (52.6%) in the fourth quarter. But before then, KSU shot only 31.6%.

“We really struggled to shoot the ball for the last eight or nine games,” Starkey said. “I just think everything this season just wore them down, and it really showed in our field goal percentage.

“If we just shoot the ball better, we’re winning a lot of those games. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to put the ball in the basket.“

Buffalo’s shooting was the reverse of Kent’s. The Bulls made 57.1% of their shots ion the first half but 33.3% of their shots in the second.

Big games for Young and Blackford

Young, who has started three straight games in place of injured guard Clare Kelly, had a career-high 15 points to lead the Flashes. She made 3-of-5 three-point shots, had five rebounds and drew two offensive fouls on Fair.

“She is making a ton of effort plays,” Starkey said. “And we always talk about scoring as kind of a by-product of playing really hard. We were really struggling to score, and she was able to hit some key shots. It really kept us in the game.”

Blackford had a career-high 18 rebounds. That ties for the ninth most in KSU history and fourth most in the MAC this season.

“I can’t say enough about Nila,” Starkey said. “To get 18 rebounds against this team was phenomenal.”

Buffalo leads the MAC and ranks 15th in the nation in rebounding. Blackford had 10 offensive rebounds — the same number as the entire Buffalo team, which leads the MAC on the offensive boards.

Blackford also had 12 points for her 12th double-double of the season. That’s second in the conference to 13 for Ball State’s Oshlynn Brown, a senior who has been first-team all-MAC for two years.

A much more than Fair performance

Fair is Division I’s seventh-leading scorer, averaging 24.1 points a game. She had 30 against Kent State, making 8-of-19 field goals, 3-of-4 three-pointers and 11-of-14 free throws. She had six steals and four assists. (She’s among MAC leaders in those categories, too.)

Kent’s walking wounded

KSU starting guard Clare Kelly, who missed the last two games because of a foot injury, and 6-4 freshman reserve center Lexi Jackson, fighting a high ankle sprain, both played. Kelly had no points in 16 minutes. Jackson had a basket and three rebounds in nine minutes. Both were “weren’t even close to 100%,” Starkey said.

Wait ’til next year

Kent State returns all starters and 11 of its top 12 players.

“We’re excited about the future,” Starkey said. “We built the program around these two recruiting classes, who are coming through as juniors and sophomores. They’ve been really big so far, and we expect even bigger things in the future.”

Blackford said she was “super optimistic.“

“We have learned a lot about ourselves and our team this year,” she said. “I think some of the adversity we have gone through is only going to make us better in the future.“

Box score

The rest of the tournament

All four top seeds won.

No. 1 seed BOWLING GREEN trailed No. 8 Eastern Michigan by 10 at halftime but held the Eagles to 16 points in the second half and won 63-47. BG’s Lexi Fleming, the conference player of the year, left the game with a shoulder injury in the second half and scored only four points. Kenzie Lewis, another freshman guard, led the Falcons with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

No. 2 CENTRAL MICHIGAN broke a close game open with an 12-1 run in the second quarter and beat No. 7 Northern Illinois 83-69. Sophomore guard Molly Davis had 24 points and senior guard Micaela Kelly had 23 for CMU. Both had been named first-team all-MAC Tuesday.

No. 3 OHIO edged No. 6 Ball State 61-59. Cece Hooks, the MAC player of the year, had 21 points, and Erica Johnson had 19. Both players suffered severe cramps in the last minute. Johnson had to leave the game; Hooks fought through pain as Ball State had to foul four times in the last 15 seconds to try (and never succeed) to force Ohio to shoot fouls shots.

Bowling Green and Buffalo will play in the semifinals at 10 a.m. Friday. Ohio and Central Michigan will play a half-hour after that game ends, probably about 12:30. Both games are on ESPN+. Finals are at 11 a.m. Saturday on the CBS Sports Network.

The view from Buffalo

Coach Felisha Legette-Jack in her postgame press conference

“What a great team win. Our story is not about Kent State or whoever else we’re playing, but it’s about how good we can be if we rely on each other, see each other, trust each other and play for each other. Today we did that, and we beat a pretty good team.“

Notes

  • Three other Kent State players scored in double figures. Thall had 13 points and Modkins and Shumate 12. No one besides Blackford and Young had more than four rebounds.
  • The game was the fourth straight year Kent State and Buffalo have met in the quarterfinals. Buffalo has won three times. The better seed has won each season.
  • In the regular season, Buffalo beat No. 1 seed Bowling Green, its opponent Friday, twice.

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Kent State women's basketball

Blackford keeps dominating, Flashes keep hitting 3s to stay in 1st place in MAC

By on Saturday, January 2, 2021

In her first start of the year, sophomore Clare Kelly scored 12 points, hit both her of 3-point shots, had three assists and two steals. She played a career-high 33 minutes. (Photo by Scott Galvin from team website.)

In Kent State’s three games in the early MAC season, Nila Blackford has been playing like an all-conference selection.

The 6-2 sophomore had her third double-double in three league games to lead the Flashes to a 67-61 win at Eastern Michigan.

“She’s started to really feel it here in her sophomore year,” coach Todd Starkey said. “Her effort has been phenomenal. When she starts finishing more around the basket and making free throws, she’s going to be a difficult stop.

Blackford had 14 points — 12 in the second half — and 13 rebounds against Eastern. Over KSU’s last four games, she’s averaged 12.5 rebounds. For the season, she’s averaging a double-double — 14.5 points and 10.0 rebounds.

The Flashes are tied for first place in the MAC, with two of their wins coming on the road against winning teams. Overall Kent State is 4-2. Eastern Michigan is 4-4 and 1-2 in the conference.

The sharpshooting continues

For the third time in four games, KSU made more than 50% of its 3-point shots. The Flashes were 8 of 15. They lead the MAC in 3-point percentage at 39.4%; in their three league games, they’re making 44.4%.

“We’ve got a lot of good shooters,” Starkey said, “and we had some very timely 3s. Mariah (Modkins) had two back-to-back to get us out of a funk in the first half. Clare (Kelly) had a big one in the fourth quarter.”

Next step, according to Starkey: “We’ve got to get a little better on our inside-out game (where post players feed shooters on the perimeter).”

