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

I was having flashbacks of a Vegas meltdown, glad they hung in there and pulled it out.

I don't follow the MAC womens play like I do the men but props to the young ladies. They went on the road and picked up 2 wins against the basement of the MAC. The men had exact same scenario and went winless.

Here's this week's women's "golf" standings.

It gives a team -1 for a road win (a “birdie”) and adds a point for a home loss (a “bogey.” A home win or road loss gets zero (“par”).

Central Michigan, Kent State and Northern Illinois picked up wins on the road to advance gain points.

-3
-- Central Michigan (5-0, 12-4)

-1
-- Buffalo (3-2, 12-4)
-- Ball State (3-2, 11-6)
-- Ohio (3-2, 10-6)
-- Kent State (3-2, 10-6)
-- Toledo (4-1, 9-7)
-- Eastern Michigan (3-2, 8-8)

Even
-- Western Michigan (3-2, 10-6)

+1
-- Northern Illinois (1-4, 5-11)

+2
-- Miami (1-4, 8-9)
-- Akron (1-4, 8-8)
-- Bowling Green (0-5, 7-10)

A quick update on how Flashes rank statistically in the MAC:

-- THE GOOD: First in free-throw percentage and blocked shots per gaem, third in scoring, fifth in 3-point percentage and fourth in turnover margin.

-- THE NOT GOOD: 11th in field-goal defense, 12th in 3-point defense, 11th in assists.

Megan Carter is second in league on free-throw percentage. Lindsey Thall is second in blocked shots, fifth in 3-point percentage and fifth in 3-pointers per game.

Lots of detail, including how KSU compares to MAC leaders, on the blog at http://wbbFlashes.com.

Kent State and Toledo had byes on Wednesday. The Flashes host Buffalo at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Bulls lost at Ball State 69-66 Wednesday. The Cardinals held Dyaisha Fair, the second leading scorer in the MAC at 23 points a game, to a season-low 11 on 4 of 18 shooting, 1 of 11 from 3-point distance. The Bulls coming straight to Kent from Muncie, so they'll have been on the road for five days when they play Saturday.

Central Michigan is on the verge of running away with the league title. The Chippewas won their fourth road game and are 6-0 in the MAC. Micaela Kelly, the MAC's leading scorer had 29 points in their 89-82 win at Eastern Michigan. Chipps were behind going into the fourth quarter for the second straight road game. This time they outscored Eastern 28-16 in the fourth quarter.

Ohio got the only other road win, 85-79 at Northern Illinois. Sophomore guard Erica Johnson had a career-high 32 points. Cece Hooks, Ohio's other all-MAC guard, didn't play because of a violation of team rules.

Bowling Green win its first MAC game, beating Western Michigan 72-63. Akron beat Miami 70-62 in Akron.

THE "GOLF" STANDINGS

They give a team -1 for a road win (a “birdie”) and adds a point for a home loss (a “bogey.” A home win or road loss gets zero (“par”).

-4
-- Central Michigan (6-0, 13-4)

-2
-- Ohio (4-2, 11-6)

-1
-- Toledo (4-1, 9-7)
-- Ball State (4-2, 12-6)
-- Kent State (3-2, 10-6)
-- Buffalo (3-3, 12-5)
-- Eastern Michigan (3-3, 8-9)

Even
-- Western Michigan (3-3, 10-7)

+2
-- Miami (1-5, 8-10)
-- Akron (2-4, 9-8)
-- Bowling Green (1-5, 8-10)
-- Northern Illinois (1-5, 5-12)

Today’s Kent/Buffalo women’s game set basketball back 25 years. I was expecting peach baskets and ladders to appear. If I wanted to be nice I could say it was a fierce defensive battle (which it was at times but not that often). Kent was leading 33-25 in the third quarter and then got out scored 32-11 as Buffalo decided to actually play basketball. Not a pretty sight.

The fourth quarter was just a disaster. KSU went 2 for 15 and missed all six of its 3-point shots. They had six turnovers.

Buffalo freshman Dyaisha Fair, held to just four points in the first three quarters, had 13 in the fourth. The Bulls made 52% of their shots after making just 27% in the first three quarters.

Starkey was very critical of his team in his radio interview after the game but a lilt more moderate with reporters. He said the team lacked toughness through the third and fourth quarters.

No Kent State player scored 10 points. Five had been averaging in double figures.

The score, by the way was 57-44, KSU's second lowest total of the year. (57 also was their second best defensive game.)

Kent State is now 3-3 in the MAC and in eighth place (but only 1 1/2 games out of a tie for second). Overall team is 10-7.

Buffalo is 13-6 and 4-3, tied for fifth.

