I reviewed quickly Kent’s record vs. Power Conference teams at home and it isn’t terrible. I came up with 14-10 (3-3 vs. Pittsburgh when they were in the Big East, so maybe 11-7 is a better number. Here is the Conference breakdown.

Vs. Big 10 3-4 (beat MSU, Indiana, Purdue)
Vs. Big 12 3-3 (beat W Virginia twice, and TCU)
Vs. SEC 2-0 beating Auburn and Arkansas
Vs. ACC 2-0 (beat BC and Virginia both ranked between 20&25 at the time with Va. finishing the season with that ranking)
Vs. PAC 12 1-0 beating Washington

We won’t talk about their road and neutral court records vs. these teams but at home they have a chance. It won’t be easy with this young team but we will see.

Better than I would have thought.

Also why Power 5 teams don't like to schedule good mid-majors on the road.

(I also remember a fairly close loss to Nebraska in the mid 1990s. I remember trying to boost attendance by posting some fliers and sending group emails. We got about 500 extra.)

Here's how coach Todd Starkey sizes up his team's game against Ohio State game Thursday:

“Is Ohio State good enough to blow us out? Absolutely."

"If we play really well and shoot the ball really well, can we make it interesting and potentially win? I think so as well.”

"They're talented at every position and have depth at every position. They've got former Ms. Basketballs and all-state players and all-Americans and all that type of things."

"They're experiencing some of the same things that we are as — playing players together that have not played together major minutes."

"I'm expecting them to be pretty mad after losing to Ohio.That doesn't help our cause a whole lot."

Game is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the M.A.C.C. or a half hour after the men's game against Division II Concord ends. One ticket gets you in both games, but if you buy at the door, you have to pay men's prices -- $20 reserved, $15 general admission. It's also on ESPN+.

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

(11-20-2019 12:26 AM)cschierh Wrote:  Better than I would have thought.

Also why Power 5 teams don't like to schedule good mid-majors on the road.

(I also remember a fairly close loss to Nebraska in the mid 1990s. I remember trying to boost attendance by posting some fliers and sending group emails. We got about 500 extra.)

Yeah I remember the Nebraska game. Only time I saw Amy Sherry extremely frustrated. The Nebraska defender totally shut her down.

It ended 75-65 Ohio State, but that's a little misleading.

KSU's Lindsey Thall couldn't miss from 3-point distance in the fourth quarter and the Flashes outscored OSU 25-12 then. Thall made eight 3-pointers in the game, a school record, and scored 32 points, a career high.

Before the fourth quarter, Ohio State controlled the game. The Buckeyes made 54% of their shots from about every distance. They're tall and long and fast. They controlled rebounding and often beat Kent State down the court.

Kent State made just 3 of 18 shots in the first quarter and missed six of its first eight foul shots.

Ohio State looked much better than it did when it lost to Ohio U on Sunday, though OU is a better team that Kent State.

The Flashes looked better than they did when they lost to Michigan 88-53 on Friday.

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

Attendance was announced at 4,272, almost certainly the largest in KSU women's basketball history. Previous high KSU folks could find was 3,516 against Miami in 2003.

Records before 2000 don't seem to exist, but I've been going to games since 1989. I've never seen a better crowd.

There's more detail in a section on attendance in the blog post on the game at http://wbbFlashes.com.

It was the best crowd I’ve seen. Unfortunately I got stuck in the 14 and under section. What a zoo.

The ticket office messed up my season ticket. My fault for not noticing until last night. I requested a seat (on the very first day they were sold) which is where I have been sitting for about 25 years (a general admission seat for that time). They put me in the 4th row instead of the first (I guess they figured Row D went with Section D). However they corrected the issue last night and got me to within a couple of seats where I wanted to be. They did it quickly and with no issue. I know they have taken some shots on this board but they did a good job on this one.

The women pulled out a near-miraculous 82-81 victory over Robert Morris Sunday.