KSU’s best defense of the season

The Flashes held Eastern to 32% shooting, lowest of any opponent by 5 points, and 2 of 11 on 3-pointers, the fewest against them all season. Eastern had 19 turnovers, the most against KSU so far.

“We were solid,” Starkey said. “We missed some assignments on (Areanna) Combs on drives. But she’s really talented. Any given night she can be the best player in the league. Our philosophy topical has not been to try and shut down somebody’s leading scorer but to play solid all the way around.”

Combs, who is seventh in the MAC with a 19.5-point average, had 29 points. But it took her 25 shots to make her nine baskets.

Kent State’s best defense came when they needed it at the end. Eastern made three-of-11 shots over the last seven minutes.

“We dug in a little bit more defensively and got a little bit better focus,” Starkey said. “We did a little bit better of a better job of keeping Combs out of the paint and making them shoot tough shots.”

Another good game for Mariah Modkins

Modkins had a career-high 16 points, including her two 3-point baskets.

“She’s literally 5-foot-zero — probably the smallest Division I player in the country,” Starkey said, “and she just comes out and leads our team and makes tough plays. She gets banged around, and she just keeps playing.”

After the game, Starkey said, Modkins was “kind of down a little bit.”

“She’s thinking about the turnovers that she didn’t want to have down the stretch as opposed to the fact she had a career high,” the coach said. “That’s how she’s wired. She expects a lot out of herself, and that’s why she’s playing a lot better this year.”

Last season Modkins split the point guard role with Asiah Dingle and averaged three points and 15 minutes a game. This season she’s averaging 10.8 points and 33 minutes.

A successful start for Clare Kelly, a successful game for Linsey Marchese

Sophomore Clare Kelly started her first game for the season, scored 12 points, made all four of her shots and both her 3-point shots, had three assists and a steal. Her 33 minutes were a career-high. She also guarded Combs through most of the second half and “by and large, did a good job on her,” Starkey said.

Because Kelly started, Linsey Marchese did not. But the 6-4 transfer from Indiana still had her best game in a Kent State uniform. Marchese scored 10 points and had five rebounds in 20 minutes, making four-of-five field-goal attempts. The 10 points beat her career-high at Indiana.

“Her best game by far,” Starkey said. “Hopefully that will be a nice shot in the arm for her and give her some confidence.”

Monique Smith: five rebounds in six minutes

Smith, a senior, had four rebounds in the last 2:29 of the first half when starting forwards Lindsey Thall and Blackford were on the bench with two fouls.

“She’s one of the key reasons why we won because we really needed her to help us close out the first half,” Starkey said. “Then she came in late in the game and played great defense. Some of the rebounds we got as a team were because she was doing a great job of boxing out. So her play probably led to more like 10 rebounds because of how hard she was playing.”

Less good: turnovers and foul shooting

Kent State committed 23 turnovers, its highest total of the season. Eastern Michigan, which has been known for years for high-pressure defense, scored 24 points off of them. Kent State scored 13 off of EMU’s 19 turnovers.

The Flashes missed 14 of their 31 foul shots. If they made half of those, the game isn’t close. Eastern was 21 of 26. But Modkins and Shumate made six of six free throws in the last 1:02.

“The nice thing about it is we’re finding ways to win games, but we’re not playing our best,” Starkey said. “There’s definitely a room for improvement, and the good thing is that the team recognizes that.”

Box score

Notes

  • Kent State made 45.7 of its field-goal attempts, its best percentage of the season. The Flashes outrebounded EMU 39-37
  • The game was both teams’ first since Dec. 21. So far Kent has had the beginning of its season delayed three weeks because of COVID-19, opened at Ohio State on three days notice, had seven days off, played three games in five days, had eight days off, played Duquesne at home, then had 12 games off before Saturday. “It’s really hard to get in a rhythm,” Starkey said.
  • Kent State has won four games in a row at Eastern and seven of eight overall since Starkey became head coach in 2017. Before then, the Flashes had lost 11 in a row.
  • Ce’Nara Skanes, who had 23 rebounds in Eastern’s previous game against Tarleton, had 14 Saturday. She leads the MAC with a 10.5 average. Blackford is second at 10.0.

Coming home

The Flashes have two home games next week, though fans aren’t allowed because of pandemic protocol. They will play Northern Illinois at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The Huskies are 1-2 in the MAC and 3-5 overall. They beat Western Michigan 73-56 at home Saturday.

On Saturday, KSU will play Ball State (1-1 in MAC, 3-3 overall) at noon. The Cardinals were playing a late Saturday game against Bowling Green.

Other MAC scores

  • Central Michigan (3-0 MAC, 5-2 overall) 90, Ohio (1-2, 3-3) 87 at Ohio.
  • Toledo (2-1, 6-1) 65, Akron (0-3, 3-3) 57 at Toledo
  • Buffalo (3-0, 6-2) 75, Miami (0-3, 1-6) 67 at Miami.
  • Northern Illinois (1-2, 3-5) 73, Western Michigan (0-3, 3-5) 56 at NIU.
  • Bowling Green (3-0, 7-1) 89, Ball State (1-2, 3-4) 55 at Ball State.

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Kent State women's basketball

Hot 3-point shooting, late rebounding send Kent State to 73-66 win over Duquesne

By on Monday, December 21, 2020

Nila Blackford takes at for two of her 18 points. With nine rebounds, she just missed her third-straight double-double. (Photo of team Twitter feed.)

In the first half, it was great 3-point shooting.

In the last quarter, it was strong rebounding.

In the end, the Kent State women won their third game in a row, beating Duquesne 73-66.

Kent State is 3-2 going into a 12-day break for Christmas. The Flashes return with a MAC game at Eastern Michigan on Jan. 2. Duquesne is 2-3.

Lindsey Thall and the 3-point barrage

Lindsey Thall has been one of the best 3-point shooters in the MAC since she walked onto campus two years ago. But going into Monday’s game, she had made only 5-of-19 attempts this season.

In one game, she doubled that total. Thall made her first four 3-point attempts and finished 5 of 6. Most of her shots were three feet behind the 3-point arc.