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

Buffalo's victory over Kent State was the only road victory in the MAC Saturday, so the Bulls move even with Ohio in the "golf standings."

Central Michigan moved to 7-0 with a home victory over Toledo, which had been in second place.

Western Michigan beat Akron, Eastern beat Northern Illinois, Ohio beat Bowling Green and Ball State defeated Miami.

THE "GOLF" STANDINGS

They give a team -1 for a road win (a “birdie”) and adds a point for a home loss (a “bogey.” A home win or road loss gets zero (“par”).

-4
-- Central Michigan (7-0, 14-4)

-2
-- Ohio (5-2, 11-6)
-- Buffalo (4-3, 13-5)

-1
-- Ball State (5-2, 13-6)
-- Toledo (4-2, 9-8)
-- Eastern Michigan (4-3, 9-9)

Even
-- Western Michigan (4-3, 11-7)
-- Kent State (3-3, 10-7)

+2
-- Akron (2-5, 9-9)
-- Miami (1-6, 8-111)
-- Bowling Green (1-6, 8-11)
-- Northern Illinois (1-6, 5-13)

The women host second-place Ball State at 7 Wednesday at the M.A.C. Center.

Flashes lost at BSU 66-62 in MAC opener. Since 1997, Kent is 12-2 against the Cardinals at home, 0-13 at Ball State.

Ball State is 5-2 in the conference and 13-6 overall. They beat Buffalo 69-65 at home week after trailing by 14 in the second quarter.

Kent State lost to Buffalo 57-44 Saturday after leading for most of the second and third quarters. Flashes were just 2 of 15 from the field in fourth quarter; Buffalo was 10 of 19.

Coach Todd Starkey has called Ball State the best defensive team in the conference. Flashes will need a lot more offense than they showed Saturday to win Wednesday.

KSU is 3-3 in the MAC and 10-7 overall.

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

The women got a really nice 69-68 win over second-place Ball State.

Megan Carter, just two games back from a bout with mononucleosis, scored 20 points in 36 minutes. She hit a critical basket with 10 seconds to play to give KSU a three-point lead. Then the Flashes kept Ball State from attempting a 3-point shot, allowing only a meaningless layup in the last second.

Carter did much of the ball handling for KSU. Asiah Dingle didn't play. Coach Todd Starkey wouldn't say anything about Dingle in his postgame interview. She wasn't on the bench, but I did see her in the bleachers after the game, wearing a protective boot on her foot. Something doesn't quite seem right to me there. If it was an injury, why not say so? And why wasn't she with the team?

At any rate, Carter was terrific if pretty exhausted afterwards. Mariah Modkins started at point and struggled at times with pressure from BG's taller guards. (Modkins is listed at 5-1, but I've never believed it.)

Katie Shumate and Nila Blackford but played well against Ball State after struggling against Buffalo Saturday. Shumate had 15 points, 13 in the first half, and nine rebounds. Blackford had 14 points, 12 in the second half, and eight rebounds.

Flashes are 4-3 in the MAC and in a three-way tie for fifth. They're 11-7 over all. Ball State is 5-3 and 13-7.

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

Central Michigan won its fifth road game and continues to hold a big lead in the women's basketball "golf" standings.

The Chips beat Buffalo in double overtime 98-93 in Buffalo to go 8-0 in the conference. Micaela Kelly had a triple double for CMU with 14 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, but she fouled out in the first minute of the first overtime. Dyaisha Fair had 29 for Buffalo but didn't score in either overtime.

Eastern Michigan beat Toledo, Kent's opponent this Saturday, 77-52 in Toledo.

Ohio beat Akron 70-57 in Athens.

The Western MIchigan at Miami game was postponed at the request of WMU when two suspected cases of Coronovirus were reported at Miami. The university remained open as usual. The game will be made up Monday at Miami.

Bowling Green and Northern Illinois had their midweek byes.

THE "GOLF" STANDINGS

They give a team -1 for a road win (a “birdie”) and adds a point for a home loss (a “bogey.” A home win or road loss gets zero (“par”).

-5
-- Central Michigan (8-0, 5-4)

-1
-- Ohio (6-2, 12-6)
-- Ball State (5-3, 13-7)
-- Eastern Michigan (5-3, 10-9)

Even
-- Buffalo (4-4, 13-6)
-- Western Michigan (4-3, 11-7)
-- Kent State (4-3, 11-7)
-- Toledo (4-3, 9-9)

+2
-- Akron (2-6, 9-10)
-- Miami (1-6, 8-11)
-- Bowling Green (1-6, 8-11)
-- Northern Illinois (1-6, 5-13)

Details plus the report card on Kent State's 69-68 win over Ball State are on the blog at http://wbbFlashes.com.

