Kent State classes were off for winter break, but the athletics were in full swing.

Four teams competed over the break, which took place from Dec. 7  – Jan. 12. Men’s basketball, women’s basketball, wrestling and gymnastics all took part in at least one event in the time frame.

Women’s basketball contributed the most wins with five while wrestling had a much harder time finding victory.

Here is what the teams did while students were out of class:

Men’s basketball

The Flashes started the break with a 25-point win over Mercyhurst Dec. 15. In the 82-57 victory, four players scored 15 points or more, and redshirt senior forward VonCameron Davis scored a game-high 17 points to go along with his two rebounds and three assists.

A week later, Kent State matched up with the No. 6 team in the country in the Alabama Crimson Tide. In the road game, KSU had a hard time getting something going, and the Flashes ultimately fell 81-54. No players scored in double figures in the game. Alabama is now the AP’s No. 4 team in the nation, meaning two of Kent State’s four losses have come at the hands of top five teams (the other came to No. 1 Auburn).

The team got back in the win column with a narrow 84-80 win over Heidelberg. Kent State was losing at halftime but outscored Heidelberg by 10 points in the second half. Senior guard Jalen Sullinger erupted for 25 points, two rebounds and four assists in the win.

In the first game of Mid-American Conference play, Kent State welcomed Ball State but lost 75-67. Davis led the team in scoring with 20 points, but the team fell quickly to 0-1 in MAC competition.

Three days later on Jan. 7, KSU traveled to Northern Illinois to take on the Huskies. The game was never particularly close, as the Flashes were leading 35-21 at the half and ultimately won 68-50. Davis showed out again with a double-double, where he accumulated 31 points and 10 rebounds. He also added four assists and shot the ball 28 times in 31 minutes.

In the final game of the break, KSU took on Buffalo, and the score was almost identical. This time, however, the Flashes pulled ahead in the second half, extending a four-point halftime lead to 19 points in a 68-49 victory. Once again, much of the scoring came from Davis, who led the team with 20 points while adding eight rebounds and four assists.

Following the break, KSU sits at 11-4 overall with a 2-1 conference record after the 4-2 break record. The Flashes are tied with the best overall record in the MAC, but the early conference loss dropped the team to tied for second in the conference, with four teams above KSU (all with undefeated MAC records).

Davis leads the team in scoring with 16.7 points per game. He is tied for 127th in the nation in scoring per game and ranks third in the MAC in the same stat.

Kent State is No. 19 in the Mid Major Top 25 rankings, and the team is the highest ranking MAC team on the list.

Women’s basketball

The women’s team opened the break on a heater, winning four of the first five games with the loss coming in overtime.

In the first game, KSU thoroughly handled Virginia University of Lynchburg in a 103-41 win. The win marked the second time this season the team has reached 100 points or more in a game. Kent State’s lowest scoring quarter was 19 points while VUL’s highest scoring quarter was 17 points. In the second quarter, VUL scored only two points and scored only nine points in the third quarter. Six players scored in double figures, and freshman guard Meghan Murray had a standout game with 11 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds.

The overtime loss came in the next game against Coppin State. KSU surged back in the fourth quarter to force overtime, as the team outscored CSU 21-7 in the frame. The Flashes ran out of steam in the overtime period, and the team fell 67-61. Senior forward Bridget Dunn hauled in a ridiculous 18 rebounds in the game.

The team came off the loss with a purpose and rattled off three straight wins starting with John Carroll. In the 97-59 win, the Flashes outscored John Carroll in every quarter, and five players were in double-figure scoring.

Against Bowling Green, KSU rang in the new year with a 10-point victory. The team got off to a good MAC start in the 81-71 win. Kent State led by only three points going into halftime but kept good distance from BGSU in the win where the Flashes held the Falcons to only 36.1% shooting.

The third win in the stretch came against Buffalo where senior guard Jenna Batsch ran the show. She shot an efficient 8-14 from the floor with 23 points, three rebounds and five assists. Dunn had an elite 15-point, 16-rebound game. Both players led the Flashes to an 82-73 victory.

The Flashes hit a bump in the road against one of the MAC’s best teams in Toledo after the win. The 11-point defeat marked the first of MAC play. In the 70-59 loss, only three players scored in double figures, and KSU shot an abysmal 11.1% from beyond the arc.

To close it out, the team defeated Ohio in a 79-64 rout. Batsch continued to lead the offense, as she contributed 19 points, while Dunn played her role perfectly with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Over the course of the break, KSU went 5-2 overall and 3-1 in MAC play. The team is now 10-6 overall and tied for second in the conference. Only Ball State has a better conference record, and three other teams share the 3-1 MAC record.

Wrestling

Wrestling had a rough go of it over the break, as the team went 0-5 in games that count on the record.

On Dec. 14, KSU participated in an event where the team played Garnder-Webb, Buffalo and Rutgers.

KSU kept it close against Gardner-Webb and Buffalo, as the results ended up being 24-18 and 20-18, respectively. Against Rutgers, however, the team won one match and lost the game 42-3, making the Flashes go 0-3 in the event.

Junior Billy Meiszner won his match in all three games.

A few days later, Kent State went head-to-head against Northern Illinois but came up just short in a 23-19 loss. Once again, Meiszner took home a win for his weight class in a 14-0 major decision victory.

Kent State participated in an open event before taking on Purdue for its first event in 2025. Purdue handled the Flashes in a 31-10 domination, and Meiszner won again in a 9-5 decision. 

Meiszner is 13-5 to start the season, and the Flashes are 1-8 as a team this season. The team is last in the MAC West Division with an 0-2 conference record.

Gymnastics

The gymnastics team has started the season off strong. The team has participated in one event that went toward its record, and the team played Fisk and Wilberforce. Kent State defeated both teams.

In the Tri-Meet event, Kent State took first place in every category, and the team swept the podium in bars, beam and floor. The best KSU score of the day came from senior Alyssa Guns in the beam event and sophomore Dani Fuertez in the floor event. Both scored a 9.850. Overall, the team defeated Fisk 193.775-189.075 and defeated Wilberforce 193.775-141.375.

Kent State is 2-0 to start the season and has yet to play a conference game.

What’s next?

The men’s basketball team will play Tuesday against Western Michigan with tipoff at 7 p.m. in the M.A.C. Center. The team will play five more games in January, all of which will be against MAC opponents. On Jan. 31, the Flashes will renew its rivalry against Akron with a home game at 7 p.m.

On Wednesday, the women’s basketball team will pick it back up with a home game against Ball State at 7 p.m. in the M.A.C. Center. KSU’s home game against Akron won’t be until Feb. 1.

Wrestling will take to the mats next on Friday against SIUE at 7 p.m in the M.A.C. Center. Last season, the Flashes were defeated, but overall, the team has a 6-2 record against SIUE.

Gymnastics will travel to West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers in a head-to-head matchup. The match will take place Thursday at 7 p.m.

The only other sport starting its season in January is track and field. The team will be taking part in the Jud Logan Memorial event Jan. 18.

John Hilber is sports editor. Contact him at [email protected].