“It’s always better when they go in,” Thall said. “I’m been struggling a little bit, but I’m just trying to get points for our team. The thought you want to have is, ‘The next one’s going in.‘”

Thall also had seven rebounds and four blocked shots. She has led the league in blocks for two years and leads it again so far at 2.0 per game.

Katie Shumate joined Thall in the 3-point binge with three 3-pointers in three attempts. Mariah Modkins made two and Hannah Young and Nila Blackford one apiece.

The Flashes made 9 of their 14 3-point attempts in the first half and 12 of their 22 attempts for the game. That’s 55%, the second-best performance in the MAC this season. The best was Kent State’s 57% against Ohio 12 days ago, when the Flashes made a school-record 16 3-pointers.

“We were moving the ball pretty well around the perimeter,” Thall said. “When you do that, you make them have some late rotations, then you make the extra pass, and you can connect (on the shots).”

The Flashes had assists on their first four 3-pointers.

“Our ball movement was phenomenal,” coach Todd Starkey said.

Duquesne’s fourth-quarter rally

For the second-straight game, Kent State had a big lead in the second half and almost lost it.

KSU led 57-45 going into the fourth quarter, but Duquesne started the period with 10 straight points. The Flashes responded with seven in a row of their own, but Duquesne closed it to two again with 2:06 to go.

“We’ve got to get some things solved as far as why we’re really playing well against teams and then they turn around and make a run on us,” Starkey said.

Kent State’s counter-rally

The Flashes’ game-ending push started with rebounding.

For three quarters, Duquesne had outrebounded KSU 25-20. The Flashes had only two offensive rebounds.

But the fourth-quarter backboards — especially at the end of the fourth quarter — belonged to Kent State.

The Flashes outrebounded Duquesne 13-5 over the last 10 minutes. They had eight offensive rebounds; the Dukes had zero.

After Duquesne had pulled closed to 64-62, the Dukes never got another rebound. Kent State got five over the last two minutes, with three key ones coming in the last 1:03.

With Kent State leading by one, Blackford grabbed the rebound off a missed 3-point attempt in heavy traffic. She put it back up, scored and was fouled.

She missed the free throw, but Clare Kelly grabbed the rebound. Then after the Flashes missed another 3-pointer, Shumate got that rebound and scored.

The sequence took 40 seconds off the clock and gave Kent State a seven-point lead with 23 seconds to go.

That rebounding “won it for us at the end — just toughness rebounds in the scrum,” Starkey said.

Earlier, however, Starkey said he had to challenge the team.

“They got an earful from me a couple of times,” he said. “I was not pleased with the way we are out in the third quarter and acted like we were just going to walk away with a win. Then later on, they were just out hustling us on certain things. That can’t be a theme going forward.”

Blackford is big again

Blackford led Kent State in scoring with 18 points and just missed her third straight double-double with nine rebounds.

“When she’s focused and determined like that, she’s a handful,” Starkey said.

Thall said Blackford is central to the team.

“We expect her to be like this,” she said. “Every game she’s been doing a great job of just staying with it, getting extra rebounds. That’s helping with a bunch of her points.”

17 points for Shumate

Shumate scored 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Her three 3-pointers brought her 3-point percentage to 57%, fifth in the MAC.

Starkey said she’s not fully back from off-season knee surgery.

“There’s a game fitness and strength that you have to develop,” the coach said. “You can’t simulate it in the weight room or in practice. It just comes from logging minutes on the court against other teams.”

But, Starkey said, “It’s kind of a scary thing when you say she’s not playing at 100%, and she’s still putting 17 on a good Duquesne team.”

Modkins gives the assists

Point guard Mariah Modkins had five assists and one turnover. Her assist-turnover ratio of 2.2-to-1 is third in the MAC. Her 4.0 assist-per-game average is tied for seventh in the conference. And her 45% 3-point average is 10th in the MAC.

Box score

Notes

  • Kent State’s overall shooting percentage of 45.3 was its best of the season. Duquesne’s was 44.4.
  • The Flashes scored 20 points off 13 Duquesne turnovers, all in the first half. The Dukes didn’t have a second-half turnover. Duquesne scored 12 off of 15 KSU turnovers.
  • Duquesne forward Laia Sole showed strong moves in the post and led the Dukes with 23 points. Amanda Kalin had 15 for Duquesne; she had scored 32 against Toledo on Friday.
  • Duquesne made the game’s first basket. 90 seconds later, Blackford hit a 3-pointer — her second of the season — and Kent State led for the last 38 minutes and 20 seconds.
  • The victory is Kent State’s second straight over Duquesne, a program that has averaged 22 wins over the last seven years. Last season KSU beat the Dukes 77-75 in its season opener on a shot at the buzzer. Duquesne still leads in the series 5-4.

Replay on ESPN+ (subscription required)

https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player/_/id/f7969245-ffb8-41d0-9fa9-e0cdc9076d2fhttps://www.espn.com/espnplus/player/_/id/f7969245-ffb8-41d0-9fa9-e0cdc9076d2f

Other MAC scores

Monday

  • Central Michigan (4-2) 73, Loyola (2-2) 64 at Loyola.
  • Toledo (5-1) 64, North Dakota (0-6) 49 at Toledo.
  • Western Virginia (6-2) 88, Ohio (3-2) 79 at West Virginia
  • Eastern Michigan (4-3) 65, Tarleton (3-6) 59 at Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.

Sunday

  • Ball State (3-3) 67, Akron (3-2) 60 at Akron.
  • No. 25 Gonzaga (4-2) 77, Eastern Michigan 68 at Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.
  • Michigan State (6-0) 82, Northern Illinois (2-5) 70 at Michigan State.

Friday

  • Buffalo (4-2) 71, St. Bonaventure (1-2) 52 at Buffalo.
  • Bowling Green (5-1) 76, Morehead State (1-5) 61 at Morehead State.
  • Evansville (3-1) 66, Miami (1-4) 60 at Evansville.
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Kent State women's basketball

Blackford’s birthday double-double leads Flashes past Toledo and into 1st place

By on Sunday, December 13, 2020

Kent State’s Nila Blackford had 21 points and 15 rebounds, her second-straight double-double. (File photo by Scott Galvin from KSU team website.)

It was Nila Blackford’s birthday. And wow, did she celebrate.

