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

(01-13-2019 09:56 AM)JimJoyce Wrote:  Carl/burden: did you make the trip to UT? It sounds like sour grapes from some of the Toledo folks that we may have taken the celebration too far. Just wondered if you were there what your take was.

I wasn’t there but I do know Toledo fans of the women’s team really take things seriously. It’s almost like the whole team is their grand daughters (in many cases great grand daughters). They probably were just upset that we beat them again on their home floor. Also, let’s face it our team is very young and sometimes freshmen don’t quite get it and do stupid things.

Take away the first quarter, and the women played a hell of a game at 14-1 Ohio Wednesday.

But...

They trailed 25-12 and a second-half rally fell short, 83-81. It was the closest game OU had played all season other than its 88-70 loss to Central Michigan.

Central lost its from league game Wednesday, 70-67 to Miami at home. CMU, Ohio, Buffalo and Kent State are all tied for the league lead at 3-1. Overall Kent is 10-5, still far better than I expected at the beginning of the season.

The Flashes play Central at noon Saturday at the MACC. It's the first game of a double header with the men, who play Northern Illinois at about 2:30. The time of both games has changed to try to avoid a snow storm forecast for Saturday.

Senior guard Alexa Golden had a career-high 22 points and played perhaps the best game of her career. She also had seven rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocked shots. Megan Carter had 20. Merissa Barber-Smith had nine rebounds in 14 minutes.

Halftime score was 47-31, but Kent chipped away throughout the second half. The Flashes outscored OU 19-11 in the third quarter and got within 63-61 with six minutes to play. OU scored the next seven points, then Kent rallied back and the teams were within six points for the rest of the game. Golden hit a three-point basket at the buzzer to make the final score closer than it really was. But if you don't count that basket, it was still Ohio's second-closest win of the season.

Coach Todd Starkey was happy with the comeback but very grumpy about the start. "We weren't ready," he said.

There were 55 fouls in the game. Two Ohio players fouled out, and three more ended with four fouls. Four Kent players had four fouls. The calls, Starkey said, were "confusing."

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

Women played a very good first half but not well enough in the second and fell to Central Michigan, 82-75. Central is 12-4 and has an RPI of 21.

Kent State is 10-6. CMU, Ohio and Buffalo are tied for fist in MAC at 4-1. KSU, Miami and Toledo are 3-2.

It was a strange game for a lot of things that didn't happen. Central was 7 of 21 on three-pointers (they're third in the country in three-point percentage).

CMU's Presley Hudson and Reyna, both strong candidates for player of the year in the MAC, each had four fouls are barely played in the fourth quarter.

Kent State had dominated the fourth quarter in all four of its MAC games, but Central outscored the Flashes 25-20 Saturday.

"They shot 74 percent in the fourth quarter, and we shot 30,” coach Todd Starkey said. "That's the ballgame."

Flashes led 36-33 at the half behind some good defense. In the second half, Central attacked KSU inside and outscored Flashes in paint 28-8. Chips also beat Kent in transition, outscoring them 12-4.

Megan Carter had 23 points for KSU, Asiah Dingle 19, Ali Poole 10. Alexa Golden had five assists and five steals.

A month ago, I would have been happy if KSU had come within 15 points of Central and Ohio, two excellent teams. This week Flashes lost to OU by two and Central by seven. And this is a team with four freshmen among its top eight players.

But as the competition gets back to earth, Kent has to start winning again. They play at Ball State (6-10, 1-4 MAC) on Wednesday and Miami (12-4, 3-2 MAC) next Saturday.

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

(01-19-2019 06:45 PM)cschierh Wrote:  Women played a very good first half but not well enough in the second and fell to Central Michigan, 82-75. Central is 12-4 and has an RPI of 21.

Kent State is 10-6. CMU, Ohio and Buffalo are tied for fist in MAC at 4-1. KSU, Miami and Toledo are 3-2.

