Flashes Open Season Sunday vs. St. Bonaventure
11/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
• With a number of new faces on the hardwood, the Kent State University women's basketball team begins its quest for an 18th straight winning season Sunday (Nov. 11) in its 2007-08 opening game vs. St. Bonaventure University.
• The Golden Flashes have played four season openers at the M.A.C. Center this decade, winning in front of their home crowd each time, including a 92-78 victory over St. Bonaventure to begin the 2000-01 season.
• St. Bonaventure returns nine letterwinners and four starters from last season's 16-15 finish. The 16 victories are the most in Jim Crowley's seven years as head coach.
• KSU has won five straight home openers including an 81-78 overtime triumph against Washington last season, when the Flashes erased an 18-point halftime deficit.
• Since the start of the 2007 calendar year, the Golden Flashes are 11-5 in regular season play.
• KSU closed out the 2006-07 year by clinching its 17th straight season of 15 or more victories and its 16th consecutive season of 10 or more league wins. Both feats had never before been accomplished by a MAC team.
• Kent State has won five of seven all-time meetings with St. Bonaventure including the last three. The Flashes are 3-0 against the Bonnies in Kent. The teams last met on Dec. 10, 2005 at the Reilly Center in New York when the Flashes held St. Bonaventure to just 33 percent shooting en route to an 81-59 road victory.
• Dating back to the 2004-05 season, the Golden Flashes have won seven straight games vs. non-conference opponents at the M.A.C. Center.
• Although Sunday vs. St. Bonaventure marks the first official game for the Golden Flashes, KSU has taken on Gannon (Oct. 28) and Niagara (Nov. 4) in scrimmages each of the past two Sundays at the M.A.C. Center.
• After sitting out the entire 2006-07 season with a knee injury, sophomore guard Rachel Bennett returns to action Sunday. Bennett played in all 30 games in 2005-06 and started 20. She reached double figures in scoring five times as a freshman including a career-high 23 points vs. Ohio.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Radio:
Sports Radio AM-1350 (Tom Linder, play-by-play). Online radio simulcast available on the Kent State website at www.kentstatesports.com.Streaming Audio & Live Stats: Live Stats and streaming audio are available at www.kentstatesports.com
SCOUTING ST. BONAVENTURE
Last season, the Bonnies went 10-5 against non-conference opponents, but finished 10th of 12 teams in Atlantic 10 play at 5-9. SBU finished 7-7 in road games last season. As a team, the Bonnies were 21st in the nation in free-throw shooting at .754.
In a season opening exhibition, St. Bonaventure defeated California (Pa.) 73-67 on Nov. 2 at the Reilly Center. Sophomore forward Dana Mitchell led both sides with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting and added six rebounds. Freshman Armelia Horton came off the bench and went 6-for-6 from the field for 13 points. Katelyn Murray and Priscilla Edwards also scored in double figures.
Mitchell finished 45th in the nation in field goal percentage (.528) as a freshman last season and was named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Team. She also was among the nation's top 100 free-throw shooters at 80.7 percent.
The Bonnies also return their leading rebounder from 2006-07, Ashley Edwards. Last season, Edwards pulled down 7.4 boards per game.
Six players on the current SBU roster (Ashley Edwards, Priscilla Edwards, Erica Schiefen, Megan Ellis, Katelyn Murray, Maripier Malo) combined for 29 points the last time the Bonnies faced Kent State on Dec. 10, 2005.
M.A.C. CENTER MAGIC
Very few teams have had as much success on their home court as Kent State. Accoring to Collegiate Basketball News, the Golden Flashes rank 21st in the nation with a 59-10 (.855) home court record over the last six years.
Over the last 15 seasons, Kent State is an even more impressive 155-18 (.896) at home. KSU is 40-5 (.889) at the M.A.C. Center since the start of the 2003-04 season. During a stretch from 1997-01, the Golden Flashes won 43 straight games inside the M.A.C. Center. The Golden Flashes have not lost to a non-conference opponent at home since falling to Wisconsin-Green Bay on Nov. 22, 2004.
The only feat just as remarkable is the Golden Flashes' record in Mid-American Conference games at the M.A.C. Center. From 1996 to 2005, the Flashes went unbeaten in league games on seven occasions. Since the 1992-93 season, Kent State is 116-11 (.913) in conference games at the M.A.C. Center.
ALWAYS IN THE TOP 2 SPOTS IN THE EAST
The Golden Flashes claimed victories in their last two games (Miami & Buffalo) of the 2006-07 regular season to clinch second place in the Mid-American Conference East Division at 11-5. Kent State has finished in one of the top two spots in the East standings since the MAC was separated into divisions in 1997.
OFFENSIVE MOMENTUM
KSU finished the 2006-07 season ranked 20th in the nation in scoring offense at 73.1 points per game. Of their 15 victories, the Golden Flashes won five by 30 or more points, 11 by 13 or more points and 12 by double digits. The Flashes finished 12-0 last season when scoring 76 or more points in a game and 1-9 when scoring under 70 points.
OPPONENT SHOOTING
Kent State finished 12-2 when its defense held opponents under 40 percent shooting from the floor and went just 3-11 when opponents shot above 40 percent.
LINDSAY APPROACHING 350
KSU head coach Bob Lindsay closed out the 2006-07 regular season with his 344th career victory at Miami. His 344 wins are the most career victories in MAC history and he is on pace to become the 50th active NCAA Division I coach with 350 wins. In 2006, Lindsay became the first MAC women's head coach to record 200 conference wins with an 85-57 victory over Toldeo at the M.A.C. Center.
| Complete Notes in PDF |