Blackford had 21 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Kent State women to a 61-57 victory at Toledo Sunday. The win moves Kent State into early-season first place in the Mid-American Conference at 2-0. Overall the Flashes are 2-2. Toledo is 3-1 and 1-1 in the MAC.

Blackford’s double-double was her second in two games. She had 12 points and 13 rebounds in KSU’s 84-80 win over Ohio Friday.

“She was being herself — playing with energy and effort,” coach Todd Starkey said from the team bus on the way home. “A lot of the rebounds she got were just toughness rebounds. They were in traffic; she had to really get gritty in there and pull them out.

“We’ve been talking about how she’s really got to just treat every shot like a miss and pursue the basketball.“

Blackford’s 9.5 rebounding average now leads the MAC.

Kent State built an 18-point lead with 37 seconds to go in the third quarter. But the Flashes had to hold on to beat the Rockets, who hit a 3-point basket at the end of the third quarter, then outscored KSU 14-2 to start the fourth quarter.

“We fell asleep some down the stretch,” Starkey said on ESPN+ after the game.

“We made some boneheaded plays,” the coach said in his interview. “We also missed three wide-open 3s and missed three layups. If we make a couple of those, it’s a different situation.”

The Flashes had some big runs of their own earlier. They started the second quarter 12-0 and the third quarter 12-1.

“The two key numbers in that aren’t 12 points,” Starkey said. “It’s the zero and the one. You have to continue to get stops on defense. That’s really what fueled us when we were playing well — we really were making things difficult on them to score the ball.” 

Toledo’s 57 points were the fewest Kent State has allowed this year and well below their defensive average last season. Toledo has a solid offensive; it had averaged 76 points in its first three games.

The Flashes held Toledo sophomore Sofia Wiard, who had tied a school record with 42 points against Northern Illinois last week, to 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting. She was 16 of 25 against NIU.

Modkins keeps on scoring and leading

Point guard Mariah Modkins had her third straight game in double figures with 10 points. She has three assists and three steals and disrupted the Toledo offense all afternoon.

Modkins is listed generously at 5-foot-1, but she attacks and defends much taller players.

“She’s out there trying to prove people wrong,” Starkey said. “People have underestimated her her whole life, and that’s one of the reasons why I love her as player — she’s out there playing with a little bit of a chip on her shoulder.

“She’s been making a lot of tough gritty plays and has embraced her leadership role on the team.”

Modkins averages 10.5 points a game, not far from the averages of Asiah Dingle and Megan Carter, who players in the backcourt the last two years. Carter graduated and Dingle transferred to Stony Brook.

Modkins is seventh in the MAC in 3-point percentage (50%), eighth in assists per game (3.5), sixth in assist-turnover ratio (1.8 to 1) and 16th in steals per game (1.5).

Santoro is ahead of the curve

Freshman Casey Santoro played her second good game in a row, scoring nine points.

“She’s a tough, aggressive, smart player,” Starkey said. “She makes some natural freshman mistakes, but she understands the game and is ahead of the curve.”

Flashes big on the boards

Kent State’s rebounding was dominant against a smaller Toledo team. Kent outrebounded the Rockets 48-28 with 15 offensive rebounds and 13 second-chance points. Toledo had two offensive rebounds and no points on second chances. After Blackford’s 15 rebounds, Lindsey Thall had seven, Linsey Marchese six, and Santoro and Hannah Young four.

The end game

Toledo made 56% of its shots in the fourth quarter and got within three points twice, the last with 17 seconds to go.

But free throws by Blackford and Modkins and a strong defensive rebound by Blackford preserved the victory.

First place

The Flashes have the MAC’s only 2-0 conference record. Buffalo, Bowling Green and Central Michigan are 1-0 and have another league game before Christmas. Teams will then restart the conference season after New Year’s.

Four days ago Kent State was 0-2 after a disappointing loss at 1-4 Saint Francis.

Before that, the Flashes had lost 10 days of practice to COVID-19, then lost their opener 103-47 at No. 19 Ohio State.

Box score

Notes

  • After making a school-record with 16 3-point baskets on Friday, Kent State made only four of its 20 3-point attempts. Ohio was also 4 of 20.
  • Lindsey Thall had a career-high six assists to go with seven points and seven rebounds. “She is doing a good job of letting the game come to her and did what she needed to help us win,” Starkey said.
  • The last KSU player to score at least 20 points and have 15 rebounds was Anna Kowalska, who had 27 and 16 in 2007. Kowalska is now head coach at West Virginia Tech, an NAIA school in Beckley.
  • The Flashes had 19 turnovers for the second straight game; Toledo scored 14 points off of them. KSU scored 13 points from the Rockets’ 13 turnovers.
  • The NCAA decided last week to allow all transfers to be eligible this season. (Usually they have to sit out a year.) But days before the decision, Kent State’s Bexley Wallace was injured in practice. Starkey said she is out for the season. Wallace is a 6-3 junior transfer from Penn State.
  • Sophomore guard Katie Shumate’s father, JR, was at the game with her brother JT, a junior on the Toledo men’s team. JR Shumate was the coach of Katie’s Newark High School team.

Next Sunday vs. Duquesne

The Flashes have this week off for final exams and are schedule to play Duquesne at the M.A.C. Center at 2 p.m. Sunday. Duquesne is 2-1 and plays at Toledo Friday.

Starkey said it probably would be the team’s last game in 2020 unless an opponent “comes up that makes sense for us.” Without another game, the Flashes will have played just three non-conference opponents. A number of other games were canceled because of COVID-19.

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Kent State women's basketball

Coming off big win, Flashes travel to Toledo for 2 p.m. Sunday game

By on Saturday, December 12, 2020

Casey Santoro had 14 points and three 3-pointers against Ohio in the third game of her freshman season. (KSU photo by Bob Christy.)

The Kent State women play their second MAC game in three days when they visit Toledo for a 2 p.m. Sunday game.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+, which costs $5.99 a month. Click on the link and it will send you to a page where you can sign up. Most women’s away games are on ESPN+, as well as many men’s games and many other MAC basketball contests. An audio stream starts at 1:45 p.m. on the Kent State Radio Network.

The Flashes (1-2 on the season) are coming off a big — and somewhat unexpected — 84-80 win over Ohio Saturday at the M.A.C. Center. The Bobcats (now 2-1) had been ranked fifth in the latest Mid-Major Top 25 poll.