The Flashes led once -- at the buzzer after Megan Carter made a layup after grabbing a tipped pass with seconds to go.

The Flashes had just made a 3-point basket and guarded the inbound passer with two players, something I had never seen before. The RMU guard couldn't see around the defenders. When she tried to pass over them, Katie Shumate tipped the ball, and Carter grabbed it.

There's a video of play on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com. It's well worth your time.

Kent State fell behind by 18 points in the first half and trailed by 13 with 4:54 to go. KSU scored 23 points in the last five minutes, including eight in the last 33 seconds. 12 of the points came on fast-break baskets off steals and rebounds.

Freshman forward Nila Blackford scored 31 points, had nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots. She drew eight fouls. And she was playing primarily against last year's defensive player of the year in the Northeastern Conference and that player's 6-3 backup.

Kent is 4-2 on the season. Robert Morris, unanimous preseason favorite in the NEC, is 2-3.

Last I saw, video of winning play of Kent State's victory over Robert Morris had 24,000 views on Twitter.

Another look and thoughts on the play and game are at http://wbbFlashes.com.

Kent Stater sports editor Gina Butkovich wrote a really nice profile of redshirt senior guard Megan Carter, who has fought through four surgeries, academic ineligibility and lack of confidence to become one of the MAC's best players.

If you have some time over the holiday, it's well worth reading. I've reprinted it on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

The women are back in action at noon Tuesday agains St. Bonaventure at the M.A.C. Center.

The unusual time is because it's an education day with elementary and secondary students from local schools invited to campus and the game.

Bonaventure is 1-6, though it has played fairly well against some decent teams, like 7-0 Binghamton and 5-1 Cleveland State.

Flashes are 4-2, with three very close wins and losses to Michigan and Ohhio State.

KSU beat the Bonnies 76-64 on the road last season.

It's a game KSU ought to win fairly easily. But Flashes haven't played good defense against anyone so far.

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

Megan Carter scored her 1,000th point as Flashes beat St. Bonaventure 81-58.

Good win. Weak opponent. (Bonnies are 1-7 though KSU win was by 11 points more than anyone else.)

Kent State is 5-2, its best start since 6-0 in 2010-11.

Against Bonaventure, KSU made 30 of 31 free throws, highest percentage in school history with more than 20 attempts. Carter was 12 for 12, fourth best in school history.

Carter had season-high 21. Freshman forward Nila Blackford had 20 points and 10 rebounds. She had 31 and nine against Robert Morris before Thanksgiving.

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

The women play their third and final game against a Big Ten opponent Sunday when they travel to Purdue.

They've all been tough, and Purdue looks as good as Michigan and Ohio State, which beat the Flashes by a combined 43 points.

Purdue is 6-2 with losses to 8-1 Gonzaga and 7-1 Virginia Tech. They're 44th in the most recent RPI rankings. (12 Big Ten teams are in the top 75.)

KSU is 5-2 with the MAC's best RPI ranking of 69. We've played enough games so that the RPI is starting to mean something. But I'm not at all sure Kent is a better team than Ohio, Buffalo and Central Michigan. We'll learn that when MAC teams start to play each other after New Years's.

Full preview is on the blog at httpP://wbbFlashes.com.

The women played best of their three games against Big Ten teams but lost at Purdue 77-64.

Flashes were outscored 11-2 in last four minutes of second quarter but otherwise played the Boilermakers pretty evenly. They outscored Purdue 40-39 in second half with both teams' starters on the floor almost all of the time.

Asiah Dingle broke out of a three-game slump with 16 points, 13 in the second half. Lindsey Thall had 11 points and Megan Carter 10 with a career-high nine rebounds.

Purdue's Karissa McLaughlin, an all-Big Ten guard last season, had a career-high 34, including buzzer-beating shots at the end of the second and third quarter.

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

As teams took finals this week, I played around with how they ranked so far.

Here's what I have (listed by record) as of Friday afternoon (Dec. 13).