Flashes head to Toledo for 2 p.m. Saturday game.

Both teams are 4-3 and tied for fifth in MAC. KSU is 11-7 overall, Toledo 9-9.

Rockets had one of worst non-conference records in league but won four of first five MAC games. They’ve since lost two in row, including 77-62 to Eastern Michigan in Toledo Wednesday.

Full preview is on the blog at wbbFlashes[/font].com.

A flat second half and a lot of Toledo free throws meant a 69-60 loss for the women.

KSU led 31-28 at halftime, but the Flashes shot just 32% in the second half and never seemed to get back into their offense.

Part of that was because the Rockets outscored KSU 26-6 at the foul line -- the widest margin in Starkey's four years as coach. Kent has outscored its opponent on free throws in 80 of Starkey's 120 games.

Some probably was the officiating, but Toledo just seemed to bang harder than KSU.

The loss dropped Kent State to 4-4 in the MAC, a game behind Toledo and a game-and-a-half behind Ohio and Ball State, who are tied for second place. Central Michigan won against Saturday, is 9-0 and running away with the MAC. Flashes are 11-8 overall.

Nila Blackford had 14 points and nine rebounds for Kent State. Katie Shumate had 13 and Megan Carter 12.

Starting point guard Asiah Dingle didn't play for the second game in a row. In his pregame radio interview, Starkey said she was in a "short-term suspension" and could be back next week.

Flashes play last-place Bowling Green Wednesday at the M.A.C.C.

Full game story, with quotes from Starkey, Carter and Toledo coach Tricia Cullop, is on the blog at http://wbbFlashes.com.

Central Michigan finished the first half of the MAC season 9-0 and a four-point lead in the women's "golf" standings.

CMU won its second overtime game in a row, this one 92-90 over second-place Ohio. The Chippewas have beaten Ohio twice this season — by a total of three points. As dominant as Central has been in the standings, it's won only one conference game by more than 10 points.

In close games, Akron beat Eastern Michigan 88-81 in overtime, Northern Illinois upset Buffalo 64-63 on a last-minute shot and Ball State beat Western Michigan 68-65. But home teams won all those games and didn't get any golf points.

The only road victory belonged to Miami, which won at Bowling Green 80-59. Kent State plays last-place BG at the M.A.C.C. Wednesday night.

Miami won last home again on Monday, beating Western 70-67 in a game postponed from last Wednesday. Western had panicked over reports of two possible off-campus cases of coronavirus. (It turned out they weren't).

THE "GOLF" STANDINGS

They give a team -1 for a road win (a “birdie”) and adds a point for a home loss (a “bogey.” A home win or road loss gets zero (“par”).

-5
-- Central Michigan (9-0, 16-4)

-1
-- Ball State (6-3, 14-7)
-- Ohio (6-3, 12-)
-- Eastern Michigan (5-4, 10-10)

Even
-- Toledo (5-3, 10-9)
-- Kent State (4-4, 11-8)
-- Buffalo (4-5, 13-7)
-- Western Michigan (4-5, 11-9)

+1
-- Miami (3-6, 10-11)

+2
-- Akron (3-6, 10-10)
-- Northern Illinois (2-6, 6-13)

+3
-- Bowling Green (1-7, 8-12).

Details and the report card on KSU's 69-60 loss at Toledo (a "D," as most losses are) is on the blog at http://wbbFlashes.com.

The women host last-place Bowling Green at the M.A.C.C. at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The Falcons have two of the best shooters in the conference in 6-2 junior forward Angela Parker, who's making 56.5% of her field goals, and 5-9 junior guard Madisen Parker, who's making 45% of her 3-pointers.

But BG is last in the conference in scoring defense and has beaten only Western Michigan. Falcons are 1-7 in MAC and 8-12 overall. They've lost two conferences games in overtime and two others by less than seven points.

Flashes are expected to get starting point guard Asiah Dingle back from a two-game suspension. She's the team's second-leading scorer and should take some of the load off Megan Carter, who has played 34+ minutes in both games since she returned from mononucleosis.

KSU is 4-4 and in sixth in the MAC. They're 11-8 overall. That's exactly their record at this time last season, when they went 6-3 in second half of MAC and ended year 20-13.

--

I put up what I thought was a minor post on incoming freshman Casey Santoro, who scored her 2,000th high school point last week. It ended up being the second-most-read post of the year. As far as I can tell, she's first recruit to score 2,000 in high school. Current sophomore Hannah Young missed it by a basket with 1,998.

Santoro is a 5-4 guard from Bellevue who's averaging 25 points a game. She's was first-team all-state and district player of the year as a sophomore and a junior. She once made 10 three-point baskets in a game.

