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

Santoro blew out her knee and is out for the season. She has two goals years of eligibility left.

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(11-26-2023 12:28 PM)burden Wrote:  

(11-25-2023 10:31 PM)cschierh Wrote:  The Missouri win was Kent State's fourth win over a Power Five conference team in the last three years. Flashes beat Oklahoma State last season and UCLA and Penn State the year before.

Neither team led by more than 3 minutes in the last five minutes. Almost all of that time, it was a one-point game. Sophomore point guard Corynne Hauser gave KSU a 65-64 lead with a layup with 12 seconds to go. Katie Shumate sank two three free throws with .3 seconds left for the final score.

Mikala Morris, a 6-2 grad transfer from Quinnipiac, led the Flashes with 18 points, nine rebounds and a blocked shot. Hauser scored 17 points, had a career-high eight assists and only one turnover.

Kent State is 3-2 on the season. Missouri is 5-2.

The Flashes play their first home game of the season at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the M.A.C. Center against Coppin State (3-3). The Eagles beat Pittsburgh 61-56 Tuesday for their first victory ever over a Power Five school.

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Burden, Starkey said Shumate was sick going into the game.

I hope that’s all it a was but I remember her, Santoro and Hauser going through spells like that last year. By the way Santoro fought her way into the starting line-up by game 3 at FGSU (scoring 15 against Brown) and then disappeared from the box score. Suppose she is hurt.

Santoro blew out her knee and is out for the season. She has two goals years of eligibility left.

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(11-26-2023 12:28 PM)burden Wrote:  

(11-25-2023 10:31 PM)cschierh Wrote:  The Missouri win was Kent State's fourth win over a Power Five conference team in the last three years. Flashes beat Oklahoma State last season and UCLA and Penn State the year before.

Neither team led by more than 3 minutes in the last five minutes. Almost all of that time, it was a one-point game. Sophomore point guard Corynne Hauser gave KSU a 65-64 lead with a layup with 12 seconds to go. Katie Shumate sank two three free throws with .3 seconds left for the final score.

Mikala Morris, a 6-2 grad transfer from Quinnipiac, led the Flashes with 18 points, nine rebounds and a blocked shot. Hauser scored 17 points, had a career-high eight assists and only one turnover.

Kent State is 3-2 on the season. Missouri is 5-2.

The Flashes play their first home game of the season at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the M.A.C. Center against Coppin State (3-3). The Eagles beat Pittsburgh 61-56 Tuesday for their first victory ever over a Power Five school.

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Burden, Starkey said Shumate was sick going into the game.

I hope that’s all it a was but I remember her, Santoro and Hauser going through spells like that last year. By the way Santoro fought her way into the starting line-up by game 3 at FGSU (scoring 15 against Brown) and then disappeared from the box score. Suppose she is hurt.

The women dominated Coppin State 77-40 at the M.A.C. Center.

Everyone on the roster got in the game. Twelve of the 14 scored.

Only two players scored in double figures — grad student forward Mikala Morris with 12 and grad student guard Katie Shumate with 10.

Four more scored eight points or nine points. Only two team members played more than 20 minutes.

Starkey had some interesting things to say about managing a roster that deep. That's covered in detail in the blog at HTTP://wbbFlashes.com, along with other game details.

Kent's defense blocked six shots, forced 15 turnovers and allowed only 14 points in the paint.

Going into the game, the Flashes had averaged 27% on 3-point shooting, though it made 32% on Wednesday.

They've made up for it in the post, where Morris and freshman Janae Tyler have averaged a combined 17.8 points this season.

Kent State is 4-2 on the season. Coppin State is 3-5. The Eagles did beat Pittsburgh 61-56 on Thursday. It was their first win over a Division I team in program history.

The Flashes play No. 15 Florida State at 2 p.m. Sunday in Tallahassee.

Kent State women’s basketball team led 14-11 after the first quarter, but missed a ton of layups the rest of the game and fell to No. 15 Florida State 76-49 Sunday.

The Flashes are 4-3 on the season, with two of the losses coming to top-15 teams. Florida State is 6-2.

“It was definitely a winnable game for us,” coach Todd Starkey said. “But we have to make shots. I can’t remember a game I’ve coached where we missed so many layups. Some were contested, but we had open looks and uncontested layups we missed. You have to make those to be in the game."

Kent State made 10-of-30 layups and shot 24.7% overall for the game. Florida State made 37% of its 37 layups and shot 37% overall. FSU scored 17 points on fast breaks and 36 in the paint, more indication of layups and other chances near the basket.

Bridget Dunn, KSU’s 6-3 junior forward, had a career-high 12 rebounds. Her previous high had been 10, recorded early this season against Xavier. Her total of 12 is also the best among any KSU player this season.