Buffalo (7-2). RPI 89. Power ranking 114. Not a strong schedule so far. Freshman Dyaisha Fair leads the MAC at 23.4 points a game.

Ohio (6-2). RPI 108. Power ranking 77. Has league's best win — 74-68 over Ohio State in Columbus.

Kent State (5-3). RPI 66. Power ranking 150. Has beaten 5 mid-majors with 3 games decided in last minute. Lost to 3 Big Ten teams.

Bowling Green (5-3). RPI 110. Power ranking 112. Leads MAC in offense but hasn't beaten a team with RPI under 150.

Central Michigan (4-3). RPI 104. Power rating 74. Lost first three to very good teams, then won four in a row.

Western Michigan (4-3). RPI 223. Power ranking 241. Beaten 3 Division I teams with combined 3-24 record. Lost to 3 with 20-6 record.

Ball State (4-4). RPI 130. Power rating 104. Has 2-3 record against teams in RPI to 100.

Akron (4-4). RPI 169. Power ranking 159. Played well in loss vs. Michigan, but wins other than Youngstown were against weak teams.

Miami (4-5). RPI 154. Power ranking 148. Lost to 2 top-25 teams and haven't beaten team with RPI above 199.

Northern Illinois (3-5). RPI 161. Power ranking 196. Lost 3 closes games to good teams, beat 2 weak teams in overtime.

Eastern Michigan (3-6). RPI 195. Power ranking 246. Toughest schedule in MAC, but average loss is by 20 points.

Toledo (2-5). RPI 272, Power ranking 174. Four of 5 losses have been by fewer than 8 points.

Lots more detail is on the blog at http://wbbFlashes.com.

--

League ranks about 11th of 32 conferences in most ratings I've seen. Last two years it was eighth.

Buffalo looks better than I expected. All-MAC post Summer Hemphill hasn't played yet because of an injury.

Ohio plays at TCU and at Texas next week. That should be interesting.

Ball State and Bowling Green are playing better than predicted. Toledo, Northern Illinois and Miami are doing worse.

League looks as if it go in a lot of different directions once conference play starts.

cschierh, I don't comment very often on women's basketball but I do really appreciate the information you provide. It keeps me up to date and informed on the women's team and the whole MAC. Thanks.

(12-13-2019 06:02 PM)Muskrat Wrote:  cschierh, I don't comment very often on women's basketball but I do really appreciate the information you provide. It keeps me up to date and informed on the women's team and the whole MAC. Thanks.

Thanks.

cschierh, I agree with you that the conference season should be extremely interesting. Based on last year's results plus returning/new players, Ohio should be the best, and the Bobcats' win at Ohio State was really impressive. Unfortunately, Ohio's preseason resume is highly unlikely to lead to an at-large NCAA bid, especially since, unlike last year, there will not be signature wins available once the conference season starts. Central Michigan, Kent State, Buffalo, and Ball State all look good. So far you have been right in your prediction that Eastern Michigan's highly ranked recruiting would lead to nothing. Coombs is very good, though, and has only been available for the last three games, so we'll see if EMU can put things together.

If Summer Hemphill comes back healthy, Buffalo will be very good, maybe better than Ohio. However, Buffalo's coach hinted that Hemphill might not be able to play this year. Also, Ohio's Erica Johnson was in a boot and on crutches at the end of her team's last game, but I have no idea how serious the injury is. Finally, on the injury front, Bowling Green's best player last year, Andrea Cecil, has not seen the court yet due to injury. The Falcons are for sure a team on the rise. They will be decent this year and better next year.

One thing we can say after six weeks of the season is that the only MAC team in the NCAA tournament will be the team that wins the conference tournament in Cleveland.

The women are in Las Vegas to play two Sun Belt teams in the Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.

The Flashes (5-3) play Georgia Southern (2-6) Thursday and Troy (7-2) Friday. Both games are at 3 p.m. Kent time and will be live streamed. Link is on the blog at http://wbbFlashes.com.

Women beat Georgia Southern 62-48 today. Troy is next.