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

Coach Starkey wasn't happy despite a 14-point win and Georgia Southern's 25 turnovers. He said the teams needs even more points off of that many turnovers. KSU outscored the Eagles 21-3 off turnovers.

I think the coach was most worried about playing Troy on Friday. The Trojans are 8-2 and a much better team, leading the country in rebounding and offensive rebounding (25 per game). They're 10th in the nation in scoring at 82.8 points per game. We'll see a lot more offense Friday.

Troy beat Toledo, which has had a disappointing season so far, 71-64 Thursday.

KSU's defense Friday, at least statistically, was its best of the season. The 48 points were the fewest KSU has allowed so far and Georgia Southern's shooting percentage was 38.8, the lowest of a Kent opponent this year.

Asiah Dingle had 16 points, four assists and four steals. Megan Carter had 11 points, inclining three-of-four 3-point shots. Katie Shumate, who had been in shooting slump, scored four baskets run a 9-2 third-quarter that that put Kent in control. On one offensive series, she had three straight offensive rebounds, then scored.

Kent State is 6-3. After the Troy game, it won't play until Dec. 30, when it plays Hiram at the M.A.C.C. League play starts the next week.

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

Critical turnovers in the last 19 seconds meant defeat for the women in 71-64 loss to Troy in Las Vegas.

With score tied at 64, Troy stole a KSU inbound pass, and guard Japonica James drove the length of the court for a layup and was fouled. Then Flashes turned it over again on next possession on a traveling call when forward Nila Blackford had a clear path to the basket.

The loss to 9-2 Troy was KSU's first to a mid-major team in the non-conference season. After Friday game, Troy's RPI is 59, higher than any MAC team.

Kent State is 6-4 and off until a Dec. 30 home game against Hiram.

Megan Carter led Flashes with 24 points. Katie Shumate had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Blackford had 11 and 7 rebounds.

Troy had been leading the national in offensive rebounding, averaging 25 a game. Friday it had 11, its lowest total of season. Kent had 12 offensive rebounds.

Flashes lost game at the foul line and in points off turnovers, areas they had controlled in their wins. Troy made 20 free throws to KSU's 10, and Trojans scored 23 points off 22 Kent turnovers. Kent scored 13 off 18 Troy turnovers.

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

I watched the game starting with about six minutes to go in the second quarter, when the Flashes already had the lead. It really seemed like Kent was playing not to lose instead of playing to win. I question the strategy of dribbling out most of the shot clock before starting the offense. I understand that Troy likes a fast pace, but this tactic did not lead to good shots for Kent State.

I agree.

Congratulations! Kent State had best player, best team, best coaching and most important, it was obvious that they had more enthusiasm than USU - a reflection of USU's "retired" coach!

The women are back at home at 5:30 Monday to play Hiram in last non-conference game of season.

About half the MAC plays these almost-scrimmages the week before the league season. Starkey says it's hard to schedule a D1 team right before conference season.

A year ago KSU beat Clarion, a below-average Division II team, by 54 at this time. Flashes could beat Hiram, 3-8 in Division III, by 60 or 70.

Flashes open conference play Saturday at Ball State, which won three straight at holiday tournament before Christmas. Ball State is playing Urbana Monday.

Game preview is on the blog at http://wbbFlashes.com.

The women beat Hiram 92-36, the third largest margin of victory in school history.

Division III Hiram was 3-8 and didn't start a player taller than 5-9, so Kent could do pretty much anything it wanted.

Starkey said focus was on getting at least 20 assists. Flashes had 25, including career-high eight by Asiah Dingle and nine by backup point guard Mariah Modkins.

Freshman Clare Kelly, who had scored 11 points all season, had 20 on five-of-eight 3-point shooting. She was rated one of the best shooters in the state coming out of Olmsted Falls High School.

Four other players scored in double figures, led by Dingle's 17. Nila Blackford and Hannah Young each had 14. Young's was a career high, as were her eight rebounds. Lindsey Thall had 12.

Flashes got 29 points out from its bench, three times its average. That doesn't count Kelly's 20; she started in place of Katie Shumate, who didn't play.

