The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Wednesday is another game with an unexpected opponent for the Kent State women.

The Flashes were scheduled to host Bowling Green at the M.A.C. Center. But COVID-19 on the BG roster postponed that game, the third contest in a row KSU has played a team not originally scheduled.

KSU will travel to Ohio University to play the Bobcats, who were scheduled to play Buffalo, which has its own COVID outbreak. Kent State and Ohio were originally scheduled to play on Jan. 19, so the Flashes will have a different, yet-to-be-determined opponent, then.

The game starts at 7 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN3.

The Bobcats were preseason pick to win the MAC. Their first three league games were postponed because of COVID. Ohio lost its first MAC game on Saturday to Northern Illinois 71-68.

Ohio is 6-3 overall and 0-1 in the MAC. Northern Illinois is 4-7 and 1-2.

Kent State is 9-4 and 1-3. The Flashes lost their first three MAC games by close margins, then won at Ball State 54-51 on Saturday.

KSU’s defense has kept it competitive through its struggles in the MAC. The Flashes have allowed on 59.3 points a game, third-best in the conference and limited opponents to 38.1% shooting, also third in the league. They rank first in the MAC in 3-point defense, where opponents have made just 26.8% of their shots.

KSU forward Nila Blackford has 37 rebounds in her last three games and ranks third in the MAC in rebounding. But her scoring and shooting are down substantially from last year, when she led KSU with 15.6 points per game.

Ohio is led by last year’s MAC player of the year, Cece Hooks, a 5-8 fifth-year guard. Hooks is second in the MAC in scoring (21.6 points per game), fourth in shooting percentage (49.7), first in steals (3.6) and ninth in rebounding (7.7).

But critical to Wednesday’s game will be the status of redshirt junior Erica Johnson, a 5-11 guard who, like Hooks, was a preseason all-MAC selection. Johnson missed OU’s game with Northern Illinois as she recovered from COVID. She is fourth in the MAC in scoring at 20.3 points a game and leads the league in assists at 5.8 per game.

Kent State is also hoping for a recovery from COVID by senior forward Lindsey Thall, who has missed KSU’s last three games. Thall is second on the team in scoring at 13.1 points per game and second in rebounding at 7.0.