Women's Basketball Opens at Home vs. American Friday Night
11/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
KENT, Ohio - The Kent State womens basketball team will begin playing for keeps this Friday at 7 p.m. when they open the regular season at home vs. the American University Eagles. Kent State returns three starters and seven letterwinners from last year's team that finished 19-10 and advanced to the WNIT. The Flashes defeated American last season, 57-52, in Washington, D.C.
Scouting American
Head coach Melissa McFerrin is in her first season as head coach, inheriting a team that went 16-14 and 9-5 in the Patriot League. The Eagles, predicted to finish third in the Patriot League this season, return nine letterwinners and three starters, including senior forward Chanel Hunt who led the team with 11.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in 2003-04. Also back is Kim Salem (8.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and Joanna Barnes (8.4 ppg, 4.5rpg).
The Eagles lost to Team Concept in an exhibition contest this season, 66-54, Nov. 13. Hunt, a preseason All-Patriot League first team selection, had 13 points for the Eagles.
The Series
Kent State won the only meeting between the two schools last season, 57-52, Jan. 4 in Washington, D.C. Lindsay Shearer was huge for the Golden Flashes down the stretch, scoring 13 of her game-high 17 points in the second half to help secure the victory.
Last Time Out
Defense was the name of the game as KSU rolled over visiting Ashland in its final exhibition game. Lindsay Shearer led four Golden Flashes in double figures with 27 points and five assists.
Kent State forced 27 turnovers (17 steals) and held the Eagles to 29 percent shooting for the game and 19 percent (6-of-31) in the first half. The Flashes torched the Eagles for 35 points off turnovers.
Ashland had no answers for Kent States swarming defensive pressure, especially in the first half when KSU forced 18 Ashland turnovers. The Flashes raced out to a 14-0 lead, nine of those from Shearer, and never looked back as they took a insurmountable 50-15 lead at halftime.
Melissa DeGrate found her touch at the offensive end, recording 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting including two 3-pointers. She also chipped in with five boards and four steals. The always poised Malika Willoughby was crisp all day running the KSU offense and sliced and diced herself through the Ashland defense for 14 points, five assists and four steals in 17 minutes.
Shearer Dominates Exhibitions
Make no mistake about it. If the Golden Flashes are going to make another run at a MAC championship, All-MAC forward Lindsay Shearer will need to have another all-conference year. Knowing that, Shearer scored 56 points in two exhibition contests vs. OGBM and Ashland. Against OGBM Shearer recorded a would-be career-high 29 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range to go with 11 rebounds. She then came back a week later to score 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting in the blowout win over Ashland (who previously defeated the University of Akron, 87-69).
Home Openers
Kent State is 19-10 in home openers in its all-time history and 11-4 in home openers under head coach Bob Lindsay.
Lindsay Looking To Set Coaching Milestone
This season, Bob Lindsay has a chance to become the first MAC womens head coach and the third MAC coach overall to reach the 300-career win plateau in addition to recording his 10th 20-win season. Lindsay fell just one win shy of accomplishing that feat in 2003-04 after finishing the season 19-10 and earning the programs first bid to the postseason WNIT. Lindsay currently has 287 career wins and needs 13 to reach the 300 mark.
Lindsay Eyes 10th 20-win SeasonHead Coach Bob Lindsay has a chance this season to record his 10th 20-win season in 16 years since his arrival at Kent State in 1989. Lindsay turned in seven-consecutive 20-win campaigns (1996-02), including nine in the past 12 seasons.
Freshman Impresses
Freshman guard Asheley Harkins poured in eight points and six rebounds off the bench in her first action as a Golden Flash Monday against OGBM. She had three field goals, including one 3 -pointer, and had zero turnovers in 33 minutes of play.
Wilson, Lehmann Added To Coaching Staff
Bob Lindsay, Kent State University head womens basketball coach, announced the addition of two new assistant coaches, Marc Wilson and Jenna Lehmann, to his coaching staff June 21.
Wilson comes to Kent State after serving as an assistant coach at Rhode Island since 2001 where he worked primarily with the post players and served as recruiting coordinator. Lehmann comes to Kent State after serving as an assistant at Stetson University in Deland, Fla. for the past two seasons.
Flashes Picked Second In MAC East
Kent State has been selected to finish second in the Mid-American Conference East Division and marks the first season that Kent State has not been picked to win the East Division since division play began in 1997-98.