It was a strange game for a lot of things that didn't happen. Central was 7 of 21 on three-pointers (they're third in the country in three-point percentage).

CMU's Presley Hudson and Reyna, both strong candidates for player of the year in the MAC, each had four fouls are barely played in the fourth quarter.

Kent State had dominated the fourth quarter in all four of its MAC games, but Central outscored the Flashes 25-20 Saturday.

"They shot 74 percent in the fourth quarter, and we shot 30,” coach Todd Starkey said. "That's the ballgame."

Flashes led 36-33 at the half behind some good defense. In the second half, Central attacked KSU inside and outscored Flashes in paint 28-8. Chips also beat Kent in transition, outscoring them 12-4.

Megan Carter had 23 points for KSU, Asiah Dingle 19, Ali Poole 10. Alexa Golden had five assists and five steals.

A month ago, I would have been happy if KSU had come within 15 points of Central and Ohio, two excellent teams. This week Flashes lost to OU by two and Central by seven. And this is a team with four freshmen among its top eight players.

But as the competition gets back to earth, Kent has to start winning again. They play at Ball State (6-10, 1-4 MAC) on Wednesday and Miami (12-4, 3-2 MAC) next Saturday.

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

Don’t worry too much about the freshmen. They are the reason we played Ohio and CMU so well. I for one am looking forward to next year when we get some more height and hopefully some depth. That’s holding us back more than the freshmen are.

(01-19-2019 09:19 PM)burden Wrote:  

(01-19-2019 06:45 PM)cschierh Wrote:  Women played a very good first half but not well enough in the second and fell to Central Michigan, 82-75. Central is 12-4 and has an RPI of 21.

Kent State is 10-6. CMU, Ohio and Buffalo are tied for fist in MAC at 4-1. KSU, Miami and Toledo are 3-2.

It was a strange game for a lot of things that didn't happen. Central was 7 of 21 on three-pointers (they're third in the country in three-point percentage).

CMU's Presley Hudson and Reyna, both strong candidates for player of the year in the MAC, each had four fouls are barely played in the fourth quarter.

Kent State had dominated the fourth quarter in all four of its MAC games, but Central outscored the Flashes 25-20 Saturday.

"They shot 74 percent in the fourth quarter, and we shot 30,” coach Todd Starkey said. "That's the ballgame."

Flashes led 36-33 at the half behind some good defense. In the second half, Central attacked KSU inside and outscored Flashes in paint 28-8. Chips also beat Kent in transition, outscoring them 12-4.

Megan Carter had 23 points for KSU, Asiah Dingle 19, Ali Poole 10. Alexa Golden had five assists and five steals.

A month ago, I would have been happy if KSU had come within 15 points of Central and Ohio, two excellent teams. This week Flashes lost to OU by two and Central by seven. And this is a team with four freshmen among its top eight players.

But as the competition gets back to earth, Kent has to start winning again. They play at Ball State (6-10, 1-4 MAC) on Wednesday and Miami (12-4, 3-2 MAC) next Saturday.

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

Don’t worry too much about the freshmen. They are the reason we played Ohio and CMU so well. I for one am looking forward to next year when we get some more height and hopefully some depth. That’s holding us back more than the freshmen are.

I like what our head coach and assistants are doing with this group of young women - the MAC is very strong this year and we are competitive and playing hard.

The women travel to Ball State for a Wednesday night game.

BSU has the worst record in the league (6-11) and the 10th-worst RPI. But the Cardinals took a 12-4 Miami team to the last minute Saturday before losing 70-67 at Miami.

Ball State lost two starters from last season to graduation and two more to graduate transfers.

Kent State is 10-6 and tied for fourth in the MAC with three other teams at 3-2. Ohio, Central Michigan and Buffalo are tied for first at 4-1.

Brady Sallee, the Cardinals' coach, was an assistant to Bob Lindsay at Kent State from 1996 to 2002.

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

Kent State took 67 shots — its third highest total of the season — against Ball State Wednesday but could make on 16 and fell on the road 48-44.