The Flashes outrebounded FSU as a team 53-51. It was the first time since March 2022 that Kent State had 50 rebounds against a Division I school.

Dunn also had nine points on three 3-point baskets. Her 14 three-pointers this season are double any other player on the team.

Jenna Batsch led Kent State with 13 points while Corynne Hauser had 10. Katie Shumate had nine rebounds.

Kent State took a 14-11 lead out of the first quarter, but Florida State ended the second quarter on a 10-0 run and led throughout the second half.

The game was the third of three for the Flashes against Power 5 opponents. Kent played defending national champion LSU evenly for just over a half before losing 109-79, beat Missouri 67-64 and lost to Florida State.

Kent State has a week off, then plays at Duquesne next Sunday.

Florida St. lay-up % wasn’t much better. Looks like they scored 8 more points off lay-ups. We lost by 27. I think we had some other problems. Are lay-up %’s always in that range in the women’s game. I know it’s a tougher shot when you’re 8” shorter but that much!! Any idea what the typical men’s % is?

The layup percentage is part of big schools' Live Stats program (which you get from the schedule page while the game is on and until they wipe the stats out for the next game).

The written stats I get from the SID don't include that number, though they do include a shot chart if you want to try to do your own numbers.

I suspect you could find it on one of the fancy analytics sites, like Sagarin. For women, I use HerHoopStats, which has 2-point percentage but doesn't break out layups.

Starkey pointed to missed layups. Other key stats were 17-2 on fast breaks, 21-6 on points off turnovers and 36-20 in the paint.

Not a good day at Duquesne today. Lost 89-82 in double OT. Blew a 9 point lead in the last 4 minutes and gave up a three late. Also gave up a late 3 in the first OT to give Duquesne a 2 point lead. Never too close in second OT. Hauser and Batsch had 19 each. Morris had 11. Hauser also had 11 rebounds and 7 assists (6 turnovers).

Shumate was bothered by some early fouls and did foul out after playing 34 minutes. She had 8 points but only one field goal. Her late free throws did tie the game and send it into the 2nd OT.

(12-04-2023 11:40 PM)cschierh Wrote:  The layup percentage is part of big schools' Live Stats program (which you get from the schedule page while the game is on and until they wipe the stats out for the next game).

The written stats I get from the SID don't include that number, though they do include a shot chart if you want to try to do your own numbers.

I suspect you could find it on one of the fancy analytics sites, like Sagarin. For women, I use HerHoopStats, which has 2-point percentage but doesn't break out layups.

Starkey pointed to missed layups. Other key stats were 17-2 on fast breaks, 21-6 on points off turnovers and 36-20 in the paint.

Found some data that say men shoot 57% on layups and dunks. A bit lower than I would have expected. Couldn’t find any data on women’s game.

(12-11-2023 05:30 PM)burden Wrote:  

(12-04-2023 11:40 PM)cschierh Wrote:  The layup percentage is part of big schools' Live Stats program (which you get from the schedule page while the game is on and until they wipe the stats out for the next game).

The written stats I get from the SID don't include that number, though they do include a shot chart if you want to try to do your own numbers.

I suspect you could find it on one of the fancy analytics sites, like Sagarin. For women, I use HerHoopStats, which has 2-point percentage but doesn't break out layups.

Starkey pointed to missed layups. Other key stats were 17-2 on fast breaks, 21-6 on points off turnovers and 36-20 in the paint.

Found some data that say men shoot 57% on layups and dunks. A bit lower than I would have expected. Couldn’t find any data on women’s game.

Thanks, Burden. That is a lot lower than I would have expected. But when you consider that most layups are contested, I guess it makes sense.

(12-11-2023 05:30 PM)burden Wrote:  

(12-04-2023 11:40 PM)cschierh Wrote:  The layup percentage is part of big schools' Live Stats program (which you get from the schedule page while the game is on and until they wipe the stats out for the next game).

The written stats I get from the SID don't include that number, though they do include a shot chart if you want to try to do your own numbers.

I suspect you could find it on one of the fancy analytics sites, like Sagarin. For women, I use HerHoopStats, which has 2-point percentage but doesn't break out layups.

Starkey pointed to missed layups. Other key stats were 17-2 on fast breaks, 21-6 on points off turnovers and 36-20 in the paint.

Found some data that say men shoot 57% on layups and dunks. A bit lower than I would have expected. Couldn’t find any data on women’s game.

I'm 0% on dunks, personally.

Kent St 84, Lake Erie 20. Enough said.

(12-19-2023 12:44 PM)burden Wrote:  Kent St 84, Lake Erie 20. Enough said.

They shot 5-46 from the field, seems the intramural champs could’ve done better.

Maybe schedule the Cuyahoga River or Brady Lake next year.