Toledo is coming off a big victory of its own, beating Northern Illinois 82-79 at Northern behind a 42-point game by sophomore guard Sofia Wiard. The Rockets are 3-0.

The Rockets start three sophomores and two freshmen. Wiard, who averaged only 3.8 points a game last season, is third in the MAC scoring at 23.7 points a game. Fellow sophomore Quinesha Locket averages 18 points a game and 5-10 freshman forward Sammi Mikonowicz averages 10 points and 9.3 rebounds.

Story on how Kent State beat Ohio Saturday.

Six Kent State players scored in double figures in the win over Ohio, and the Flashes set a school record with 16 3-point baskets. The game was a major step forward from KSU’s opening loss at Ohio State and road loss to Saint Francis last week.

“We just need consistency moving forward,” coach Todd Starkey said after the OU game. “I think (the Ohio victory) proves who we’re capable of being. But you have to do that every single game.

So, he asked, “Are you a one-hit wonder?”

“Or what’s going to happen when you don’t have good shooting nights like that. So we have to continue to get better defensively. We have to continue to work on our rotation and our connectedness on the court.”

Through three games, Nila Blackford leads the Flashes in scoring at 11.3 points a game and in rebounding at 7.7. Lindsey Thall averages 11.0 and Mariah Modkins 10.7.

Modkins has stepped up her play in a major way when since she took over as KSU’s primary point guard this season. (She split the job with Asiah Dingle last season.) She leads the Flashes in 3-point shooting percentage (54.5) and in assists (3.7).

The undefeateds

Toledo and two other MAC teams are unbeaten in the early season. They’re all surprises. Toledo (3-0) was picked seventh in the conference coaches’ preseason poll. Akron (3-0) was picked 10th, and Bowling Green (4-0) was picked 11th.

The top teams in the preseason poll were Central Michigan (2-1), Ohio (2-1) Ball State (1-3) and Buffalo (2-2).

Kent State was picked sixth.

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Kent State women's basketball

Flashes fade in last 7 minutes and fall at Saint Francis 67-64

By on Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Lindsey Thall led Kent State with 17 points and 7 rebounds. (Photo from KSU website.)

No team led by more than six points in Kent State’s 67-64 loss at Saint Francis Wednesday, but it still was a game of short scoring runs.

The last one belonged to Saint Francis, which outscored the Flashes 12-4 over the last seven minutes to win its first game of the season. The Red Flash are 1-4 with two losses coming to Big Ten teams. Kent State is 0-2.

Saint Francis had outscored KSU 6-1 in the last minute of the third quarter to take a 53-48 lead.

Then the Flashes scored 12 points on their first five possessions of the fourth quarter to take a 60-55 lead with 7:14 to go. But Kent made only one of its last 12 shots.

Junior forward Lindsey Thall led Kent State with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Sophomore forward Nila Blackford had 13 points.

Kent State, a taller team than Saint Francis, was outrebounded 43-30.

“At the end of the day, we probably got what we deserved,” KSU coach Todd Starkey said in a phone interview from the team bus on the way home. “We got outrebounded by a team we shouldn’t have. We had defensive lapses down the stretch in the fourth quarter.

“We definitely come away from this feeling like we let one slip away from us. We had our opportunities to win.”

Part of the problem, the coach said, is game experience.

“We have to get some of that game edge back,” Starkey said. “You don’t just flip a switch. This was their fifth game. For us, I don’t really count the Ohio State game because we were kind of in a fog there. We really didn’t learn much about ourselves in that game.”

Kent State lost its opener to OSU 103-47 last week, the second-worst defeat in school history.

Starkey said the short scoring runs from both teams could have been a function of the early season.

“There’s an ebb and flow in most games,” he said. “I think the more game experience that this group gets together, it has the opportunity to stop some of those runs or continue some of the ones that we had.“

Late in the game, Starkey said, the Flashes didn’t execute.

“There definitely were some defensive lapses,” he said. “We struggled offensively. We didn’t finish plays. We failed ourselves in some key possessions in toughness and focus. We have to get those things fixed before we do anything else.”

The rebounding was also a matter of desire, the coach said.

“They were a bit tougher than we were,” Starkey said. “You could tell they’ve been in these games before, and we just haven’t had experience with it in a long time. We were kind of slow to react to some stuff. We’re still getting our legs under us, and on the fitness side of things, we’re not quite where we need to be. I think that will come as we just play games.”

Saint Francis’s top rebounders were two 5-11 players and one who was 5-10. Kent State’s starting front line is 6-4. 6-2 and 6-2.

“We’ve got to get better rebounding from Linsey Marchese and Nila Blackford,” Starkey said. “There was only eight rebounds between those two combined. That’s a glaring statistic.

“They’ll fix that. They’ll get better. No question about it.”

Box score

Two point guards a once

Several times in the second half, point guards Mariah Modkins and Casey Santoro were on the court together.

“They’re both good players,” Starkey said. “They give us ball control, and both can really shoot it.

“Some people think it’s a liability to have two players that small out there, but in certain lineups against certain teams, we can use that.”

Santoro, a 5-4 freshman, had her first college 3-pointer and three rebounds. Modkins, a junior who is generously listed at 5-1, scored nine points, had four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. “She gave us a lot of toughness and leadership when we were struggling,” Starkey said.

A big player from long range

Marchese, a 6-4 transfer from Indiana, made the first 3-point basket of her college career, a clean shot from behind the men’s line in the first quarter. She took two other shots from behind the arc in the game, though one was a desperation throw from the corner at the final buzzer. Marchese never took a 3-pointer in her two years with the Hoosiers.

Other video highlights

Notes

  • For the second straight game, Kent State took more shots than its opponent but still lost. The Flashes were 23 of 60 shooting for 38.3%. Saint Francis was 21 of 52 for 40.4%. KSU was 9 of 25 from 3-point distance, 2 of 13 in the second half. Saint Francis made 7 of its 15 3-point shots.
  • The margin of victory came at the foul line, where the Red Flash were 18 of 22 and Kent State 11 of 16. Both teams had 19 fouls.
  • The Flashes scored 15 points off of 15 Saint Francis turnovers; the Red Flash scored five off of 13 KSU turnovers.
  • KSU junior Annie Pavlansky, whom Starkey called one of the most improved players on the team, played 22 minutes after playing 21 against Ohio State. She scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting. Her 43 minutes in two games are only nine fewer than she played all last season.
  • Senior Monique Smith saw her first action of the season, grabbing an offensive rebound and blocking a shot in four minutes.

