Flashes Visit Central Michigan Wednesday Night
2/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Coming off its biggest victory of conference play, Kent State (15-4, 4-3) looks to go 3-0 against MAC West opponents Wednesday night (Feb. 4) at Central Michigan's Rose Arena. The Golden Flashes are currently in sole possession of second place in the East standings, while the Chippewas sit one game back of second place in the West.
• In a 32-point win over Eastern Michigan, six Golden Flashes reached double figures for the first time since December of 2000. Anna Kowalska went 7-for-9 from the field and led KSU with 19 points and 10 rebounds in just 23 minutes on the floor.
• With the victory, the Golden Flashes clinched a 15-win season for the 18th time in 19 years and stayed on pace for their 12th 20-win season in the last 17 years.
• KSU's 11-for-17 shooting from behind the arc was its second best long-range performance ever led by Yoshica Spears, who went 4-for-5 from three-point range. The Flashes now rank second in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.406).
• Kent State leads the all-time series with Central Michigan 28-20. The road team has won in each of the last two seasons including an overtime win by CMU last year in Kent.
• Kent State is 7-2 on the road, while Central Michigan is 6-2 at home this season.
• In its last six games, KSU has gone 97-of-119 (82%) from the free throw line, moving up to 15th in the nation in free throw shooting (.757).
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Radio & Live Stats: Radio- WHLO AM-640 (Ty Linder, play-by-play). Online radio simulcast will be available on the Kent State website at www.kentstatesports.com. Live stats will be available on Central Michigan's web site at www.cmuchippewas.com
THE NATION'S TOP TURNAROUNDS
With 15 victories, the Golden Flashes have surpassed their 2007-08 win total by six games. Kent State and Central Michigan are currently tied for fourth among all Division I schools in increase in wins (6) from last season. With 12 victories, the Chippewas have doubled their win total from last season. Central Connecticut State holds the top spot with eight more wins.
A QUICK LOOK AT CENTRAL MICHIGAN
The Chippewas dramatic turnaround began with Sue Guevara taking over as head coach last season following 14-straight losing seasons in conference play. The former Michigan head coach helped Central Michigan become more competitive, dropping nine MAC games by single digits. This season, with four returning starters, many of those close games have started to go the Chippewas' way.
CMU leads the MAC and ranks sixth in the nation in scoring at 78.9 points per game. The Chippewas also lead the conference in steals per game (11.4 spg), turnover margin (+5.0) and offensive rebounds (15.2 rpg).
Four CMU starters are averaging 10.5 or more points per game. Senior guard Angel Chan has turned her game up a notch since conference play began, averaging 18.9 points per game against MAC opponents. Her 2.8 three-pointers per game ranks 14th in the nation.
Junior forward Britni Houghton ranks in the MAC's top four in both scoring (17.0 ppg) and steals (2.05 spg). She is also 11th in the conference in field goal percentage (.466). Junior forward Kaihla Szunko leads the MAC and ranks 20th in the nation with 9.9 rebounds per game. She is pulling down 11.6 boards per game in conference play.
The Chippewas are off to a 2-0 start against MAC East opponents, including a 72-65 road win at Ohio on Saturday. Freshman guard Brandie Baker led CMU with 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.
CMU won six of eight games to start the season, but has split its last 12 contests. At Rose Arena this season, the Chippewas have scored 84 or more points five times and 96 or more twice.
LAST TIME AGAINST CENTRAL MICHIGAN
KENT, Ohio - Despite coming back from a 12-point deficit in the second half, Kent State was unable to overcome 12 Central Michigan three pointers as the Chippewas defeated the Flashes 87-70 in overtime (Feb. 9, 2008) at the M.A.C. Center. Four Flashes played over 40 minutes.
Ellie Shields led Kent State with 20 points and added nine rebounds. Chenel Harris scored 12 points while grabbing a career-high 12 rebounds and Asheley Harkins totaled 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. It was the first career double-double for both players.
As a team KSU had its best rebounding night of the season, pulling down 55 boards. In addition to Harris and Harkins, sophomore Rachel Bennett had nine rebounds to go along with her 12 points.
In a game that saw nine ties and 11 lead changes, Kent State forced 19 turnovers which was turned into 20 points and held Central Michigan to 34.3 percent from the field in the second half.
KSU jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but Sue Guevara quickly called a timeout and the Chippewas regrouped and led by five (17-12) midway throught the half. Shields led Kent State with 10 first-half points, but was forced to the bench midway through the half when she picked up her second foul. Foul trouble would plague Shields the rest of evening before she finally fouled out with two minutes to play in regulation.
With Shields on the bench, Central Michigan took advantage of the open space inside by scoring 14 points in the paint to complement their three-point shooting. However, with their main post presence lost and the Chippewas on a 17-6 run, the KSU guards went to work to keep the game close. Harkins, Bennett and Harris all hit three-pointers to limit the Central Michigan lead to just seven points (39-32) going into the break.
Central Michigan came out hitting more threes, four to be exact, to build a 12-point lead (50-38) with under 13 minutes to play. Over the next eight minutes Kent State would roll off a 24-7 run that was capped off with a Bennett lay-up to take a 62-57 lead. With the score tied at 57, Bennett took a charge and Harris capitalized with a triple to give the Flashes a three-point lead. However, KSU was unable to hold onto the lead as fatigue set in and Shields fouled out causing the Flashes to go cold from the field and allowing Central Michigan to send the game into overtime tied at 68.
The extra five minutes belonged to CMU, who got three more three-pointers from Angel Chan on their way to a 19-2 run in overtime.
Stephanie Gibson recorded team highs of six assists and five steals.
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