Kent State University
UCLA
Gulf Coast Showcase Up Next for Golden Flashes
11/25/2021 10:47:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Kent State women's basketball team will spend Thanksgiving in Estero, Florida before playing three games as part of the Gulf Coast Showcase, beginning Friday at 1:30 p.m. against 19th-ranked UCLA. The eight-team tournament will be played at Hertz Arena.
The Golden Flashes have started 3-0 for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign when they opened with six straight victories and captured an early-season tournament title at the Great Alaska Shootout.
Career victory No. 250 was memorable for head coach Todd Starkey, as Kent State hit the century mark for the first time in 21 years during last Thursday's 101-40 victory over John Carroll. All 12 Flashes in uniform made a field goal and rebounded a missed shot. Nine players contributed to a 15-of-31 shooting performance from behind the three-point arc and Kent State recorded a season-high 23 assists.
The Flashes' offensive efficiency has been elite in the early weeks of the season, ranking in the top 25 nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.426), three-pointers per game (9.7), turnover margin (+9.33) and scoring average (84.0). Kent State also leads the Mid-American Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.31) and field goal percentage (.475).
Sophomore Casey Santoro has been one of the nation's most productive non-starting players and is the Flashes' top scorer at 15.0 points per game. Santoro ranks third in the MAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.67) and fourth in assists per game (4.7). Senior Lindsey Thall is averaging 13.3 points and team-best 6.7 rebounds. Juniors Katie Shumate (12.0 ppg) and Nila Blackford (10.0 ppg) are also double-figure scorers.
Scouting No. 19 UCLA
Despite playing with a depleted roster in the early portion of the season, the Bruins (3-0) also bring an unbeaten record to Estero. Only eight players have seen the court so far season, and standout Charisma Osborne was unavailable during the team's 69-57 victory over Virginia on Sunday. UCLA is averaging 73.3 points per game while tanking in the top 25 in the country in three-point field goal percentage (.446), free throw percentage (.848) and field goal percentage (.485).
Named to a trio of national player of the year preseason watch lists, Osborne has averaged 21.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the two games she has played. Transfers Ilmar'l Thomas (Cincinnati) and Jaelynn Penn (Indiana) have made immediate impacts for the Bruins. Thomas, who enters the weekend with 1,986 career points, is averaging 20.3 points per game while shooting 61.9% from the floor. Penn adds 12.7 points per game while leading the team in rebounding (6.0 rpg) and assists (5.0 apg). Natalie Chou (11.0 ppg), an All-Pac-12 honorable mention performer a season ago, scored a game-high 20 points against Virginia. Two additional transfers, Gina Conti (Wake Forest) and Angela Dugalic (Oregon), have not made their UCLA debuts. Conti was named to the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year preseason watch list and Dugalic was a member of Serbia's national team that played in the Olympic bronze medal game this past summer.
Series History
• Kent State and UCLA will meet on the hardwood for the first time.
• The Golden Flashes are 2-6 all-time against schools currently in the Pac-12 with a 2-1 record against Washington while going 0-1 against Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Stanford and USC.
• Head coach Todd Starkey is 0-1 against the Pac-12, falling 79-54 to No. 14 Stanford in the opening round of the 2017 Play4Kay Showcase in Las Vegas.
• Starkey is 0-5 against ranked opponents and 0-12 against schools from Power 5 conferences.
• Kent State's most recent win against a Power 5 opponent was a 59-58 victory over Washington in the opening round of the Great Alaska Shootout on Nov. 23, 2010.
• The Flashes are 1-6 all-time against the Gulf Coast Showcase field with a 1-3 record against UMass, 0-2 record against Penn State and 0-1 record against Iowa State.
Broadcast Info
Spencer Siegel, Kelsey Wilkinson, Cameron Irwin will call the action on FloHoops, while Dave Wilson will be on the call on the Kent State Radio Network.
Next Up for Kent State
The Golden Flashes will play South Dakota State or UMass on Saturday, Nov. 27 at either 11 a.m. or 5 p.m.
