The game was an utter rout. It started 14-0, then was 22-1, then 31-6 at the end of the first quarter.
71 points is the biggest margin of victory in Kent State basketball history — men's or women's.
No regular starter played more than 17 minutes. No one played more than 20. Everyone in uniform played at least nine minutes; all but one played more than 12. Everyone scored. Five players had career highs.
Leading scorer Katie Shumate played 12 minutes (and scored 18 points). Second-leading scorer Lindsey THall didn't play at all. She suffered a minor ankle injury against Duquesne earlier in the week.
Comments on comments:
Why play Hiram at all? "Schedule balance," coach Starkey said when the schedule was announced. KSU's first eight games were the 12th toughest schedule in the country, according to a stats site I follow.
Most MAC schools play a D3 team in the preseason. I'm not sure it's a good idea.
Why play two D3s in a row? Good question.
Why press when you're 50 points ahead? KSU didn't press more than 10% of the time, and they seemed to be working on a defense they hadn't used much. In the second half, it was mostly reserves. I don't think any starter played more than eight minutes.
It was an exhibition for Hiram because D3s are limited to 25 regular-season games (Kent will play at least 30). It counts in KSU's record, but NCAA and national rankings sites don't include stats or scores in determining leaders and tournament spots.
Game story is on the blog at
HTTP://wbbFlashes.com.