Kent State University
Eastern Michigan
Women’s Basketball Visits Eastern Michigan for Mid-Week #MACtion
2/12/2019 6:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Kent State will hit the road on Wednesday to take on Eastern Michigan in a Mid-American Conference matchup scheduled for 7 p.m. inside of the Convocation Center.
For the second straight road game, the Golden Flashes (12-9, 5-5 MAC) were unable to overcome a slow start in a 75-66 loss at Buffalo on Saturday. Kent State trailed 11-2 at the game's first media timeout and faced a 20-point deficit early in the third quarter. The Flashes played some of their best ball of the season in fighting back to get within 59-55 with 6:55 remaining, but a three-minute scoring drought allowed the Bulls to regain a double-digit lead. Alexa Golden, Ali Poole and Lindsey Thall all drained three three-pointers, as Kent State made double-figure trifectas for the seventh time this season. Poole and Megan Carter led the way with 16 points apiece and Golden added 15 points, four assists and three steals.
Guard Megan Carter (16.4 ppg) has scored at least 12 points in all but three games this season and is second on the team with 50 assists. The MAC's seventh-leading scorer has hit the 20-point mark in five of the past seven games. Freshman Asiah Dingle (12.5 ppg) has provided a scoring threat at the point guard position. Forward Lindsey Thall (9.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg) leads Kent State with 36 three-pointers to go with a MAC-best 35 blocks. Center Merissa Barber-Smith is the team's top rebounder at 6.7 per game and has 23 blocked shots. Guard Alexa Golden (7.8 ppg) leads the team in assists (2.5 apg), steals (2.6 spg) and three-point field goal percentage (.383).
Scouting Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan (10-11, 3-7 MAC) has lost four in a row following a 63-43 setback at Toledo on Saturday. The Eagles' lowest-scoring game of the season included a season-low nine turnovers. EMU owns a 7-2 record at home with both losses coming in overtime.
The Eagles rank 11th in the MAC with an average of 62.0 points per game and are last in field goal percentage (.373), three-point field goal percentage (.281) and free throw percentage (.571).
The guard trio of Danielle Minott (15.1 ppg), Corrione Cardwell (13.3 ppg) and Courtnie Lewis (10.4 ppg) combines for better than 61-percent of the team's scoring. Minott also leads EMU with 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. The Preseason All-MAC West Division selection has made a team-high 42 three-point field goals and has averaged 24.0 points over four home games against MAC opponents. Cardwell is among the most-improved players in the MAC and has increased her scoring averaging by nearly 10 points from last season. Freshman Jenna Annecchiarico (7.1 ppg, 3.4 apg) owns a conference-best 2.15 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Series History
• Kent State is 39-27 all-time vs. Eastern Michigan.
• The Golden Flashes are 5-0 under third-year head coach Todd Starkey after losing 11 consecutive contests to the Eagles.
• Kent State has won each of the past three meetings by seven points.
• All three games have been decided in the fourth quarter. Last season, the score was tied entering the final 10 minutes of both games, while EMU led by one in this year's MAC opener.
• The Flashes are 12-19 in trips to Ypsilanti.
• Kent State's 19-game winning streak from 1992-03 is the longest for either team.
• The Flashes have won both games that have required overtime. Most recently, KSU came out on top in double-overtime, 96-94, in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals on March 3, 2000 in Cleveland.
TV / Radio
Dave Wilson will be on the call on 640 WHLO and the Golden Flashes iHeartRadio channel, while Ryan Wooley and Greg Steiner bring the action on ESPN+.
Next Up for Kent State
The Golden Flashes will return to the M.A.C. Center for the annual Play4Kay game against Bowling Green on Saturday, Feb. 16.