The Flashes' 24 percent shooting percentage was its lowest of the season and 44 was its lowest point total. Kent State fall to 3-3 in the MAC and 10-7 overall. Ball State is 2-4 and 7-11.

For most of the game, Ball State prevented KSU guards from driving to the basket, a key part of the Flashes' offense. When Kent then tried to shoot from outside, it made only four of 28 three-point shots.

Megan Carter led the Flashes with 12 points. Asiah Dingle had 11.

KSU's defense held Ball State to 33 percent. The Cardinals were the sixth team Kent has held below 50 points this season.

Story on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

The women play at Miami Saturday in a game that would be nice but hard to win.

Miami is 3-2 and a half game ahead go KSU in the conference. Flashes are 3-3 (10-7 overall) and have lost three in a row. Miami is 12-4 overall and has won two in a row, including an upset at Central Michigan 10 days ago. Kent has a slightly higher RPI (86 to 93) because it has played a tougher schedule.

Coach Todd Starkey calls Miami the best defensive team in the league. The Redhawks allow the fewest points (58.9) and lead the nation in three-point defense. Opponents make only 22 percent of their three-pointers.

Miami is 6-1 at home this season. KSU is 4-5 on the road.

Flashes played their worst offensive game of the season Wednesday in losing at Ball State 48-44.

Game starts at 1 on ESPN3. Full preview is on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

Ugh. I know we played 4 of 5 on the road against the best the MAC has to offer but I was hoping for better than 1-4. Starkey said it well. We are an easy team to game plan for and that gets exaggerated in Conference play. I think our lack of a sophomore and junior class (except fo Poole) is really showing up now. I still feel the freshman class is really good but they need more help than just Golden and Poole. Also all of our players are one dimensional and therefore easy to defend by even average defenses. I’m glad I didn’t come off my 7 win projection after they started 3-0. This year the key is how much Starkey can develop these players. We finally have a bit of height in next years class. Both at forward and guard. Also they should provide some much needed depth. Let’s see what happens.

The team, fortunately, has a bye week to regroup before it plays Akron at home next Saturday.

Kent fell behind Miami 11-0, then 22-10 after the first quarter, and the game was never close.

Miami played far better offense than usual. The Redhawks shot 54 percent from the field — 13 points above its average. Kent had led the conference in field goal defense.

To be honest, before the game I had would have thought that if KSU had scored 63 points, they would be in the game.

This might have been their worst game of the season. It was their worst margin since they lost to 18-0 North Carolina State in the second game of the season. They hadn't lost a game by less than seven points since then.

Burden, when you talk about the weak sophomore and junior classes, you forget about Megan Carter. She's a redshirt junior, yes, but she'll be back next year. She scored 21 Saturday, her fourth time in five games over 20. She's playing much better than last season, and that's helped the team as much as adding Dingle and Thall.

Thall scored 13 of her 16 points against Miami inside, which is encouraging.

Starkey said he though the team looked mentally tired and that they badly needed the bye week to regroup.

Before the season, I would have guess they would have been 2-5 or 3-4 now. The Ball State game always was iffy. We were spoiled by that winning streak.

Now they play a lot of average and below-average teams in the MAC (except Buffalo, which is really good). We'd find soon if KSU is just average, too.

The Flashes are 10-8 overall and 3-4 in the MAC. They're tied for sixth with Akron, Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois.

Akron, by the way, beat Toledo 70-64 in overtime Saturday. It was the Zips' first victory over a team with a winning record.

Full game story is on the blot at http://wbbflashes.com.

(01-26-2019 06:27 PM)cschierh Wrote:  The team, fortunately, has a bye week to regroup before it plays Akron at home next Saturday.

Kent fell behind Miami 11-0, then 22-10 after the first quarter, and the game was never close.

Miami played far better offense than usual. The Redhawks shot 54 percent from the field — 13 points above its average. Kent had led the conference in field goal defense.

