Kent State University
6-3,5-1MAC
Miami
2-15,1-12MAC
Kent State Beats Miami on Thall’s Putback in Closing Seconds
2/6/2021 5:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball
KENT, Ohio — Junior Lindsey Thall scored a putback layup with 1.8 seconds remaining for the decisive points in Kent State's 71-69 win against Miami on Saturday in the first of three games in five days at the M.A.C. Center.
The Golden Flashes (6-3, 5-1 MAC) improved to 4-0 at home this season and remain atop the Mid-American Conference standings.
Kent State's starting frontcourt of sophomore Nila Blackford and Thall led the way and outscored their counterparts, 40-9. Blackford scored a team-high 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Thall finished with 17 points and four blocked shots.
Miami scored the game's first five points before the Flashes' defense fueled a 16-2 run. Kent State scored 12 points off turnovers during the run, which included swipes for scores by Blackford on consecutive possessions. The Louisville native scored on an up-and-under in the lane in the closing seconds to give her eight points in the first quarter and the Flashes a 20-14 lead through 10 minutes.
The second period was Kent State's lowest-scoring since the opening stanza of the season against 19th-ranked Ohio State. The Flashes were outscored 19-9 following a 2-of-10 shooting performance and nine turnovers, and the RedHawks took a 36-32 lead into the locker room.
Miami scored on its third attempt of the third period's first possession to take its largest lead of the day. Both teams scored on their next two possession and the RedHawks' lead remained at six until an 8-0 run put Kent State back ahead. Lindsey Thall started the spurt with a three-pointer. Clare Kelly added a trifecta two possessions later to even the score and then a pullup to make it 41-39 with 6:36 remaining in the period. The Flashes' lead was still two, 52-50, going into the final quarter.
Kelly made her second three-pointer of the game to make it 62-55 with 5:18 to play, but Miami refused to go away and tied it at 65-65 at the 2:28 mark. Thall answered immediately with two free throws with 2:07 left. Following a defensive stop, Thall had a lefty hook shot in the lane roll halfway down the cylinder before spinning out, and the RedHawks connected on a baseline jump shot to tie it again with 58.0 seconds left.
Blackford scored on a well-executed play to make 69-67 with 43.4 seconds on the clock. Miami's Peyton Scott, who had 17 of her game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter, was able to bank in a contested shot with 30.5 seconds to play and gave it back to the Flashes with a chance to essentially hold for the final shot in regulation.
Just after the game clock went below 10 seconds, Thall entered the ball inside to Blackford, who patiently accepted a double-team and found an open teammate at the top of the three-point arc. Junior Mariah Modkins' shot was slightly off to the left, but Thall had crashed hard and grabbed Kent State's fifth offensive rebound of the day. Thall was able to avoid teammate Katie Shumate and banked the shot in.
Following an official review that adjusted the clock to 1.8 seconds and a Miami timeout to advance the ball into the frontcourt, Shumate smothered the inbounds pass and dribbled the clock out to secure the win.
Sophomore Clare Kelly bounced back from a tough night in Athens on Wednesday, making all five of her shot attempts for 12 points and grabbing five rebounds. Freshman Casey Santoro added five points and a career-high seven assists off the bench.
Kent State entered the contest with the second-lowest free throw percentage in the conference but converted 17 of 18 shots from the charity stripe for a season-best 94.4 percent.
The Flashes will have one day off before hosting Toledo at 2 p.m. on Monday, February 8. A showdown against second-place Bowling Green will follow on Wednesday, February 10.