Home and MAC opener vs. Ohio Friday

Kent State plays Ohio at 2 p.m. Friday in its first home game of the season. No fans are allowed at the game because of COVID-19 protocols, but the game will be streamed for free on the Kent State website. The game was scheduled for last Saturday but was postponed, apparently for COVID-19 reasons. Ohio is 2-0 and beat Notre Dame 86-85 in Athens.

Other MAC scores

  • Central Michigan (1-1) 82, Western Michigan (1-1) 71 at Central.
  • Purdue (2-1) 82, Buffalo (2-2) 70 at Purdue.
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Kent State women's basketball

This week’s instant game: Flashes at Saint Francis (Pa.) Wednesday

By on Monday, December 7, 2020

Sophomore forward Nila Blackford, who led KSU with nine points against Ohio State, in action against Buffalo last season. (Photo by David Dermer.)

The Kent State women have added a Wednesday game at Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania.

In this season of COVID-19, games are canceled on a day’s notice when virus problems break out on a team. And they’re added days before a game as coaches try to fill their schedules.

Kent State’s home game last Saturday against Ohio was postponed. Saint Francis had a game scheduled for Tuesday (Dec. 7) canceled.

Kent State’s game at Ohio State last week was scheduled on five day’s notice after both teams had a game canceled the previous weekend.

Saint Francis is 0-4, losing lopsided games to Michigan State (77-44) and Penn State (87-54) and close games to mid-majors Duquesne (69-67) and La Salle (76-68). Saint Francis, traditionally one of the best teams in the Northeast Conference, was 11-19 last season and tied for fourth in the league.

The game is at 5 p.m. and will be streamed on NEC Front Row. Audio will be Kent State’s Tune-In Radio channel, with the pregame show starting at 4:45. Like many college games so far this season, fans won’t be allowed at the game because of the pandemic.

Kent State opened the 2020-21 season last week with a 103-57 loss at No. 19 Ohio State.

Saint Francis’s nickname is the Red Flash. So the game will be the Golden Flashes versus the Red Flash.

The Red Flash are in some ways an ideal opponent for Kent State at this point. Saint Francis is a solid mid-major program, but nowhere near the level of Ohio State.

It should give the Flashes a competitive game under their belt before they open MAC play. KSU also will have had another week of practice. Against Ohio State, the Flashes had had just three full practices after a 10-day “pause” because of COVID issues on the team.

The Flashes return four starters from a team that went 19-12 last year and won the MAC East title: junior forward Lindsey Thall (11.7-point average last season) and junior point guard Mariah Modkins (3.0), and sophomore guard Katie Shumate (12.3) and sophomore forward Nila Blackford (12.4 points and 8.0 rebounds in 2019-20). Against Ohio State, Blackford led KSU with nine points, and Modkins had eight.

Joining the returning starters in the lineup is 6-4 Indiana transfer Linsey Marchese, who had six points and five rebounds against OSU.

Saint Francis has a 6-4 post player of its own in sophomore Katie Dettwiller, who is averaging 4 points, 3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. She’s from Portsmouth, Ohio, near the West Virginia border.

No other starter is taller than 5-11. For Kent State, Thall and Blackford are 6-2; Shumate is 5-11.

The Red Flash’s leading scorer is 5-8 senior guard Karson Swogger, who is averaging 14.3 points a game. Their second-leading scorer is 5-7 guard Lili Benson at 9.0. Kaitlyn Maxwell, a 5-7 freshman averaging 3.5 points a game, scored 2,125 points in high school. (Kent State freshman Casey Santoro scored 2,156, the most ever for a KSU recruit.)

Kent State and Saint Francis have played three times. St. Francis won in 2012 and 2010; Kent State won in 2006.

Saint Francis and Robert Morris dominated the NEC over the last 25 years, with Saint Francis winning 12 league championships during that time. Kent State played hard-fought games with Robert Morris over the last four years, winning last year 82-81 on a steal and a basket at the buzzer. Robert Morris left the NEC for the Horizon League this season.

Saint Francis is located not far from Altoona, about 80 miles east of Pittsburgh.

  • Preview from Kent State website, including links to roster, schedule, statistics and more.
  • Preview from Saint Francis website.
  • Live statistics will be available during the game on the St. Francis website.
  • Kent State’s game against Ohio has been rescheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at the M.A.C. Center, the MAC announced Tuesday. On Sunday, KSU is scheduled to play at Toledo at 2 p.m. Both games are on ESPN+; no fans will be allowed at either.
  • The Flashes were originally scheduled to play No. 24 DePaul at the M.A.C.C. on Thursday. That game was canceled so DePaul could play Louisville in the Jimmy V Classic in Connecticut. The nationally televised game raises money for the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Jimmy Valvano, a broadcaster and coach, died of cancer in 1993. DePaul lost to No. 2 Louisville 116-75.

Kent State’s second-worst loss ever

I dug around in the Kent State record book this week. It seems that the 56-point loss to Ohio State was the second-worst in team history. In 1976 — the second year of varsity play for KSU, the Flashes lost to Pittsburgh 98-38. Here’s link to OSU game story if you’re a glutton for punishment.

MAC scores

Dec. 8

  • Miami (1-1) 67, Valparaiso (2-2) 49 at Miami. Valparaiso has lost to two MAC teams (the other was 70-60 to Bowling Green 70-60 in its opener). But it has beaten two Big Ten teams — Illinois (62-59) and Purdue (52-47).

Dec. 6

  • Bowling Green (3-0) 64, Milwaukee (3-1) 62 at BG.
  • Buffalo (2-1) 87, Canisius (0-1) 45 at Canisius.
  • Akron (3-0) 77, Dayton (1-1) 74 at Dayton.
  • Eastern Michigan (3-1) 63, Southeast Missouri State (1-2) 49 at Southeast Missouri.

