Kent State University
19-12
Buffalo
21-9
Kent State Falls in MAC Women’s Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals
3/13/2019 7:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Redshirt junior Megan Carter scored 19 points and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds as fifth-seeded Kent State fell to fourth-seeded Buffalo, 85-52, in a Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game on Wednesday afternoon inside of Quicken Loans Arena.
"This is just a small piece of our whole season, it doesn't define who we've been all year," said head coach Todd Starkey. "It just happens to be in the conference tournament when the lights are the brightest, so it stings a little bit more."
The Golden Flashes (19-12) held the Bulls to their lowest scoring game of the season and 26-percent shooting in a wire-to-wire 62-53 Senior Day victory against the Bulls on Saturday. However, Buffalo shot 50-percent on Wednesday and scored more points than any Kent State opponent had all season.
Buffalo made its first four shots to lead 11-0 in the opening minutes. The Flashes scored on their next three possessions, with Megan Carter's three-pointer cutting the deficit to 11-7. Kent State was unable to score for nearly five minutes after the mini-run, and trailed 20-9 at the end of the first period.
A 12-2 run in the middle of the second period helped Buffalo pull away and take a 41-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Flashes continued to fight despite trailing by greater than 20 points for most of the second half. An 8-0 run, which included six straight points by Carter, made it a 64-44 game with 6:31 remaining. However, Kent State was only able to make one of its 10 shots the rest of the way.
Senior Alexa Golden led Kent State with five steals and three assists to go with five rebounds. Senior Merissa Barber-Smith had six points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.
"Those kids gave me make everything they had," Starkey noted about the team's two seniors. "And when you take over a program, that's all you're looking for is for players to trust you, and they did. They just trusted us. They wanted to win. I care a great deal for both of them. I can't think of two better players to set the foundation for where we want to go."
Freshman Lindsey Thall joined Carter in double-digits with 12 points. Thall drained a pair of three-pointers to move into fifth on Kent State's single-season list with 61. The Strongsville, Ohio native also had one rejection, giving her 52 and sole possession of eighth on the program's single-season list.
"One of my favorite quotes is, 'Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.' And for all of our underclassmen, this isn't a final defeat. For our seniors, we hope it's not a final defeat because we think we have a favorable resume to get a WNIT bid. But I'm really pleased with where this program is right now and where we're headed."
Kent State hopes to return to the postseason for the second time during Starkey's three-year tenure as head coach. The WNIT will announce its field a few hours after the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed Monday night. Updates will be available on KentStateSports.com and Twitter as they become available.
