Kent State University
Buffalo
Flashes Visit MAC East Leader Buffalo Wednesday Night
2/7/2018 2:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Game Notes   Video   Audio   Live Stats  Â
Kent State seeks its seventh true road victory of the season Wednesday night when it takes on Mid-American Conference East Division leader Buffalo at 7 p.m. inside of Alumni Arena. The Golden Flashes are 6-5 overall in true road games but have dropped four of the past five.
Kent State (11-12, 4-7 MAC) aims to bounce back from a 72-62 loss to Northern Illinois on Saturday. The Flashes settled for perimeter shots against the Huskies' zone and went 4-for-23 (.174) from three-point range. The starting backcourt of Megan Carter (19 points) and Erin Thames (career-high 13 points) combined for more than half of Kent State's points and committed just two turnovers in 61 minutes of action. Jordan Korinek posted 14 points and nine rebounds in just 27 minutes. The rest of the team combined for 16 points on 7-for-24 (.292) shooting.
The Flashes have found success when they have been able to get to the free throw line. Kent State is No. 6 in the country in free throws made (371) and No. 19 in free throw attempts (494) for a 75.1 percentage that is second in the conference. Kent State's +5.8 rebounding margin is second in the MAC with nine games in which it has outrebounded its opponent by double-digits.
Senior Jordan Korinek is the conference's third-leading scorer (20.6 ppg) and adds 6.8 rebounds per game. The All-MAC forward ranks fourth nationally in free throws made (145) and seventh in free throws attempted (172). Graduate student McKenna Stephens (10.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg) provides a versatile frontcourt presence as Kent State's leading rebounder and second on the team in three-pointers (25).
The starting backcourt of senior Naddiyah Cross (5.5 ppg, 3.7 apg,) and junior Alexa Golden (7.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg) are putting up career-bests in every major statistical category while playing more minutes than any other backcourt tandem in the conference. Golden has already made 62 free throws after combining to make only 37 in her first two seasons. Sophomore Ali Poole (8.5 ppg) leads the Flashes with 30 three-pointers in her first season as a starter.
Redshirt sophomore Megan Carter (11.6 ppg) has provided an offensive boost since returning to action at the start of the conference season. Carter has set a new career-high scoring mark three times and has scored at least seven points in seven of eight games played.
Record Book Watch
Seniors Naddiyah Cross and Jordan Korinek both broke into the top-10 in program history in statistical categories during Kent State's 62-55 victory at Toledo on Jan. 24.
Cross is tied with Darlene Wolfe (1978-81) for ninth for in the record book with 370 assists and is 13 assists away from tying Denise Duncan (1981-83) for eighth.
Korinek passed both Mary Bukovac (1986-89) and Carrie Templin (1995-98) with 30 points in the contest against the Rockets. The Akron, Ohio native is now ninth on the all-time scoring list with 1,625 points and could crack the top-5 before her career ends.
Korinek added 11 rebounds against Toledo to pass Margie Zezulewicz (1976-79) for 10th in program history and bring her career total to 659. She has since moved ahead of Marvetta Froe (1987-90) and needs nine rebounds to tie Ann Forbes (1989-92) for eighth.
Scouting Buffalo
Buffalo (17-4, 8-2 MAC) is off to the best start in program history and is No. 12 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. The Bulls received two votes in this week's USA Today/WBCA Top 25 Poll and enters Wednesday at No. 22 in the RPI. Buffalo is 7-0 at home this season with an average score of 80.4-62.6.
As a team, Buffalo averages 76.5 points per game while allowing 66.8 points per game. The Bulls are among the top 10 teams in the country in turnovers forced per game (22.9) and steals per game (13.7) while ranking second in the conference in blocks per game (5.0) and field goal percentage defense (.379).
Guard Cierra Dillard is Buffalo's top scorer at 15.7 points per game. Dillard, a transfer from UMass, ranks second in the MAC in steals per game (3.1), sixth in assists per game (4.8) and seventh in three-pointers per game (2.3). Point guard Stephanie Reid is (11.1 ppg) second in the conference in assists per game (7.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.39), while ranking third in steals per game (2.88) and fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.426). Center Cassie Oursler (13.1 ppg) is the Bulls' top interior scorer and is second in the MAC with 1.95 blocks per game. Forward Summer Hemphill (10.2 ppg) averages a team-best 7.2 rebounds per game to go with 1.70 blocks per game.
Series History
• Kent State is 25-13 all-time vs. Buffalo.
• The Golden Flashes snapped a 10-game losing streak in the series with an 80-71 victory at the M.A.C. Center in last year's season finale to clinch an outright MAC East Division crown.
• Kent State is 11-7 all-time at Buffalo and has lost six straight with the last victory on Jan. 8, 2011 (72-63).
• The Flashes won the first 19 meetings between the schools, beginning with an 86-77 victory on Jan. 13, 1999.
FLASHback to Last Meeting
• Kent State closed the game with a 10-4 run to secure an 80-71 victory over Buffalo and an outright MAC East Division championship inside of the M.A.C. Center on March 4, 2017.
• After allowing a seven-point lead slip away in the third period, the Golden Flashes responded with 12 straight points to go ahead, 56-46, with 1:11 in the period.
• The Bulls made it a one-possession game (70-67) on a pair of Cassie Oursler free throws with 2:26 remaining, but McKenna Stephens drilled a three-pointer on Kent State's next possession to spark a 7-0 run that helped put the game out of reach.
• The Flashes shot the ball well from beyond the three-point arc (8-for-14; .571) and at the free throw line (26-for-30; .867) in the victory.
• Larissa Lurken (32 points, 13 rebounds) and Stephens (11 points, 10 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles. Lurken was a perfect 15-for-15 at the foul line.
• Megan Carter (13 points) and Jordan Korinek (12 points) led Kent State to a 35-9 advantage in bench scoring. Carter shot 3-for-3 from the three-point line and finished with a career-high five assists.
• Buffalo shot just 29-for-75 (.387) from the floor overall and 3-for-21 (.143) on three-point attempts. Despite 17 offensive rebounds, the Bulls had just nine second chance points.
• Oursler paced Buffalo with 21 points and nine rebounds.
• Stephanie Reid added 17 points, eight assists and five steals.
• Leading scorer JoAnna Smith was held 5-for-23 shooting and finished with 13 points.
TV / Radio
Dave Wilson will have the call on the Golden Flashes iHeartRadio channel and 640 WHLO and Josh Whetzel and Amy Audibert will call the game on ESPN3.
Next Up For Kent State                  Â
The Golden Flashes return to the M.A.C. Center for their next two games and will host Ohio on Saturday, Feb. 10 and Miami on Saturday, Feb. 17.