Dec. 5

  • Toledo (2-0) 75, Detroit Mercy (0-4) 65 at Toledo.
  • Northern Illinois (2-1) 79, Western Illinois (0-2) 67 at Northern.
  • Ball State (1-3) 58, Western Kentucky (0-2) 54 at Western Kentucky.
  • Western Michigan (1-0) 80, Illinois-Chicago (1-2) 76 at Western.

Dec. 4

  • Northern Illinois (1-1) 82, Eastern Illinois (1-2) 72 at Eastern.
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Kent State women's basketball

Flashes play 2-0 Ohio Saturday in early MAC opener

By on Friday, December 4, 2020
Mariah Modkins controls the ball in Kent State’s 81-77 win over Ohio at the M.A.C. Center last March. The win clinched tie for the MAC East title for the Flashes. (Photo by Savannah Monk of KentWired.)

SATURDAY’S KENT STATE-OHIO GAME HAS BEEN POSTPONED. SEE THIS LATER POST

In their week of Ohio competition, the Kent State women Saturday take on Ohio University, which has two very good wins in its first games.

The Flashes are coming off of a 103-47 loss to No. 19 Ohio State on Wednesday in their first game of the season.

Saturday they’ll host the Bobcats, who got votes of their own in the polls after beating then-No. 22 Notre Dame 86-85 in Athens last Friday. OU had opened with another home win, 76-72 over Liberty, a team picked second in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

The game is at 2 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center, but no fans are allowed because of COVID-19 protocols. The game will be streamed on the Kent State website, starting at 1:55 p.m.

The game is one of the earliest Mid-American Conference games in KSU history. In recent years, league play hasn’t started until January, but the MAC moved two games for each team before Christmas to allow scheduling flexibility in a season of COVID.

Ohio was picked second in the MAC this season. Its two wins are the most impressive in the league in the early season. Central Michigan, the conference favorite, lost its opener to Michigan by 18 points. (Michigan beat Notre Dame 76-66 Wednesday.)

Two all-MAC players lead the Bobcats. Senior guard Cece Hooks was the first 2020-21 MAC player of the week after scoring 50 points and getting 15 rebounds in OU’s first games. She scored 33 against Notre Dame. Hooks is also returning two-time MAC defensive player of the year.

Junior guard-forward Erica Johnson had 55 points last week, scoring 31 against Liberty and 24 against Notre Dame.

“They’re two of the more dynamic scorers in the conference, if not the country,” KSU coach Todd Starkey said. “Either one of them could be conference player of the year.”

The Bobcats play a very different style of play than Ohio State.

Ohio University traditionally scores a lot of points (second in the MAC in scoring so far), shoots a lot of 3-point baskets (55 in their first two games) and forces a lot of turnovers (18 against Notre Dame).

No Ohio starter stands taller than 5-11, and that sets up the most interesting matchup on Saturday.

Kent State starts 6-4 Indiana transfer Linsey Marchese, 6-2 Nila Blackford and 6-2 Lindsay Thall. None of them put up fancy numbers at Ohio State, but the Buckeyes were every bit as tall and more athletic.

Starkey said the Ohio State game, played with just three days of practice after a 10-day “pause” because of COVID, is the “kind of a game where you almost throw away the tape and start over.“

“We’ll be a better basketball team moving forward,” he said. “There’s no question in my mind.”

Likely starting lineups

KENT STATE

  • Point guard Mariah Modkins, a 5-1 junior from Solon. She had eight points and two 3-point baskets against Ohio State.
  • Guard Katie Shumate, a 5-11 sophomore from Newark. She’s coming off off-season knee surgery and played only 15 minutes in Columbus. She was second on the team in rebounding, blocked shots and steals and third in scoring average and assists last season. She was all-MAC honorable mention and made the MAC all-freshman team.
  • Forward Lindsey Thall, a 6-2 junior from Strongsville. She led the MAC in blocked shots the last two years and made the all-MAC defensive team. She is also one of the best 3-point shooters in Kent history, already ranking fifth in the record book after two seasons.
  • Forward Nila Blackford, a 6-2 sophomore from Louisville, Kentucky. She led the team in rebounding and was second in scoring last season, making the MAC all-freshman team.
  • Center Linsey Marchese, a 6-4 Georgia native and transfer from Indiana. She was a top 100 recruit in high school when she was recruited by Starkey, then an assistant coach at Indiana. Marchese had six points and five rebounds against Ohio State.

OHIO

  • Guard Cece Hooks, a 5-8 senior from Dayton. Averaged 25 points and 7.5 rebounds in OU’s first two games. All-MAC first two and MAC defensive player of the year the last two seasons.
  • Guard Erica Johnson, a 5-11 redshirt junior from Mansfield. Averaged 27.5 points and 7 rebounds in first two games. All-MAC first team last season, MAC freshman of the year in 2018-19.
  • Guard Caitlyn Knoll, a 5-10 redshirt junior from Bridgeport. Averages 4 points a game (4.4 last season).
  • Forward Gabby Burris, a 5-11 senior from Baltimore, Ohio. Averages 9.5 points and 6 rebounds. Averaged 10.4 points through first three seasons.
  • Forward Edecia Beck, a 5-9 junior from Grand Rapids, Mich. Averages 4.5 points and 2.5 rebounds. (3.3 points last season.)

This assumes players are healthy and available, never a guarantee this season.

Notes

  • Game will also be streamed on Kent State’s Tune-In Radio channel.
  • Live game statistics will be on the KSU website.

The view from Ohio State

OSU coach Kevin McGuff after the Kent State game:

“We obviously started with really good defensive energy. We were playing really well on that end of the floor, Kent State wasn’t shooting well, and so that led to a perfect storm.” (OSU led 26-0 during the first quarter.)

 “With Covid-19, teams are just at different levels right now. I don’t know if the score would be what it was today a month from now.” 

MAC scores catchup

Dec. 3

  • Bowling Green (2-0) 63, Northern Kentucky (0-3) 49 at Northern Kentucky. Freshman guard Lexi Fleming is averaging 17.5 points a game for BG.
  • VCU (2-2) 61, Buffalo (1-1) 55 at VCU. Buffalo’s Dyaisha Fair, last year’s MAC freshman of the year, is averaging 28 points a game.