Kent State received 165 points and nine first place votes, four less points and five fewer first place votes than first place Miami, the 2003-04 MAC regular season champions. Third place Marshall also received nine first place votes, but received only 144 points to Kent States 165. Ohio, Akron and Buffalo round out the final positions in the East, respectively.
In the West, Eastern Michigan (212 points), the 2004 MAC Tournament Champion, received 22 first place votes and is the favorite to win the MAC West Division and the MAC tournament. Western Michigan (175 points) is second with eight first place votes followed by Bowling Green who had one first place vote. Toledo, Ball State, Northern Illinois and Central Michigan round out the final positions in the west.
Two Flashes Named To Preseason All-MAC Teams
Lindsay Shearer and Malika Willoughby have been named to the 2004-05 Preseason All-Mid-American Conference East Division Team.
Last season, Shearer garnered 2004 First Team All-MAC honors, becoming just the second sophomore in program history to receive first team accolades. Shearer scored in double figures 21 times, recording seven double-doubles and averaged 13.9 points per game, fifth-best in the MAC. She also averaged 7.7 rebounds, shot 45 percent from the field and ranked fourth in the MAC with a 84 percent clip from the free throw line.
In addition, Shearer was a Third Team CoSIDA Academic All-American, joining Kate Miller and Carrie Templin as the only Academic All-America honorees in program history. She also was named to the 2004 Academic All-District IV and Academic All-MAC teams.
In her first season as a Golden Flash after transferring from Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Willoughby established herself as one of the top point guards in the MAC. Willoughby led the MAC and ranked ninth nationally with 195 assists (6.72 per game) and finished second in the MAC and 25th nationally with 87 steals (3.00 per game). Willoughby averaged 8.6 points and 3.8 rebounds and scored in double figures in 13 games.
Flashes Enjoy Winning Ways
Since the 1995-96 season, the Golden Flashes own a .706 winning percentage (190-79) overall and a .840 winning percentage (126-24) in MAC regular-season games. Kent States last losing season came more than a decade ago, during the 1989-90 season, Lindsays first at Kent State.
Flashes Finish Strong
The Golden Flashes went on a tear to finish the regular season, winning their last eight games and 10 of their last 11 to capture a No. 3 seed and first round bye in last years MAC tournament. The eight game winning streak tied for the second-longest in the MAC last season with Eastern Michigan. Miami had the longest winning streak with 12 straight wins.
Kent State Continues Streak
With its win against Buffalo on Feb. 25, Kent State won its 10th conference game of the season. The win also enabled the Golden Flashes to extend their streak to 13 straight seasons with at least 10 league victories. Toledo has the most seasons with 10 or more MAC tallies with 16, followed by Miami (15).
Record Four MAC Teams Make Postseason
The Mid-American Conference sent a record four teams to the postseason, three of which were invited to the WNIT and Eastern Michigan to the NCAA Womens Basketball Championship as the leagues automatic qualifier. Miami, Kent State and Western Michigan all were invited to play in the WNIT.
The three teams in the WNIT broke the old mark of two, set three previous times, most recently accomplished in 2002-03. For Miami and Kent State, it marked the first appearance in the WNIT, while Western Michigan will appeared for the third time.
Shearer Receives All-MAC Honors
Sophomore forward Lindsay Shearer was named to the 2004 Mid-American East All-Conference First Team. Shearer was just the second sophomore in program history to garner first team honors (Carrie Templin 1995-96) and the 12th overall since head coach Bob Lindsays arrival in 1989.
Shearer ranked in the MAC top 10 in scoring, rebounding, field goal and free throw percentage in conference games. She averages 14.9 points and 8.1 rebounds in MAC games and 13.9 ppg and 7.7 rpg overall. Shearer saved her best for last, averaging 17.1 ppg and 8.9 rebounds over the last eight games of the season.
Getting Defensive
Kent State led the conference in several defensive categories in MAC games. The Flashes were first in blocked shots per game (3.88), scoring defense (60.2 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.363) and second in steals (10.81). KSU held two opponents to a season-low 45 points and held 15 opponents to 60 points or less last season. In addition, KSU was first in assists per game (16.81), second in scoring margin (+10.9) and 3-point field goal percentage (.377) and third in turnover margin (+2.75) and field goal percentage (.442).
On the Air
For the third year in a row, all Kent State womens basketball regular-season games will be broadcast live on WHLO-AM 640 out of Akron. Play-by-play broadcaster Tom Linder will call all the action. Broadcast time is 15 minutes before the opening tip.
On Deck
Kent State will play host to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay this Monday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m.
