Kent State University
3-9 (0-2)MAC
University of Toledo
6-7 (1-1)MAC
4th Quarter Comeback Falls Just Short in 73-67 Road Loss
1/6/2016 9:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball
TOLEDO, Ohio – A late 9-0 run by Kent State (3-9, 0-2) fell just short as Toledo (7-5, 1-1) was able to pull off a 73-67 victory at Savage Arena Wednesday night.
The game was notched at nine at the halfway point of the first quarter before Jordan Korinek made a basket, Larissa Lurken forced a turnover and Paige Salisbury made a field goal to put the Flashes up 12-10. That lead grew to 19-15 at the end of the first quarter of play.
A few minutes into the second, the Rockets sunk a three to put the lead back in their hands. Heading in halftime, the Golden Flashes made just two of their final ten field goals to find themselves down 43-33 at the break.
Fouls harmed Kent State in the first half, as Toledo converted 13 trips to the line to ten points while KSU had just three visits, making one.
Naddiyah Cross helped break that drought with a basket to get the third quarter started. However, the Rockets continued to make shots as well, keeping their lead at ten heading into the final quarter of play.
A three minute scoring drought in the final quarter helped Toledo add to its advantage. The Flashes weren't done, though, as they rallied back to bring the game within seven points, forcing a Toledo timeout with 2:20 remaining in the game.
Alexa Golden sunk two free throws out of the timeout and a charge on the other end put the ball back in the hands of Kent State hands as it trailed by just five with less than two minutes left to play.
Out of another timeout with less than a minute remaining, Tyra James connected on a basket and got fouled. She missed the free throw, but Golden tracked down the offensive rebound, making it a 69-64 game with just 30 seconds left.
James got another chance at the line, and Golden followed with another offensive board and dished it to Korinek to make it a 67-71 game.
It was as close as the Flashes would get down the stretch, as Toledo was able to maintain the lead and take the 73-67 win.
Stats were nearly even across the board, with Kent State taking in 41 rebounds compared to Toledo's 36. The Rockets had ten more makes on the night at the charity stripe.
Lurken was the high-scorer with 13 points and six rebounds. Korinek finished with 11 while James had ten. Cross led in rebounds with seven.
The Golden Flashes host their first conference game this Saturday at 2 p.m. The game is also the first against a fellow MAC East opponent as Buffalo will make the trip to Kent.