To be honest, before the game I had would have thought that if KSU had scored 63 points, they would be in the game.

This might have been their worst game of the season. It was their worst margin since they lost to 18-0 North Carolina State in the second game of the season. They hadn't lost a game by less than seven points since then.

Burden, when you talk about the weak sophomore and junior classes, you forget about Megan Carter. She's a redshirt junior, yes, but she'll be back next year. She scored 21 Saturday, her fourth time in five games over 20. She's playing much better than last season, and that's helped the team as much as adding Dingle and Thall.

Thall scored 13 of her 16 points against Miami inside, which is encouraging.

Starkey said he though the team looked mentally tired and that they badly needed the bye week to regroup.

Before the season, I would have guess they would have been 2-5 or 3-4 now. The Ball State game always was iffy. We were spoiled by that winning streak.

Now they play a lot of average and below-average teams in the MAC (except Buffalo, which is really good). We'd find soon if KSU is just average, too.

The Flashes are 10-8 overall and 3-4 in the MAC. They're tied for sixth with Akron, Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois.

Akron, by the way, beat Toledo 70-64 in overtime Saturday. It was the Zips' first victory over a team with a winning record.

Full game story is on the blot at http://wbbflashes.com.

I didn’t forget Carter. She was recruited a year earlier by O’Banian I believe. Starkey had two poor years recruiting for whatever reason. He turned it around this year (and hopefully next year) but we are paying the price right now.

Poole actually was O'Banion's last recruit (and only signee that year). They had a verbal from a really good big that season, but she couldn't get the grades. She even couldn't make it in junior college.

Starkey arrived in April and had zero scholarships to give.

He started recruiting juniors that summer. But the way recruiting is these days, the juniors are locked up by the summer. He brought in four people who looked ok on paper; only two are left. I still think Monique Smith will help them before she graduates. I doubt Amanda Sape will ever play a significant role. The two others left the team after their freshman year.

So the Dingle/Thall/Modkins/Young group was his first real class. Next year's may be better.

They just got their first verbal for 2021 -- Casey Santoro, who is the younger sister of Carly Santoro, BG's best player for three years and now a starter at Ohio State (great transfer). Casey was first-team all state as a sophomore. Only problem is that she's 5-4 -- about six inches shorter than Carly.

The women play Akron at 2 Saturday at the MACC.

Besides being a rivalry game, it's n important one for both teams. Both are coming off a bye week.

KSU is trying to beat a four-game winning streak after opening the league season 3-0. The Flashes played good games in losing to Central Michigan and Ohio, two of the best teams in the MAC. But last week they played bad offense in losing 48-44 at Ball State and bad defense in losing 79-63 at Miami.

Akron is 12-6 but has beaten only one team with a winning record. That win, however, came last week, 70-64 over Toledo in overtime at Toledo. Before that, the Zips had lost three in a row.

The teams have played eight common opponents. Against those teams, KSU is 7-1, Akron 4-4. The Flashes RPI is way higher -- 89 vs. 149.

Both are 3-4 in the MAC and tied with EMU and NIU for sixth. Kent State is 10-8 overall.

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

Miami, by the way, beat Ohio at Ohio 67-61 on Wednesday. Miami is 14-4, Ohio 17-2.

The women played a very good game against Akron and won 73-58, their biggest margin of the MAC season.

The victory broke a four-game losing streak and brings the Flashes to 4-4 in the conference and 11-8 overall. They're tied for sixth in the league with Northern Illinois. Akron is 3-5 and 12-7.

Megan Carter had 26 points for KSU, her high for the year and the fifth time in six games she's scored more than 20. KSU ran its offense through her rather than point guard Asiah Dingle, whom teams had been focusing on to stop her drives to the basket. Dingle had 13 points.

Freshman Lindsey Thall blocked eight shots, one off Andrea Caesar's school record, and scored 11 points. Thall, who is 6-2, isn't much of a jumper but has great timing. She leads the MAC in blocks.