Kent takes a 7-4 record into the conference season, which starts Saturday at Ball State. The record is the same as last season at this time.

When you watch a game like that you can really appreciate how good DI athletes are.

Update on Katie Shumate? sick, hurt?

Starkey said Shumate wasn’t sick or hurt. “Coach’s decision” for her not to play, he said, and wouldn’t elaborate.

I asked whether she’d be ok going forward. He said yes.

From what I know about Katie, discipline or grades isn’t likely. She was dressed in sweats and on bench during game. Stood with redshirt Linsey Marchese at midcourt during warmups.

It might have been best for team in long run to get all that playing time for Kelly. If she can get the confidence to score off bench, it would make big difference. Hannah Young also played well in minutes Shumate usually would have.

Shumate is averaging 36 minutes a game, about fifth in MAC.

(12-31-2019 10:55 AM)cschierh Wrote:  Starkey said Shumate wasn’t sick or hurt. “Coach’s decision” for her not to play, he said, and wouldn’t elaborate.

I asked whether she’d be ok going forward. He said yes.

From what I know about Katie, discipline or grades isn’t likely. She was dressed in sweats and on bench during game. Stood with redshirt Linsey Marchese at midcourt during warmups.

It might have been best for team in long run to get all that playing time for Kelly. If she can get the confidence to score off bench, it would make big difference. Hannah Young also played well in minutes Shumate usually would have.

Shumate is averaging 36 minutes a game, about fifth in MAC.

It could be anything. I remember a player who was suspended for a game because she missed a game or practice to be the maid of honor at a friends wedding. Stupid things can happen. If it was just to get Kelly and Young some playing time I think he would have told you.

MAC season starts Saturday with a game at Ball State, which has won four in a row.

Preview on that will come tomorrow.

But some thoughts on Kent State's prospects the MAC in general:

1. Whether the Flashes can win on the road will be the key to the season. Critical games look to be at Ball State, at Bowling Green, at Toledo and at Miami. Team could be anywhere between 7-9 and 12-6. (I'd vote on the high end. If they can knock off Central Michigan, Buffalo or Ohio at least once, they might contend.)

2. Key factors: Average better than 70 points (which they've done so far). Keep opponents under 40% shooting (not a strength). Score more points off turnovers and make more foul shots (a strength). Get more assists and more points from the bench (improvement needed).

Much more detail is in two posts on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

(01-02-2020 04:01 PM)cschierh Wrote:  MAC season starts Saturday with a game at Ball State, which has won four in a row.

Preview on that will come tomorrow.

But some thoughts on Kent State's prospects the MAC in general:

1. Whether the Flashes can win on the road will be the key to the season. Critical games look to be at Ball State, at Bowling Green, at Toledo and at Miami. Team could be anywhere between 7-9 and 12-6. (I'd vote on the high end. If they can knock off Central Michigan, Buffalo or Ohio at least once, they might contend.)

2. Key factors: Average better than 70 points (which they've done so far). Keep opponents under 40% shooting (not a strength). Score more points off turnovers and make more foul shots (a strength). Get more assists and more points from the bench (improvement needed).

Much more detail is in two posts on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

Thanks for the analysis. Good job.

The Flashes face Ball State at 1 p.m. Saturday in a game steamed on ESPN+.

It's a tough MAC opener. Flashes are 0-11 at Ball State since 1997. (KSU is 12-2 in Kent, where teams play later this month.)

Ball State is 8-4 with an RPI of 94, fourth best in the MAC. Kent State is third at 75 with a record of 7-4. Buffalo RPI is 69 and Central Michigan's 55.

Cardinals have won four in a row, including a three-game sweep at New Mexico's Christmas tournament. They were picked fifth in the MAC West and are probably the MAC's biggest surprise. (Akron and Bowling Green also are playing above their prediction.)

Ball State is one of the best defensive teams in the MAC but has struggled with turnovers, an element where KSU has played well defensively and offensively.

