Kent State University
14-6,6-3MAC
Akron
14-6,5-4MAC
Flashes Lock Down Rival Zips, Win Third in a Row
2/1/2023 10:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball
AKRON, Ohio — Kent State held rival Akron to 30 points through the first three quarters and held on for a 57-55 Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge victory on the road Wednesday evening.
The Golden Flashes (14-6, 6-3 MAC) have won three consecutive games and moved ahead of the Zips for sole possession of fourth place in the Mid-American Conference standings at the midpoint of the league schedule.
Graduate student Hannah Young scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed six rebounds to share the team lead. Senior Katie Shumate joined her in double-figures with 11 and added three steals to match her season-high.
Kent State committed a season-low nine turnovers compared to 18 for its hosts to offset being outrebounded 43-31.
Young got the scoring started with a three-pointer in the opening minute and the Flashes led 6-0 as the defense forced Zips to miss its first eight shots. The lead reached seven with two minutes remaining in the first quarter, but a five-minute scoreless stretch followed as Akron went ahead 14-11.
A traditional three-point play by Young tied it up and started a 13-4 run to lead by six with under two minutes left in the second period. The Zips then scored the final five points to get within 24-23 at halftime.
The Flashes scored nine straight midway through the third quarter as part of a 17-4 run and took a 13-point lead into the final 10 minutes.
Graduate student Lindsey Thall gave Kent State its largest lead of the night, 49-34, on a layup with just 8:32 remaining, but Akron battled back to make it a one-possession game with 39.4 seconds to play. Freshman Corynne Hauser then drilled a pull-up inside of the elbow to extend the Flashes' lead to 55-50 with 13.0 left. The Zips made their second three-pointer in a row to get within two with 8.2 seconds on the clock. Shumate followed by calmly sinking two free throws to push the lead to four, and Akron added a putback at the buzzer for a two-point final margin.
Kent State will travel to first-place Ball State on Saturday, Feb. 4 concluding a stretch of four of five games on the road.
