We were all probably over-excited after beating Miami Wednesday. Let's not be over-pessimistic after this one.
I still never would have expected this team to win 16 games, likely at least 17, this season.
That being said, it was a horrible game. Counting free throws, KSU missed 59 shots. That's hard even to type.
Top season scorers were 3 of 17 (Carter), 4 of 13 (Dingle), 2 of 12 (Poole), 3 of 11 (Golden) and 2 of 5 (Thall). And BG was last in the MAC in field goal defense.
Is point guard the problem? Remember Naddiyah Cross, last year's point guard? And the three or four before that?
Dingle can indeed play out of control (though she's coached to push the ball and go "downhill" hard as often as she can). She need to double her assists and half her turnovers.
I'm sure she got to the basket every time she tried in high school (three state championship teams), and college players are so much better. But without her, team would be closer to 11-16 than 16-11. But she and Starkey have told me repeatedly she has a lot still to learn.
The game was not pleasant to watch. Let's hope Akron on Wednesday is better.
Buffalo beat first-place Miami 86-61 in Buffalo after winning at Ohio 73-43 on Wednesday. I think they've clinched the fourth seed, but the MAC tie-breakers are so complicated I'm not sure what would happen if the Flashes won their last two and Buffalo lost. (About a 2 percent chance of that happening.)
Toledo beat NIU 73-63 at Toledo to take over fifth by itself. NIU and Kent are tied for sixth. Toledo still has to play at Eastern and at first-place Central. KSU plays at Akron and finishes at home against Buffalo. Kent owns the tie-breaker over Toledo and Northern.
As always, game story is on the blog at
http://wbbflashes.com.