Kent State University
Northern Illinois
Golden Flashes Aim for Third Straight Road Win at NIU
1/3/2018 4:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Game Notes        Video    Audio    Live Stats
Kent State plays a Mid-American Conference contest at Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. EST Wednesday in the first game of 2018. The Golden Flashes closed out 2017 with a 67-60 victory at Eastern Michigan on Saturday.
A win would give Kent State (8-5, 1-0 MAC) its first 2-0 start to MAC play since 2010-11 and mark the first time it has started the conference season with two wins on the road since 2001-02, which is also the last time the Flashes played in the NCAA Tournament.
The Flashes used an 11-0 run over the final minute of the third quarter and start of the fourth to take the lead for good in Saturday's MAC opener. Jordan Korinek led all players with 21 points and frontcourt mate McKenna Stephens recorded a double-double with 17 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Megan Carter scored a career-high 16 points in her first game of the season and Alexa Golden matched her career-high with 10 rebounds to go with 9 points.
Kent State is No. 36 in the country in free throws made (208) and has converted 18 more shots from the charity stripe than their opponents have attempted. The Flashes' defense has been a key to success, as they lead the MAC in scoring defense (61.3 ppg) and are second in rebounding margin (+6.2).
Senior Jordan Korinek leads the Flashes in scoring (18.9 ppg) and blocked shots (13) while pulling down 5.8 rpg. Korineks shoots better than 50 percent from the floor and her 71 made free throws ranks 17th nationally. Graduate student McKenna Stephens (10.2 ppg) averages a team-best 6.0 rpg. Junior Alexa Golden (9.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg) leads the Flashes in steals (22), offensve rebounds (27), three-point shooting (.405) and free throw shooting (.803). Senior Naddiyah Cross is averaging a career-best in every major statistical category, including a team-best 5.0 assists per game.
Starting #MACtion on Positive Note
• Kent State improve to 17-19 in MAC openers with a 67-60 win at Eastern Michigan on Saturday, which snapped a streak of 6 consecutive losses to start the conference season.
• The Golden Flashes have not started 2-0 in MAC play since the 2010-11 season when they won their first 5 games.
• Kent State last started 2-0 in MAC play on the road during the 2001-02 season, which is the last time the Flashes played in the NCAA Tournament.
Scouting Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois (8-4, 0-1 MAC) has lost two straight following a four-game winning streak and looks to remain unbeaten at home (3-0) this season. The Huskies are No. 21 scoring team in the country at 81.7 ppg but rank 322nd out of 345 teams in scoring defense (75.3 ppg). NIU is among the nation's top shooting teams and ranks 13th in free throw percentage (.773), 14th in 3-point percentage (.390) and 23rd in 3-pointers per game (9.0).
All five NIU starters score at least 8.5 ppg. Courtney Woods (18.9 ppg), Kelly Smith (16.2 ppg) and Mikayla Voigt (15.0 ppg) are all among the MAC's top 10 scorers. Voight makes 2.83 3-pointers per game and shoots at a .466 percent clip, while Woods averages 2.75 3-pointers and shoots just under 40 percent.
Series History
• Kent State is 20-14 all-time vs. Northern Illinois.
• The Golden Flashes have lost 4 straight in DeKalb by an average score of 72.5-54.8 with an 11-point loss being the closest margin.
• Kent State's last road win in the series came on Jan. 30, 2010 (80-71).
• Last season, NIU won both matchups, 98-97 in Kent and 93-72 in DeKalb.
• For the two games, Larissa Lurken led Kent State with 27.5 ppg and added 6.0 rpg.
• McKenna Stephens posted a team-best 7.0 rpg to go with 17.5 ppg on 16-for-23 shooting (.696). Jordan Korinek added 17.0 ppg.
• Janae Poisson averaged 21.5 ppg to lead 6 Huskies who averaged double-figure points.
FLASHback to Last Meeting
• Kent State fell to Northern Illinois, 93-72, inside of the Convocation Center in DeKalb on Jan. 25, 2017.
• The Golden Flashes had a cold shooting night and went just 25-for-83 (.301) from the floor and 2-for-20 (.100) from 3-point range.
• Kent State held a 51-41 edge on the glass, but converted 24 offensive boards into just 19 points.
• Larissa Lurken led the way with 24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals and 1 assist.
• McKenna Stephens added 19 points on 9-for-13 shooting and 7 rebounds.
• Jordan Korinek had 8 points in just 15 minutes. Korinek was called for her 2nd foul at 6:18 in the first and KSU leading 6-3. She sat the rest of the half and NIU took a 36-30 lead
• The Huskies shot 14-for-21 in the third quarter and outscored KSU 37-21 to break it open.
• NIU had 6 players in double-figures: Mikayla Voigt (18), Abby Lehman (16), Janae Poisson (16), Courtney Woods (15), Kelly Smith (12) and Renee Sladek (10).
• Cassidy Glenn added a game-high 14 rebounds.Â