Key to game probably will be whether Kent State's defense, which was suspect earlier in the season, can contain an average Ball State offense. And whether the Flashes can finally play well in Muncie, where they lost 48-44 last season to a Ball State team that finished 8-23.

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

The women and Ball State fought through a close game all the way Saturday, but Ball State shot better from 3-point distance in second half and won 66-62 in Muncie.

BSU hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer of third quarter right after a KSU basket gave Flashes a lead. Then Cardinals outscored Flashes 22-19 in fourth quarter.

Ball State — which was shooting 28.4% from distance going into game — made five of seven in second half.

Freshman forward Nila Blackford had 23 points and nine rebounds for Kent State. Megan Carter had 13 and Lindsey Thall 10.

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

Flashes played pretty well against a tough team on the road. But in my first "report card" on the game, they got failing grades on assists and bench scoring. In a four-point game, that was enough. Details on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.

The women host Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the M.A.C.C.

Eastern is 6-6 and beat Bowling Green (7-6) in the conference opener Saturday. The 78-61 score was the widest margin of victory since Fred Castro became the Eagles' coach four years ago.

Castro had been an assistant at Washington. He and Starkey came in at the same time, and recruiting services consistently rank Eastern's classes ahead of Kent State.

Starkey's record at KSU is 59-50 with two WNIT appearances. Castro's record at EMU is 37-68 without a winning season.

Starkey has beaten Eastern all six times the teams have played in the last three years.

This game is the kind Kent State must win to compete for a bye in the MAC Tournament. They're playing a team with a worse record and worst RPI (200) at home.

A key to winning will be keeping EMU's Areanna Combs, a 5-10 transfer from Oklahoma State, under control. She has averaged 20.7 points a gamer Eastern Michigan since she first played on Dec. 6. She had 32 against Bowling Green.

Kent State is 7-6 and lost its MAC opener at Ball State 66-62 on Saturday. KSU freshman Nila Blackford, who had 23 points and nine rebounds against Ball State, is fourth in the conference in rebounding at 7.6 per game. She also leads th Flashes in scoring at 14.3.

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

Here's a nice feature on Kent State senior Megan Carter and her cello. Writer is from an online outlet called Nothing But Net. I like a lot of things about Megan, who is a 1,000-point scorer who has overcome a lot to be an all-MAC player. But her cello is one of the coolest.

https://nothingbutnylon.com/kent-state-g...ellos-out/

A terrible performance by the ladies this evening. Don’t let the final score of 74-69 fool you. Kent came back in the fourth quarter as fouls piled up for both teams but for 3.5 quarters played their worse game of the year. They were down between 12 and 15 for most of that time. EMU committed 33 fouls and lost 3 players early to mid fourth quarter allowing Kent to come back late. Kent also committed 25 fouls and were actually out scored 28 (out of 35) to 27(out of 33) at the free throw line. The game lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes! Ugly. Ugly. This team might not be nearly as good as we thought. They looked slow, sloppy and somewhat disorganized. Hopefully it was just one of those clunkers. We will find out something more on Saturday.

Yes, their worst game of the season. They missed their first eight shots and got outrebounded badly in the second half. Only Asiah Dingle made half of her shots, and she was just 2 of 4.

This was a home game they really needed to win. They're now 0-2 in the MAC, 7-6 overall. Eastern is 2-0 and 7-6 and one of four West Division teams undefeated in the league. No East team is, and the East was supposed to be the stronger division. (Other West teams that are 2-0 are Ball State, Western Michigan and Central Michigan, which won at preseason favorite Ohio Wednesday. Kent State lost at Ball State last week and plays Western Saturday at the M.A.C.C.

Megan Carter led KSU with 15. Katie Shumate had 14, Dingle and Lindsey Thall 11 and Nila Blackford 10. Thall blocked seven shots, one off her career high.

Flashes held EMU's Areanna Combs, a Oklahoma State transfer, below 20 points for the first time this season. She had 15. But Eastern made eight of 12 three-pointers, the second highest percentage in school history. The Eagles had been averaging 29% from distance.

Game story is on the blog at http://wbbFlashes.com.