Golden Flashes Visit Western Michigan Wednesday Night
2/19/2019 3:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Kent State will visit the Mitten State for the week in a row for a contest at Western Michigan on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.
The Golden Flashes (14-9, 7-5 MAC) held off a late Bowling Green rally on Saturday in a 77-73 victory that improved them to 9-2 at home this season. Asiah Dingle provided the winning points on two free throws with 5.5 on the clock. Kent State then forced a turnover and Megan Carter added two more free throws with 1.6 to play. Four Flashes reached double-figures, led by Dingle's game-high 21 points. Ali Poole drained four three-pointers and finished with 17 points. Carter scored 16 and Lindsey Thall added 12 points. ent State forced 23 turnovers in the contest and had 13 steals. Dingle led the defensive pressure with five swipes, matching her career-high. Alexa Golden added four steals
Guard Megan Carter (16.2 ppg) has scored at least 12 points in all but three games this season and is second on the team with 53 assists. The MAC's seventh-leading scorer is 7-for-10 from behind the three-point arc over the past four games. Freshman Asiah Dingle (12.4 ppg) has provided a scoring threat at the point guard position. Forward Lindsey Thall (9.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg) leads Kent State with 38 three-pointers and her 35 blocked shots rank second in the MAC. Center Merissa Barber-Smith is the team's top rebounder at 6.6 per game and has 24 blocked shots. Guard Alexa Golden (8.2 ppg) leads the team in assists (2.5 apg), steals (2.7 spg) and three-point field goal percentage (.395).
Scouting Western Michigan
Western Michigan (8-15, 2-10 MAC) fell to Northern Illinois, 77-64, on Monday evening in DeKalb. The Broncos have failed to score more than 65 points during the current six-game losing streak. WMU owns a 3-8 home record and has not beaten a Division I opponent inside of University Arena since Dec. 9.
Averaging a MAC-low 60.8 points per game, Western Michigan is 1-13 when it fails to score 63. The Broncos are in the bottom three of the conference in field goal percentage (.380) and three-point percentage (.289). WMU is the worst rebounding team in the league (32.4 rpg) and ranks 339th in the country in rebounding margin (-9.1)
Deja Wimby provides versatility at the guard position with averages of 13.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. The former MAC All-Defensive Team member ranks 23rd in the country with 2.89 steals per game. Forwards Leighah-Amori Wool (11.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and Jasmyn Walker (9.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg) provide solid production in the post. Forward Meredith Miller (7.7 ppg) is the Broncos' top shooter with 46 three-pointers and guard Kamrin Reed (9.3 ppg) is having a breakout junior season.
Series History
• Kent State is 31-26 all-time vs. Western Michigan.
• The Golden Flashes have a 13-15 all-time road record vs. the Broncos.
• Kent State has won four of its last five visits to Kalamazoo, including a 71-67 victory most recently on Jan. 18, 2017.
• The Broncos have won four of the last six meetings overall, including a 66-61 victory last season in Kent.
• The Flashes are is 2-1 vs. Western Michigan under third-year head coach Todd Starkey.
TV / Radio
Dave Wilson will be on the call on 640 WHLO and the Golden Flashes iHeartRadio channel, while Conor Clingen brings the action on ESPN+.
Next Up for Kent State
The Golden Flashes will play their final two games of the February at the M.A.C. Center, beginning with a game against Ohio on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m.
