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

Women end their regular season at Miami today. Preview on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

Flashes lost at Miami, 58-35, in their last and worst game of the regular season.

It was the fewest points of the season for KSU, and no player scored in double figures. Jordan Korinek, who went into the game as the second-leading scorer in the MAC and Kent's fifth-leading scorer all time, equaled a season low with eight.

Eleven women played at least 10 minutes as the Flashes search for any kind of spark. The team looked flat and dispirited -- probably even lower than in any of the five years of struggle in coach Bob Lindsay's last season and the four years of coach Danny O'Banion.

The team will play its first round MAC Tournament game on the road Monday. Opponent will be decided later Saturday afternoon.

Full story on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

Not even close. Once the MAC season started it became obvious we had absolutely no offense without Lurken. There was no help from the freshman class, no player really showing significant improvement and no obvious signs of adjusting to the loss of Lurken (if that was even possible). The other teams knew what was coming and shut it down. In addition playing only 6 players until the last six games or so tired the team out. It was noticeable near the 20 game mark or so. I’m afraid we are back where we were two years ago and will be starting over again since 4 seniors (3 starters) are graduating. This program has really lost its way. Under O’Banion we always had a bad record and then usually were embarrassed in the 1st round. It will be interesting to see if that’s what happens Monday. I’d like to think this team will respond and at least play well but the way things are trending I’m not so sure.

As bad as it was, it would have been worse if Stevens had not returned. Of the starters who graduated the biggest loss will be Jordan. The last two years we have lost our offensive scorers. That will be hard to replace. As mentioned before, I didn't see anyone who is here that will pick up all that was lost.

A tournament preview will follow, but a couple of comments on Burden and roundball4me's posts.

Last year was unexpectedly far better than we had any right to expect. This year has been unexpectedly, disappointingly worst. I agree with Burden that things have gotten steadily worse through the conference season. The team seemed to have peaked in its last two games before Christmas.

The next two years will tell us how good Starkey is as a coach. It's his team now. He recruited a five-person freshman class that looks as good as any I've seen in Kent. He has commitments from two 2019 grads who also look to be very good.

But Korinek will be every bit as hard to replace as Lurken was. The freshman class has one forward in it. Barber-Smith told me last Saturday that she expected to be back, but she's not a scorer. Only other underclass forward is Amanda Sape, who played fewer than 10 minutes. Monique Smith could play forward at 5-10, but that's badly undersized.

I don't know whether we back to where we started. We're really at a new start.

I'll have a lot more when I wrap up the season this week.

The tournament opens at Toledo Monday.

Think back a year. Kent opened against Toledo then, too, in the quarterfinals at Quicken Loan. KSU had won seven in a row. Toledo had won eight of nine. The Rockets won 67-63 on a fourth-quarter rally led by their defense. Then they won the tournament; Kent State was their closest game.

This year KSU has lost seven of eight. Toledo has lost three in a row. Since Kent State beat the Rockets 62-55 in Toledo in January, Flashes are 2-8, Toledo 4-6.

A weird thing: Both teams have four starters back from last season. Toledo lost second-team all-MAC forward Janice Monakana, Kent State of course lost MAC player-of-the-year Larissa Lurken.

Neither team has adjusted well; Kent State really never adjusted at all. The rest of the league -- Central, Buffalo, Ball State, even Miami -- is much better, too.

Toledo played well against 25-4 Central on Saturday, losing 72-67. Kent State played horribly in losing at Miami, 58-35.

It would be about as unexpected as KSU's MAC East championship last season if the Flashes can beat Toledo Monday.

Full preview, with full tournament pairings, is on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

Women are up three. Toledo has the ball with 13 seconds left. Maybe I’ll see two games.

Women won 80-76. Most points in awhile. Buffalo is next. That won’t be easy but at least they get a game in Cleveland.

An amazing win. They were behind by 17 in the third quarter. Korinek had two points at halftime.

She finished with 21, including a three-point basket that tied the game at 70-70 with 47 second to go in regulation.

Megan Carter had 24 points and Naddiyah Cross 20. Neither guard had played well at all for the Flashes as they lost seven of their last eight games.

The team hit bottom Saturday in a 58-35 loss at Miami. After the game, coach Todd Starkey wondered in a radio interview whether the team had given up.

After Monday's victory, the coach said, ""In my 21 years of coaching,this may be be one of the most unexpected wins, based where we were just 48 hours ago."

The Flashes advance to play second-seeded and MAC East champion Buffalo (25-4, 16-2 in the league) in Wednesday's tournament quarterfinals. Game will start about 5:30.

Kent State's record is 13-18.

Full story on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

If the women's overtime win at Toledo Monday was a long shot...

Wednesday's quarterfinal game against Buffalo is a long, long, long shot.

The Bulls beat Kent State twice this season by an average of 34 points. Most recent was just a week ago. Buffalo has a 20 RPI, the highest a MAC team has ever had this late in the season.

Its record is 25-4, the best in school history. Three players made the all-MAC second team announced Tuesday.

Kent State's record is 13-18. Monday's game was perhaps the first time all season the Flashes put everything together -- three 20-point scorers, hard defense, few turnovers.

Two days earlier, Kent State had scored just 35 points in losing at Miami.

Is there any chance in the quarterfinals?

KSU played pretty well against Buffalo in the first half last week. Monday's game is certainly a springboard.

But Buffalo is very, very good. The Bulls have more depth and an extra two days of rest.

As I said, a long, long, long shot.

Full preview on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

Buffalo outscored Kent State 24-2 over an eight-minute span in the third quarter and beat the Flashes Wednesday in the MAC quarterfinals.