Got to keep fresh or else you're going 20 days without a game (they played on the 10th and will play next on the 30th). Lake Erie usually isn't this bad. Not that Kent can't handle them otherwise.

Next game is against LaRoche University (D2 out of the Pittsburgh area). They are 7-3. Lake Erie was 1-7 with losses by 16 to 50 points (now 64). Hopefully they will provide some better competition.

It’s not just us. UConn is playing something called Toronto Metro and leading 68-9 at half time. UConn has a player from Toronto so that’s their justification.

Kent 109, LaRoche 31. See I told you they would give us a better game than Lake Erie (yeah right). LaRoche had only 7 healthy players and only 3 scored any points. Two had 15 and one player scored 1 point. There point guard probably can be a 10 minute back up in the MAC but that’s about it. We had to have had about a 3” advantage at every position. Shot 60% to LaRoches 23%.

After splitting its first eight preseason games against Division I competition, Kent State has feasted on lower-division opponents in its last two.

The Flashes set a school record for scoring margin Saturday against Division III La Roche with a 109-31 victory Saturday. Last week they beat Division II Lake Erie 84-20, allowing the fewest points in KSU history.

Kent State is 6-4 and opens Mid-American Conference play Wednesday at Buffalo.

Kent State scored the first 19 points of the game and held La Roche, a 1,800-student college outside Pittsburgh, to fewer than 10 points in all four quarters. The 78-point margin beat KSU’s previous high of 72 against Hiram in 2022.

Coach Todd Starkey said scheduling teams like La Roche is part of a plan.

“You have to have some level of balance in a schedule,” the coach said. And scheduling the game right before conference season, “It also gives you the opportunity to play your whole bench.”

All 14 players on the roster played at least four minutes and scored at least three points.

Fifth-year guard Katie Shumate led the Flashes wtih 17 points. Junior forward Bridget Dunn had 13, freshman Janae Tyler 12, and graduate transfer Mikala Morris 10.

Point guard Corynne Hauser had a career-high nine assists as the Flashes put up 36 assists on 44 baskets. That was the team’s most assists in a game since 1990.

Starkey also said the team was trying to work on its transition game. The result: a 30-0 advantage on fast-break points.

More detailed story is on the blog at HTTP://wbbFlashes.com.

What will it take for the Kent State women to challenge for the MAC title this season?

As the Flashes prepare to open the league season at Buffalo on Wednesday (6 p.m. on ESPN+), here are some thoughts from the HTTP://wbbFlashes.com blog.

-- Team was 6-4 in non-conference play after league coaches picked them third in preseason poll.

-- Third is about where statistics say KSU belongs now. Ball State (10-2) and Toledo (7-3) had stronger non-conference seasons.

-- In non-conference, Kent State beat Missouri and played well at times against LSU and Florida State, both ranked in the top 25. If Flashes play at that level, they should contend for the MAC title. But KSU also lost to good mid-majors Chattanooga and Duquesne. If they play at that level, they'll struggle to finish fourth.

-- A key to the season is redshirt senior Katie Shumate, a preseason all-MAC selection. Shumate had a terrific double-double (22 points, 11 rebounds) against defending national champion LSU. But she scored fewer than 10 points in four other games. Without Shumate averaging 16+ points, a title would be very tough.

-- KSU's new low-post duo of grad student Mikala Morris (6-2) and Janae Tyler (6-0) is off to a good start, combining for an average of 17.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in 10 games.

-- Junior wing Jenna Batsch, who played sparingly in her first two seasons, leads the team in minutes played and is second in points per game at 10.8).

-- Flashes struggled with shooting in non-conference, averaging just 37.8% from the field and 28.2 from 3-point distance against Division I competition. That's not good enough to win the MAC.

-- Team has the personnel to go 10 or 11 deep.

Lots more detail is at HTTP://wbbFlashes.com.

The women outscored Buffalo 20-5 in the second quarter on their way to a 73-64 win on the road in their MAC opener.

The Flashes outscored the Bulls 41-20 in the half. They made nine 3-pointers; Buffalo made none.

Kent State is now 7-4 this season; Buffalo is 6-5.

Katie Shumate led KSU with 18 points, including three 3-pointers, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Junior Bridget Dunn, who had averaged 7.2 points per game in non-conference play, posted her first double-double at Kent State with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Jenna Batsch scored 11 points and had three assists. Corynne Hauser had 10 points and seven assists. Overall the Flashes had 18 assists on their 25 baskets.

Freshman forward Janae Tyler had nine points and six rebounds.

The win was only Kent State's second in Buffalo since 2011.

The Flashes play their home MAC opener at 1 p.m. Saturday against Ohio (4-7), which beat Akron 67-58 Wednesday in Athens. Saturday's game is on ESPN+.