Kent State University
0-2,0-0MAC
Saint Francis (Pa.)
1-4,0-0NEC
Kent State Falls in Back-and-Forth Battle at Saint Francis (Pa.)
12/9/2020 8:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LORETTO, Pa. – A three-point attempt in the closing seconds was off the mark as Kent State fell to Saint Francis (Pa.), 67-64, in a road contest Wednesday evening. Neither team led by more than six throughout the contest, which featured eight ties and 10 lead changes.
The Golden Flashes (0-2) converted on each of their first five possessions in the final period to erase a five-point deficit and led 60-55 with 7:14 to play. Only one of the team's final 12 shots found the bottom of the net, however, and the Red Flash ended the night with a 12-4 run to escape with the victory on their homecourt.
Junior Lindsey Thall scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed a team-high seven boards. Sophomore Nila Blackford added 13 points. Junior Mariah Modkins played a solid floor game and finished with nine points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Kent State scored five points in under 20 seconds to take its largest lead of the game, 16-10, at the 2:05 mark of the first quarter. Lindsey Thall drove baseline and converted over her left shoulder while spinning back middle for her first field goal. Casey Santoro then boarded a quick shot by the Red Flash and found Annie Pavlansky on the wing for an open three-pointer before the defense could get set. Pavlansky finished with a career-high seven points. Saint Francis reeled off seven in row and the teams would end the period in a 19-19 tie.
The Flashes scored the first six points in the second quarter on a Clare Kelly three-point field goal and three-point play by Nila Blackford. It took more than four minutes to score again when Blackford drove strong to the basket and converted another three-point play, sparking a 9-0 run. Saint Francis made two baskets in the final minute of the half, but Mariah Modkins pushed the ball down the floor in the closing seconds and found an open lane to the basket for a layup as time expired to put Kent State ahead 36-32 going into the locker room.
Saint Francis outscored the Flashes 21-12 in the third quarter to take a five-point lead into the final 10 minutes of action.
Kent State opened the fourth with Linsey Marchese finding Thall on a high-low pass for a layup. Following an illegal screen by the Red Flash, Blackford knotted the score at 53-53 on her third traditional three-point conversion of the night. Katie Shumate put the Flashes back in the lead with a three-pointer the next time down the floor. Thall and Blackford finished in the paint on the two possessions that followed for a 60-55 lead with 7:14 remaining. Another Thall layup made it 62-58 at the 5:36 mark.
The Flashes would miss their next six shots and fell behind by five before Blackford connected on a pair of free throws with 1:26 to play. The defense stepped up and came through with a shot clock violation, 10-second backcourt violation and steal on the next three Saint Francis possessions, setting up a final chance to tie the game with 3.1 seconds to go. Marchese caught the inbound pass in the corner and fired a shot at the buzzer that was unable to find the bottom of the net.
Kent State will open the home schedule against Ohio at 2 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 11 for the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams.