You can see both the preview and the Santoro story on the blog at http://wbbFlashes.com.

The women played their best defensive game of the season and beat Bowling Green 61-47.

It was BG's lowest point total, second-lowest shooting percentage and second-lowest 3-point percentage of the year. The Falcons had been second in the conference in shooting and 3-point percentage.

Bowling Green's Madisen Parker came into the game shooting 47% from 3-point distance, second in the country. KSU's Mariah Modkins and Asiah Dingle held her to three shots and zero points in 32 minutes.

BG forward Angela Perry led the MAC in field goal percentage at 60%. She was four of 11.

Lindsey Thall did most of the guarding of Perry and blocked two of her shots (four blocks total). She also led KSU with 19 points, making three of six 3-point baskets. But she had 10 of her points inside after scoring nine points inside at Toledo Saturday. That's a major jump for her if she can keep it up.

Dingle returned from a two-game suspension with 16 points on seven of nine shooting, the best of her career. She played on 20 minutes.

Kent State finishes the first half of the conference season at 5-4 and in a tie with Toledo for fourth place. The Flashes are 12-8 overall. Bowling Green is 1-8 and 8-13.

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

Good game for Dingle to come back and shake of the rust. They played a solid game. The next four will probably determine how well they end up this year.

Ohio got the only road win in the MAC Wednesday and took second place in both the regular and "golf" standings. OU beat Eastern Michigan 75-65.

Bobcats are 7-3 in MAC; those three losses have come by a total of four points.

Kent State plays at Ohio Saturday afternoon.

Central Michigan played one of its worst games but beat Northern Illinois 66-60. CMU is 10-0 in the MAC. Chippewas were 13 below their scoring average and were outrebounded 52-40 against 11th-place Huskies.

Miami won its third game in a road with a 92-83 win at home against Toledo.

Akron, Ball State, Buffalo and Western Michigan had midweek byes.


THE "GOLF" STANDINGS

They give a team -1 for a road win (a “birdie”) and adds a point for a home loss (a “bogey.” A home win or road loss gets zero (“par”).

-5
-- Central Michigan (10-0, 17-4)

-2
-- Ohio (7-3, 14-7)

-1
-- Ball State (6-3, 14-7)

Even
-- Kent State (5-4, 12-8)
-- Toledo (5-4, 10-10)
-- Eastern Michigan (5-5, 10-11)
-- Buffalo (4-5, 13-7)
-- Western Michigan (4-5, 11-9)

+1
-- Miami (4-6, 11-11)

+2
-- Akron (3-6, 10-10)
-- Northern Illinois (2-7, 6-14)

+3
-- Bowling Green (1-8, 8-13).

Details and the report card on KSU's 61-47 win over Bowling Green at Toledo (an "A-,") are on the blog at http://wbbFlashes.com.

The women start the second half of MAC season with a big game at Ohio.

Bobcats are 7-3 in MAC, two games ahead of Kent State. Their three MAC losses have been by a title of five points. Ohio is 14-7 overall.

OU has top two scorers in conference play -- guard Cece Hooks (22.3 points a game) and Erica Johnson (21.2).

KSU (5-4, 12-8) had good second rounds of MAC play under Starkey in 2017 and 2019, their best seasons in last decade. Win at OU in 2017 was springboard to their MAC East title.)

Flashes will need need the kind of defense they played in 61-47 win over Bowling Green Wednesday. BG slost to OU 72-69 against Ohio two weeks ago and shot 49%. They shot 32% against Kent.

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

The women led second-place Ohio by six points at halftime but ended up losing 63-57.

Flashes shot 50% in first half, 29% in second. Starkey said they got good shots and could have scored 70, but too many shots rimmed out. KSU from three of 19 on 3-pointers.

Flashes outscored Ohio 10-4 on turnovers in first half but were outscored 14-4 in second.

And the biggest and strangest statistic: Ohio outscored KSU 16-2 at foul line. Kent was two of eight. Fouls were even -- 19 for KSU, 18 for Ohio. Two points on free throws is the lowest of the Starkey era; Flashes have been among nation's leaders in free throws made and attempted for four years.

KSU defense was as good it's been all season. Ohio averages 77 points a game and 41% shooting. Bobcats shot 34% Saturday.

Katie Shumate had her third double-double of season with 15 points and 13 rebounds. The rebounding total was the highest for a Kent player this season.

Nila Blackford and Asiah Dingle each had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Flashes are 5-5 in MAC and in sixth place, one game out of fourth. Team is 12-9 overall. Ohhio is in second at 8-3, 15-7 overall.

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