Kent State University
1-1
Wright State University
1-1
Tight Battle Falls Away from Flashes, 73-68
11/17/2015 1:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball
KENT, Ohio – Kent State (1-1) battled for a full forty minutes in front of a rowdy crowd of kids Tuesday afternoon, but could not hold off Wright State (1-1) who left the M.A.C. Center with a 73-68 victory.
A three from Jordan Korinek got the scoring underway on the day as the Golden Flashes got off to a 7-0 start. The Raiders worked their way back in to tie the game at ten at the first media break, but Tyra James put the home team back in front again with a jumper.
Naddiyah Cross connected on a shot and a forced turnover on the other end put Kent State ahead 16-15 at the end of the first quarter. The Golden Flashes were able to hold the lead heading into the half with a 36-33 advantage.
In the third, Wright State slowly worked its way back in, tying the game at 45 before back-to-back baskets from James and Cross put Kent State back in front. Wright State grabbed a quick lead shortly after but James sunk a three with seconds waning in the third quarter to bring the game within one point as the Raiders led 53-52 with ten minutes remaining.
To open up the final quarter, Korinek had an old-fashioned three-point play to switch the lead back to the home team once again. A three by Larissa Lurken then made it a five-point game.
After the Kent State lead rose to seven, Wright State kept things interesting, hitting a three to take a one-point lead with 2:29 left to play.
Down by five, Megan Carter scored out of a timeout to make it a one-possession game with under a minute remaining. Carter again made a basket on the other end after two Raider free-throws to keep the crowd on edge. However, Wright State connected down the stretch at the charity stripe to come away with the 73-68 victory.
Both teams hit 35% from field goal range while the Raiders won in the rebound margin, 52-45. Kent State was impressive defensively with 13 steals and 22 forced turnovers.
James finished with a team-high 20 points and also brought in seven rebounds and three steals. Chelsi Watson finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.
The Golden Flashes have a short break before getting back to action in their first road game of the season when they travel to IPFW for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Thursday.
