Kent State University
12-17, 5-12MAC
Buffalo
24-4, 15-2MAC
Second-Half Struggles Doom Flashes in Home Finale
2/28/2018 11:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball
KENT, Ohio – Kent State dropped its final home game of the season, 81-51, to Mid-American Conference East Division leader Buffalo on Wednesday night at the M.A.C. Center.
The Golden Flashes (12-17, 5-12 MAC) trailed by just eight at halftime, 34-26, as redshirt senior Zenobia Bess finished inside off a pass from graduate student McKenna Stephens to beat the buzzer. The opening 20 minutes of action saw Kent State shoot 12-for-25 (.480) from the field, but shots stopped falling in the second half. The Flashes went just 7-for-30 (.233) over the final two periods and finished 2-for-18 on three-point attempts.
"I thought we had a good first half and did a good job of following the game plan but just missed some shots," said head coach Todd Starkey. "We tried to slow it down and reduce the number of possessions, but they shot the lights out. But in the third quarter, we turned the ball over and it led directly to layups for them. At the end of the day, Buffalo is a very good team. Our margin of error was thin, and we didn't play as well as we needed to."
The Flashes led by as many as four points in the opening minutes of the contest and took a 12-10 lead on a layup by junior Alexa Golden at the 4:40 mark of the first quarter. Buffalo responded with eight straight points as part of an 11-3 run to close the period and go ahead, 21-15.
The Bulls were able to push their lead to double-digits on two occasions in the second period, but Kent State scored on its next trip down the floor both times and played even with its guest for the period, 15-15.
Ali Poole drilled a corner three-pointer to get within 40-33 with 8:09 to play in the third quarter, but Buffalo rattled off 11 straight points and closed the quarter with a 22-3 run to lead by 26 heading into the final period.
The fourth period saw a pair of Kent State freshmen record collegiate firsts. Margaux Eibel made her first field goal and Amanda Sape scored her first point at the free throw line.
Senior Jordan Korinek led the Flashes with 14 points and seven rebounds. Stephens added 10 points and a team-high four assists.
Kent State held a 32-30 rebounding advantage, which included a 12-6 edge on the offensive glass, but was outscored 11-9 on second-chance points.
Buffalo forced 18 turnovers, which led to a 24-9 lead in points off the turnovers. The Bulls also lead 36-18 in points in the paint and 14-2 in fast break scoring.
The Flashes conclude the regular season at Miami on Saturday, March 3 at 1 p.m.
