Kent State University
Stanford
Competitive Field Awaits Flashes in Vegas for Play4Kay Showcase
11/23/2017 2:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Play4Kay Showcase Website Game Notes Audio Live Stats Video ($$)
Kent State will spend the Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 23-25) in Las Vegas playing three games in the Play4Kay Showcase, which is regard as the best women's basketball tournament in the country during the early part of the season. The tournament will be played at Mandalay Bay Events Center and features a pair of top-15 ranked teams in addition to three of the top-10 mid-major programs in the country.
In their first trip to Las Vegas since 1988, the Golden Flashes (3-1) are tasked with playing No. 14 Stanford (2-2) in the opening round on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET. On Friday, Kent State will play either Gonzaga or Belmont, who are ranked seventh and eighth, respectively, in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll. Saturday's contest will be against No. 9 Ohio State, DePaul, Florida Gulf Coast or Memphis.
Kent State has already played a pair of neutral site contests and went 1-1 at the Akron Classic last weekend. The Flashes fell to Mid-Major Poll No. 2 FGCU, 80-62, in the opening game Friday and then took care of Southeastern Louisiana, 81-60, on Saturday.
Senior forward Jordan Korinek received Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the Week and MAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors after scoring 50 points in just 49 minutes and shooting 16-for-26 (.615) from the floor and 17-for-18 (.944) at the free throw line over the two games. Korinek scored a career-high 31 points against Southeastern Louisiana and combined with graduate student forward McKenna Stephens, who grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds in both games, to dominate play around the basket. The Flashes outrebounded their opponents by an average of 15.0 per game and held advantages of 35-17 in second-chance points and 66-44 in points in the paint over the two contests.
An aggressive offensive approach resulted in shooting nearly twice as many free throws as their opponents shot. Kent State went 48-for-60 (.800) at the charity stripe compared to 21-for-31 (.677) by their opponents.
On the season, Korinek is second in the conference in scoring (22.3 ppg), fourth in field goal percentage (.574), fifth in free throw percentage (.914) and tied for eighth in blocked shots (1.0 bpg). Sophomore guard Ali Poole (10.5 ppg) has scored in double-figures three times, which matches her season total from a year ago. Stephens leads the Flashes at 8.8 rebounds per game and senior guard Naddiyah Cross is averaging a team-best 4.5 assists per game. Junior Alexa Golden is off to the best start of her career with averages of 8.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. Golden has nearly matched last season's total for free throws attempts and is 18-of-21 (.857) this season.
Scouting No. 14 Stanford
Coming off a trip to the Final Four and ranked 9th in the preseason, the Cardinal opened the season with a pair of 20-plus point losses in Columbus, Ohio to top-ranked UConn and No. 5 Ohio State. Stanford returned home last weekend to take care of UC Riverside (53-43) and Cal State Bakersfield (57-34).
Hall of Fame head coach Tara VanDerveer has built Stanford into a national powerhouse. A 2011 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, VanDerveer is one of only three coaches with 1,000 career NCAA Division I victories.
Stanford has played its last two games without senior guard Brittany McPhee, a John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 30 selection. McPhee averaged a team-best 16.5 points and added 5.0 rebounds over the first two games. Sophomore guard DiJonai Carrington (10.5 ppg, 10.3 rpg) is enjoying a breakout season. After scoring six points against Ohio State, Carrington poured in a career-high 21 points against UConn and then went for 13 points and 22 rebounds against UC Riverside. Junior center Alanna Smith (8.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg) was named to the watch list for the Lisa Leslie Award, which recognizes the nation's top center.
Series History
• This will be the first meeting on the hardwood between the two schools.
• Kent State is 2-4 all-time against schools currently in the Pac-12 Conference.
• The Golden Flashes have defeated Washington in their last two contests against the conference.
• Most recently, Kent State earned a 59-58 victory over the Huskies on Nov. 23, 2010 in the Great Alaska Shootout.
TV/Radio
Every game of the Play4Kay Showcase will stream online exclusively at FloHoops.com. Dave Wilson will call all three Kent State games for the Golden Flashes iHeartRadio channel. Thursday's game can also be heard on 640 WHLO.