Dec. 2

  • Eastern Michigan (2-1) 77, Ball State (0-3) 58 at Ball State. Eastern’s Aereanna Combs is averaging 21 points a game and Ce’Nara Skanes 20.3. had 20. Ball State was without all-MAC forward Oshlynn Brown for the third straight game.

Dec. 1

  • Akron (2-0) 70, Northern Kentucky (0-3) 60 at Akron. Jordyn Dawson averages 18 points a game for the Zips.

Nov. 30

  • Buffalo 80, James Madison 64 at James Madison
  • IUPUI 73, Ball State 49 at Ball State.

Nov. 29

  • Notre Dame 88, Miami (0-1) 68 at Notre Dame.
  • Illinois-Chicago 66, Eastern Michigan 62 at Eastern.
  • Toledo (1-0) 71, Oakland 69 at Toledo.
  • Bowling Green 70, Valparaiso 60 at BG.
  • Akron 95, Bluefield State 61 at Akron.
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Kent State women's basketball

A very rough opener against a very good team: Flashes fall 103-47 at Ohio State

By on Wednesday, December 2, 2020
This season tipoff in an empty gym at Ohio State. (Photo from OSU athletics.)

If we look hard enough, we can find a few good things in Kent State’s 103-47 loss at No. 19 Ohio State Saturday.

  1. The Flashes got to play at all. In this season of COVID-19, that’s an accomplishment. KSU’s scheduled opener last Sunday was canceled because of COVID problems on the team.
  2. The second half was better than the first. The Flashes had 36 points and made 39% of their shots. In the first half, they made only four baskets, shot 11% and scored 14 points.
  3. KSU rebounded pretty well. They had 41, including 18 offensive rebounds. Ohio State had 44, and just six offensive rebounds.

But the score definitely reflects the game. It was the first time since 2009 that Kent State has given up 100 points. The 56-point margin was the largest in coach Todd Starkey’s five years in Kent.

The Flashes were down 26-0 before freshman Casey Santoro made a foul shot with 1:18 to go in the first quarter. KSU had missed its first 15 shots before Nila Blackford made a layup with 10 seconds to go in the quarter.

The Buckeyes led 31-4 after the quarter and 52-14 at halftime.

No doubt Ohio State is really good. The Buckeyes have five starters back from a team that went 21-12 and tied for fifth in the Big Ten. They’re one of five Big Ten teams ranked in the Top 25.

OSU was playing its second game of the season, coming off an 82-47 win Sunday over Duquesne, a good mid-major. The Buckeyes hadn’t missed a practice because of COVID.

Kent State had had just three practices since they came off a 10-day “pause” because of COVID issues.

“Coming out of quarantine, we just weren’t ready for this game,” Starkey said in a phone interview after the game. “I can second-guess playing it. But the kids just wanted to play, and that was the only game we had available to take.

“We just scheduled the game five days ago, and we weren’t even practicing then.”

And Ohio State, Starkey said, “is better than us.”

“Based on what I’ve seen so far,” he said, “I think they’re going to be a Top 10 team and battle it out for the Big Ten championship.”

The Buckeyes shot 70% in the first quarter and 64% for the game. They made seven of their 14 3-point shots. All-Big Ten forward Dorka Juhasz had 16 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes. “A future WNBA player,” Starkey said.

Ohio State played very good defense, but Kent State also just missed shots. The Flashes made 7 of 29 layups, 3 of 17 3-point shots and 12 of 22 free throws.

“We got some decent looks early,” Starkey said. “If a few of those go in, it probably feels a little different. But I don’t necessarily think there’s going to be a significantly different outcome.

“We kind of gave in mentally at the beginning because nothing was going our way. I thought that at times, we did some much better things in the second half.”

The Flashes scored more points in the third quarter (16) than they did in the whole first half, and they made seven of their 14 shots in the fourth quarter.

“I thought in the second half we played with a lot more fight and a lot more poise,” Starkey said. 

Blackford led the Flashes with nine points. Mariah Modkins had eight, including two 3-pointers.

Sophomore guard Clare Kelly led KSU with seven rebounds (“a spark off the bench,” Starkey said.) Blackford, Lindsey Thall, Indiana transfer Linsey Marchese and Annie Pavlansky all had five rebounds.

Starkey thought the rebounding statistics were somewhat misleading. “When they shoot 60%, there aren’t a lot of offensive rebounds for them to get,” he said.

Still Kent State’s rebounding percentage (the number of rebounds divided by the number of missed shots) was 48.2%, Ohio State’s was 51.8%. Against Duquesne, which shot the 22% from the field as Kent, the Buckeyes’ rebounding percentage was 74%.

 Box score

Shumate in starting lineup

Sophomore Katie Shumate, who had practiced sparingly after off-season knee surgery, was a bit of a surprise starter. At one point, it was unclear whether she would play at all this year.

She had four points and two rebounds in 15 minutes.

“She’s not 100% and a bit of a work in progress,” Starkey said. “She’s going to have to continue to gain muscle endurance and strength.”

Shumate was second on the team last season in points, rebounds, blocks and steals and third in assists. She made the MAC all-freshman team and was honorable mention all-conference.

Notes

  • The full starting lineup was Shumate, Modkins, Blackford, Marchese and Thall.
  • Thall, who scored 32 points and hit a KSU-record eight 3-pointers against Ohio State last season, was 1 for 10 with one 3-point basket and two free throws.
  • Kent State took more shots (68) than Ohio State (66).
  • The Flashes had 14 turnovers, generally a good number. But Ohio State had three.
  • KSU had five assists on 16 baskets. Ohio State had 23 on 39.
  • Kent State’s two freshmen each played about 16 minutes. Center Lexi Jackson had two points and three rebounds. Santoro had one point, two rebounds and zero turnovers. Marchese, playing in her first KSU game, scored six points.
  • Eleven Flashes played at least 11 minutes, and no one played more than 26. Every player who made the trip got in the game.
  • Pavlansky played 21 minutes, more than double her previous high against a Division I team. Her five rebounds were three fewer than she had all last season. She scored three points and had an assist.
  • Kent State is now 0-8 all-time against Ohio State. Against current Big Ten teams, the Flashes are 9-38.
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