Flashes Drop Heartbreaker to Robert Morris
11/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Huntington, W. Va. - Kent State suffered a heartbreaking 74-73 defeat at the hands of Robert Morris Friday afternoon (Nov. 17) in the opening round of the Fifth Third Classic hosted by Marshall University. The Golden Flashes had a pair of shots clank off the rim in the final seconds to spoil their season opener at the Cam Henderson Center.
Senior guard Kristin Peoples (Westerville, Ohio/Arkansas) helped the Flashes to an early five-point lead (17-12) after sinking her second three-pointer of the game, but the Colonials quickly closed the gap. Robert Morris went on a 26-17 first-half run and led by two at halftime 40-38. Peoples had a team-high 11 points at the break.
The Colonials extended their lead to eight (51-43) five minutes into the second half behind the shooting of Natasha Summerville, who finished with a game high 26 points. However a blocked shot, rebound and layout from senior center Tiffany LaFleur (Scarborough, Ontario/Mother Teresa) sparked a 16-1 KSU run midway through the second half.
"Tiffany came through and played very well today," said Head Coach Bob Lindsay.
A three-pointer from Sarah Burgess (Brook Park, Ohio/South Carolina) capped off the run and gave the Golden Flashes a 61-54 advantage. Burgess scored 11 of her team-high 19 points in the second half, but all of Kent State's scoring came to a hault at the 4:09 mark.
Trailing 73-69, Robert Morris claimed the final five points of the game over the last four minutes and advanced to Saturday's championship game against host Marshall.
Kent State out-rebounded RMU 41-35 but the Colonials took advantage of second chance opportunities.
"Robert Morris had a lot of chances following offensive rebounds and off of our turnovers and I think that was the differnce in the game," said Lindsay. "We had stretches where we played pretty hard and we were effective in what we were trying to do and there were other parts of the game where that didn't happen."
LaFleur earned her first career double-double (11 pts, 11 rebs) and added three blocks and three steals. Samantha Scull (St. Catharines, Ontario/Simcoe) racked up 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting and tied career-high seven rebounds. Peoples completed her first game in a KSU uniform with 14 points and four assists.
Joining Summerville in double figures for the Colonials (2-0) was Chinata Nesbit with 16 points and Psyche Butler with 13.
"Summerville and Nesbit were very athletic but we needed to do a better job of defending them," added Lindsay.
The Golden Flashes (0-1) will take on Southern (0-1) Saturday (Nov. 18) at 11 a.m. in the consolation game of the Fifth Third Classic. The Jaguars fell to Marshall 61-50 in Friday's opening game. With the victory, The Thundering Herd (2-0) improved to 9-0 all-time at the Fifth Third Classic. Saturday will be Kent State's first ever meeting with Southern.
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