The 72-50 defeat ends Kent State's season with a 13-19 record. Buffalo, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, advances to Friday's semifinals with a 26-4 record. The Bulls will play Ball State or Western Michigan, which were playing the final game at Quicken Loans Arena Wednesday night.

The Flashes played better than they had in two regular-season blowout losses to Buffalo. They were within five points at halftime and scored the first four points of the second half to make it a 32-31 game.

That's when Buffalo's defense took over. The Bulls forced 10 turnovers for the rest of the quarter and scored 15 of their 24 points off of them.

Steals and scoring off turnovers have been Buffalo's strength and Kent State's weakness all season. KSU coach Todd Starkey called the Bulls "a very hard matchup" for Kent State.

For the game, Buffalo scored an incredible 41 points off of Kent State turnovers. (I'm never seen a number that high.) They stole the ball 20 times, with only three coming in the fourth quarter when reserves were playing.

The Bulls themselves committed 13 turnovers (five in the fourth quarter). Kent State scored seven points off of them, and only two in the first three quarters.

Jordan Korinek and McKenna Stephens, playing their last game in Kent State uniforms, each had 16 points. Stephens had a double-double with 10 rebounds. Korinek finishes her career with 1,786 points, fifth highest in Kent State history.

Stephanie Reid, Buffalo's senior point guard, played a near-perfect game to lead the Bulls. She had 22 points of 10 of 15 shooting, 11 assists five steals and no turnovers in 33 minutes.

Starkey said Kent State guard Megan Carter should be all right after a frightening moment in the third quarter. Carter fell to the floor after a collision guarding a Buffalo player's drive in the third quarter. She lay on her back for more than 10 minutes and was taken from the court on a stretcher as a precaution for a possible head injury.

Full story is in the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

(03-07-2018 08:26 PM)cschierh Wrote:  Buffalo outscored Kent State 24-2 over an eight-minute span in the third quarter and beat the Flashes Wednesday in the MAC quarterfinals.

The 72-50 defeat ends Kent State's season with a 13-19 record. Buffalo, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, advances to Friday's semifinals with a 26-4 record. The Bulls will play Ball State or Western Michigan, which were playing the final game at Quicken Loans Arena Wednesday night.

The Flashes played better than they had in two regular-season blowout losses to Buffalo. They were within five points at halftime and scored the first four points of the second half to make it a 32-31 game.

That's when Buffalo's defense took over. The Bulls forced 10 turnovers for the rest of the quarter and scored 15 of their 24 points off of them.

Steals and scoring off turnovers have been Buffalo's strength and Kent State's weakness all season. KSU coach Todd Starkey called the Bulls "a very hard matchup" for Kent State.

For the game, Buffalo scored an incredible 41 points off of Kent State turnovers. (I'm never seen a number that high.) They stole the ball 20 times, with only three coming in the fourth quarter when reserves were playing.

The Bulls themselves committed 13 turnovers (five in the fourth quarter). Kent State scored seven points off of them, and only two in the first three quarters.

Jordan Korinek and McKenna Stephens, playing their last game in Kent State uniforms, each had 16 points. Stephens had a double-double with 10 rebounds. Korinek finishes her career with 1,786 points, fifth highest in Kent State history.

Stephanie Reid, Buffalo's senior point guard, played a near-perfect game to lead the Bulls. She had 22 points of 10 of 15 shooting, 11 assists five steals and no turnovers in 33 minutes.

Starkey said Kent State guard Megan Carter should be all right after a frightening moment in the third quarter. Carter fell to the floor after a collision guarding a Buffalo player's drive in the third quarter. She lay on her back for more than 10 minutes and was taken from the court on a stretcher as a precaution for a possible head injury.

Full story is in the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

Good news on Megan. That did look bad.

Buffalo just did to WMU what they did to us. They are leading 63-39 with 8 to go. They have really looked so much better than CMU in this tournament (which probably means nothing tomorrow). They have caught a break getting #10 Kent St and #6 WMU but they have routed both of them as they should. CMU has won both games by three and today Miami had three good looks in the last 10 seconds and missed them all. CMU’s Presley Hudson has had a terrible tournament. Constantly in foul trouble due to some really dumb fouls and way off in her shooting. We will see what happens tomorrow.

They split home and home during the season ought to be a great final. Reid vs. Hudson should be great matchup. Buffalo people were complaining big time after the game that Reid should have been first Team all MAC. (Hudson was)

(03-09-2018 11:26 PM)cschierh Wrote:  They split home and home during the season ought to be a great final. Reid vs. Hudson should be great matchup. Buffalo people were complaining big time after the game that Reid should have been first Team all MAC. (Hudson was)

If I was drafting I’d pick Reid too. More consistent and her defense is excellent. However, no way the player of the year is going to average 11 points a game. There going to pick 18ppg Moore every time. Hudson at 18ppg hitting from 3’ beyond the arc would also be ahead of Reid.

69-61 CMU going into the 4th quarter. So far it’s Hudson 15, Reid 10. Buffalo had a nice run at the end of the first half to come from 10+ down to lead by one but CMU has gradually worked back up to 8.

What a bummer. Reid’s leg gave out with 5 minutes left and she was carried off the court. She is not coming back. Tough way to end a career. Hopefully it’s not a major injury. CMU up 86-76 with 3 to go.

CMU 96, Buffalo 91. Reid was limping pretty badly but she was able to walk from the bench to the time out huddles so maybe it was just a sprain of some sort.

Said she turned her ankle.

“Rolled” the tv folk said, if thats any different. I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t play in the NCAA. Buffalo better make it.