Kent State University
Ohio
Women’s Basketball to Battle Bobcats Saturday at M.A.C. Center
2/9/2018 4:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Game Notes (PDF)    Video    Audio    Live Stats  Â
Kent State returns to the M.A.C. Center to host Mid-American Conference East Division rival Ohio on Saturday at 2 p.m., beginning a stretch with four of five games played at home.
The Golden Flashes (11-13, 4-8 MAC) aim to bounce back from a tough visit to MAC East leader Buffalo on Wednesday. The Bulls handed Kent State an 80-42 loss that surpassed the previous largest margin of defeat by 13 points. Although the Flashes committed just 14 turnovers, the fewest by a UB opponent this season, they struggled to finish plays on the offensive end of the court. Kent State shot a season-low 13-for-62 (.210) overall from the field and went 1-for-17 from beyond the three-point arc. Jordan Korinek led all scorers with 22 points in just 25 minutes of action. All 13 Flashes in uniform played at least three minutes with Korinek being the only one to score more than five points. Alexa Golden grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds.
Kent State has found success when it has been able to get to the free throw line. The Flashes are No. 6 in the country in free throws made (386) and No. 16 in free throw attempts (518) for a 74.5 percentage that is second in the conference. Kent State's 5.1 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 second nationally in free throws made (155) and fourth in free throws attempted (186). Graduate student McKenna Stephens (9.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg) provides a versatile frontcourt presence as Kent State's leading rebounder and second on the team in three-pointers (26).
The starting backcourt of senior Naddiyah Cross (5.3 ppg, 3.5 apg,) and junior Alexa Golden (7.3 ppg, 5.8 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 65 free throws after combining to make only 37 in her first two seasons. Sophomore Ali Poole (8.3 ppg) leads the Flashes with 30 three-pointers in her first season as a starter.
Redshirt sophomore Megan Carter (11.0 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 this season.
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 1,647 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 three rebounds to tie Ann Forbes (1989-92) for eighth.
Scouting Ohio
Ohio lost by just two to Central Michigan, the MAC's lone unbeaten team in league play, on Wednesday after upsetting Ball State on Saturday. Freshman guard Cierra Hooks averaged 29.0 ppg in the two contests.
As a team, Ohio averages 67.4 points per game while allowing 66.8 points per game. The Bobcats are among the top 10 teams in the country in turnovers forced per game (23.68), steals per game (13.1) andÂ
Cierra Hooks is Ohio's top scorer (14.3 ppg) and rebounder (5.1 rpg) while ranking ninth in the country in steals per game (3.5). Dominique Doseck (10.5 ppg) is team's top shooting threat from the perimeter and averages 2.2 three-pointers per game to go with 2.2 steals per game. Taylor Agler (7.9 ppg, 4.5 apg) is third in the MAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.0).Â
Series History
• Kent State is 53-28 all-time vs. Ohio.
• The Golden Flashes snapped a four-game losing streak in the series by defeating the Bobcats in both matchups a season ago.
• Kent State is 29-9 all-time when hosting Ohio at the M.A.C. Center.
• The Flashes' 19-game winning streak from Jan. 10, 1996 through Jan, 28, 2004 is the longest for either school.
FLASHback to Last Meeting
• Kent State closed overtime with an 11-2 run to secure an 83-77 victory over Ohio inside of the M.A.C. Center on Feb. 18, 2017 to move into a tie for first-place in the MAC East Division.
• After allowing a six-point lead in the final minute of regulation slip away and falling behind by three points in overtime, the Golden Flashes responded with nine straight points for the 15th, and final, lead change of the contest.
• McKenna Stephens made a pair of free throws to give Kent State a 71-67 lead with 8 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but Amani Burke scored a quick layup following a timeout that advanced the ball to midcourt, and Kelly Karlis followed with a steal and layup to send the game to the extra period.
• The Flashes focused on getting the ball to the basket and attempted just seven three-points compared to 32 three-point attempts for the Bobcats. As a result, Kent State shot 45 free throws to 21 by Ohio.
• Larissa Lurken led the way with 31 points, including 10 during overtime. Lurken shot 12-for-13 at the foul line.
• Stephens (15 points, 11 rebounds) finished with a double-double and had a team-high three steals.
• Jordan Korinek (15 points) and Megan Carter (14 points) also scored in double-figures for Kent State.
• Quiera Lampkins paced Ohio with 18 points, while Karlis led the Bobcats with seven rebounds and four steals.
• Taylor Agler and Dominique Doseck added 11 points each.
TV / Radio
Dave Wilson and Brad Hamilton are on the call on ESPN3 and Rob Polinsky brings fans the action on the Golden Flashes iHeartRadio channel.
Next Up For Kent State                     Â
The Golden Flashes will have a bye during Wednesday's conference action then return to action with the annual Play 4 Kay game against Miami on Saturday, Feb. 17.
