Kent State University
7-5
Robert Morris
7-4
Flashes Put Clamps on Colonials to Close Out Non-Conference Slate
12/19/2017 6:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Kent State concluded the non-conference portion of the season with one of the best defensive performances in program history in a 46-31 victory over Robert Morris inside of the North Athletic Complex Student Rec Center Thursday morning.
The Golden Flashes (7-5) put together 40 minutes of stifling defense to allow the third-fewest points in program history and the fewest since Dec. 28, 1996. Kent State held the host Colonials (7-4) to just under half of their scoring average entering the contest on 25 percent shooting (13-for-52) from the field and 10.8 percent from beyond the arc (2-for-19).
"I thought our players really played phenomenal defense to hold a really good Robert Morris team to 31 points," said head coach Todd Starkey. "You're worried about a little rust after eight days off for finals, and I think it showed a little bit offensively. We are going to have to clean a few things up with our turnovers moving into MAC play. But I'm excited to finish our non-conference schedule with two phenomenal defensive games. If we can defend like we have these past two games during MAC play and get more efficient offensively, I like where we are potentially headed."
Kent State took away scoring opportunities near the basket and forced a RMU team that averaged 28.8 points in the paint per game to be a jump shooting team. As a result, the Flashes outscored their host in the lane, 16-12. RMU's leading scorer and rebounder, Nneka Ezeigbo, was held to two points on 1-for-4 shooting and two rebounds in 15 minutes.
"I thought we played really tough. When they were physical, we were physical back," said sophomore Ali Poole. "They have some good shooters, so our coaches wanted us to have our hands up and not allow them to get open shots. We worked on that a lot in practice, and I felt like we applied it really well in the game."
A collective effort on the boards led to a 43-21 rebounding advantage, as all 10 Flashes who entered had at least one rebound. Poole led the way with eight rebounds to set a new career-high. The six-foot guard grabbed three offensive boards and had two key putbacks in the opening period to help jumpstart the offense.
"We had individual meetings this week with all of our players, and the complete and total emphasis of Ali's meeting was to think rebounding. Then everything else kind of falls into place," Starkey said. "Her defensive effort was better. Offensively, I thought she was in more of a flow and didn't force things. I'm really proud of her for responding.,"
Senior Jordan Korinek had seven rebounds to go with a game-high 17 points. Senior Naddiyah Cross and junior Alexa Golden grabbed five rebounds apiece. Golden added a game-high five assists.
The Flashes struggled at times with RMU's defensive pressure and finished with a season-high 25 turnovers. However, they were able to use their host's aggressiveness to its advantage to draw 23 fouls and score 12 more points at the foul line. Kent State shot 15-for-24 from the charity stripe compared to RMU's 3-for-6.
Ali Poole and Merissa Barber-Smith scored on consecutive possessions to give Kent State a 12-7 lead with 2:15 remaining in the first period. However, the Flashes turned the ball over on its final three possessions of the period and Nina Augustin connected on a three-pointer to cut the lead to 12-10 heading into the second quarter.
Kent State committed three turnovers and went 0-for-2 at the free throw line in its first three times with the ball in the second, while RMU made two of its three shots to extend the run to seven straight points and go ahead, 14-12. McKenna Stephens answered with a three-pointer, but Augustin drove the lane to score and put the Colonials back ahead at the 7:57 mark. That would be the final field goal of the half for RMU, which missed eight straight shots heading into the locker room.
Poole gave Kent State the lead for good on an elbow jumper off a pass from Naddiyah Cross with 5:33 to play in the first half. Cross added a driving layup and Jordan Korinek split a pair of free throws to push the lead to 21-18 at halftime. The Flashes failed to capitalize on frequent trips to the free throw line shot just 2-for-10 in the period.
Kent State was much better at the charity stripe over the final 20 minutes (11-for-12), and used it to begin pulling away. Korinek converted four straight free throws in a key sequence after RMU pulled within a point, 23-22. The senior forward made two free tosses after drawing a foul and then returned to the line to sink two more after a technical foul was assessed to a Colonial player for illegally entering the game following an inadvertent horn. Golden added two more free throws with 0.6 on the clock to complete a 6-for-6 quarter for the Flashes and take a 34-26 lead into the final 10 minutes.
The Flashes' lead reached 13 with 8:16 remaining on a three-pointer by Golden and baseline jumper by Poole. With the lead down to 10 and the Flashes in the midst of nearly a four-minute scoring drought, Korinek scored four straight to put the game away.
The Golden Flashes will break for the holidays and return to action on Saturday, Dec. 30 at Eastern Michigan for the Mid-American Conference opener.
Notes
• This is Kent State's first winning non-conference record since the 2010-11 season (9-3).
• Kent State has held its opponent to fewer than 31 points just twice in program history — an 88-29 victory over Coppin State on Dec. 28, 1996 and a 91-25 victory over Muskingum on Jan. 19, 1979.
• The last time an opponent shot worse than 25 percent against the Golden Flashes was Ohio on Feb. 18, 2012 (.241).
• Kent State has held two opponents under 45 points this season.
• The Flashes have allowed just 18 points in the first half of back-to-back games while holding its opponent to 10 points or fewer in five of the last eight quarters.
• Senior forward Jordan Korinek surpassed Darlene Wolfe (1978-81) for 14 on Kent State's career scoring list with 1,377 points.
• Kent State has now made more free throws than its opponent has attempted in 7 of 12 games with a 6-1 record in those contests.