Senior guard Alexa Golden had an outstanding line -- 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot. She did much of the defensive work on Akron's Megan Sefcik, who was 10th in the country in three-point baskets per game (3.44). Sefcik went zero for eight from that distance and scored 10 points, seven points below her average.

It was one of Kent's best games of the year, offensively and defensively. The Flashes made 11 of 22 three-point shots, second highest of the year. In two games last week, they made a combined seven of 45.

Full story is on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com, with quotes from Starkey on how the team used the bye week to regroup, from Carter on shooting, and from Thall on rebounding.

The women host 10th-place Western Michigan (2-5 MAC, 8-10 overall) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the M.A.C.C.

It's game Flashes ought to win. Western has lowest RPI in conference and played the weakest schedule. Best team Broncos have beat is 6-13 Ball State.

WMU is lowest-scoring team in MAC but takes care of the ball better than any team in the conference. They average 13.2 turnovers a game, fourth lowest in the country. Point guard Deja Wimby is one of the best defenders in the conference.

KSU is 4-4 and tied for sixth in the league. Overall record is 11-8. Flashes are coming a very good 73-58 win over Akron Saturday.

Full preview is on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com. (It has a cute new format.)

The women played a great first half and a truly awful second half but pulled out a 55-51 victory over Western Michigan.

The win leaves KSU at 5-4 and in a tie for fifth in the MAC at the halfway point of the season. The Flashes are 12-8 overall; they won 13 games all last season. Western is 2-6 and 8-11.

Kent jumped to a 20-7 first quarter lead and was ahead 38-22 at halftime.

Then the Flashes scored just 17 points in the second half, their lowest total in a half this season. They made only 21 percent of their shots.

Megan Carter and Lindsey Thall made free throws in the last minute to clinch the win after Western had closed the score to 52-51.

Carter led the Flashes with 17 points, the 13th time this season she's led the team in scoring. Asiah Dingle had 12.

Story is on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

What was up with the double technical foul on the two coaches?

I was on the opposite side of the court but I think the two coaches were going at each other after Starkey started arguing a call. The refs to their credit decided not to decide the outcome and just called a technical on both of them.

The women have a tough task Saturday afternoon at Buffalo, one of four MAC teams in the latest Mid-Major Top 25.

The Bulls are tied with Central Michigan and Miami for second in the MAC at 7-2. Ohio is first at 8-2. Those are the teams in the top 25. They, plus Kent State, Toledo and Northern Illinois are in the top 100 in RPI. The league has never had seven teams there before.

Kent State is 5-4 in the conference and tied for fifth place with Toledo and Northern Illinois. They've beaten both this season and don't play either again. So if the MAC Tournament started today, Kent would have a fifth seed.

Buffalo (15-5) has lost only to Central and Ohio in the conference. The Bulls have won seven of eight since losing to Ohio at home in overtime in the first game of the conference season.

They have the No. 3 scorer in the country in senior guard Cierra Dillard, who also leads the MAC in assists and three-point baskets per game. They also have junior post Summer Hemphill, who leads the conference in field-goal percentage and is fifth in rebounding. She sat out with first semester with academic trouble; Buffalo still went 8-3, with two of the losses coming to Stanford and Oregon.

Kent has won two in a row after a four-game losing streak. The Flashes are 12-8 overall, which is one win short of their total for last year. They have at least 10 games to play.

If the Flashes play as they did in their 20-7 first quarter against Western Michigan Wednesday, they should be in Saturday's game. If they play as they played in the second half, when they scored only 17 points, they could lose by 25.

Preview is on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

Based on the men’s second half and the women’s first 2.5 quarters we really needed a blizzard to hit this weekend. I have a feeling the wrestling team and gymnastics team are perfectly capable of completing our lost weekend tomorrow afternoon. They have trouble beating CMU even when they are at their best. Oh well I am going back under the bed now.