Kent State University
Toledo
Women’s Hoops Aims for Third Straight Road Win Saturday at Toledo
1/31/2020 3:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Kent State will travel to Toledo on Saturday as it begins February with three of its first four games on the road. Tip inside of Savage Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m.
The Golden Flashes (11-7, 4-3 MAC) defeated Ball State, 69-68, Wednesday night to avenge a loss to the Cardinals in the Mid-American Conference opener. The fourth quarter featured five lead changes, with Kent State going ahead for good on a free throw by Hannah Young with 2:21 remaining. Ball State split a pair of free throws to make it a one-point with 40.0 to play. Megan Carter weaved through the defense to beat the shot clock and go ahead by three and the Cardinals were held to a layup as just 0.1 remained. Carter made half of her 14 field goal attempts and finished with a game-high 20 points. Katie Shumate stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, nine rebounds, career-best five assists, one steal and one block. Nila Blackford added 14 points and eight boards.
Five Golden Flashes are scoring in double-figures for the season. Freshman Nila Blackford is posting team-leading averages of 14.1 points and 7.e rebounds per game. Redshirt senior Megan Carter (12.8 ppg) has scored in double-digits in nine of her past 10 contests against Division I opponents. Sophomore Asiah Dingle (12.6 ppg) leads the Flashes in assists (3.5 apg) and steals (1.9 spg). Freshman Katie Shumate (11.7 ppg) has displayed a versatile skill set and ranks in the top-two on the team in rebounding (6.4 rpg), steals (24) and blocked shots (16). Sophomore Lindsey Thall (10.9 ppg) is second in the MAC in blocked shots (1.8 bpg) and third in three-point field goal percentage (.389).
Scouting Toledo
Toledo (9-9, 5-3 MAC) lost at home against Eastern Michigan, 77-62, on Wednesday and is now 4-3 in home contests this season. The Rockets had won four in a row prior to setbacks in each of their past two contests. Although Toledo ranks third in the MAC in field goal percentage (.414), it is the second-lowest scoring team at 66.5 points per game.
Preseason All-MAC West guard Nakiah Black leads the Rockets at 12.1 points per contest and 33 three-pointers. Freshman guard Quinesha Lockett (8.9 ppg) has come into her own during league play and is averaging a team-best 12.1 points per game against MAC opponents. Mariella Santucci (8.8 ppg) ranks second in the conference in assists per game (4.6) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.57) while leading all conference point guards with 5.9 rebounds per game. Forward Tanaya Beacham adds 9.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
Series History
• Kent State is 32-41 all-time vs. Toledo.
• The Golden Flashes are 3-0 inside of Savage Arena over the past two seasons, but the Rockets are 23-13 overall as the home team.
• This is the first time Kent State has beaten Toledo in three consecutive meetings since ta five-game streak from 2004-08.
• Kent State is 2-2 over the past four contests and has not scored more than 60 points in any of those games.
• The Flashes are 4-1 vs. Toledo under fourth-year head coach Todd Starkey.
• The Rockets had won nine straight matchups prior to Starkey's arrival.
TV / Radio
Dave Wilson will be on the call on the Golden Flashes iHeartRadio channel, while Mason Lowry and Rhett Boyd will bring the action on ESPN3.
Next Up for Kent State
The Golden Flashes will return to the M.A.C. Center on Wednesday to host Bowling Green in a 7 p.m. contest.
