A dynamic and efficient offensive outing led the Kent State women’s basketball team to an 80-50 win over Western Michigan Saturday in the M.A.C. Center.
The Flashes bounced back in grand fashion after a disappointing loss to Ball State Wednesday. The offense looked completely refined from start to finish with less self-inflicted mistakes.
“It’s going to be really important for us to be able to continue to start moving in the direction of significant consistency as we move towards the end of January and February,” coach Todd Starkey said. “The conference is a grind, and there are times you’re a little bit off, and you have to respond.”
The Flashes had 11 turnovers compared to 17 against Ball State. The team’s shooting was also a whopping improvement with splits of 30-56 (54%) from the field, 10-21 (48%) from three-point range and 10-11 (91%) from the free throw line.
The team also posted a balanced scoring effort with 36 points in the paint and 30 from beyond the three-point line.
“When players were open, they weren’t rushing it,” Starkey said. “They were playing through their shots how we like them to.”
During the first quarter and leading into the second, the Flashes’ offense worked primarily through the post utilizing drives, cuts and post play. This forced the Western Michigan defense to play more inside, which opened up three-point opportunities.
“We’re really tough to defend because we have shooters all around the perimeter, so we spread the floor that way,” Starkey said. “One-on-one, we like our chances in the post, and when we’re scoring, teams try to adjust to that, which creates great spacing and offensive flow.”
This successful strategy led to large leads and scoring runs for the Flashes. After a slow start to the first quarter, the Flashes regained the lead early in the second quarter and never looked back thanks to an 11-0 run.
By the end of the second quarter, the Flashes had taken a 15-point lead and never looked back. The team capped the game off with a fantastic fourth quarter finish by outscoring the Broncos 23-8.
The Flashes shot 9-10 (90%) during the quarter.
“That’s just something that I think we’ve needed to get better at all year was working inside and out,” senior guard Jenna Batsch said. “We need to keep forcing it inside and working off the post players, moving back side and cutting. We need more movement around them.”
Batsch had a bounce back performance after a rough game against Ball State. She was one of the primary benefactors from the offensive movement and paint work.
She scored 19 points on 8-13 (61%) shooting. She also grabbed five rebounds and recorded six assists.
“This was a big game for me because last game I was really frustrated with myself,” Batsch said. “Last game against Ball State, I wasn’t getting what I wanted offensively, and I let that affect my defense in a negative way. I really tried to get back to that tonight, focus on defense and let that lead off.”
Another big point of emphasis for the Flashes was physicality. Ball State looked a lot tougher on the defensive and offensive end, but Saturday was a different story for the Flashes.
The team poured in a ton of effort, and it showed by drawing fouls, fighting for loose balls, driving hard to the rim and playing strong defense.
Western Michigan was outrebounded 43-20 and outscored in the paint 36-18. The Broncos were also held to shooting splits of 16-53 (30%) from the field and 7-24 (29.2%) from three-point distance.
“Defensively, I felt like we were really locked in,” Starkey said. “We had to be better at dictating play and being more physical and not allowing things to happen to us, so I thought we did a really good job responding to that.”
Outside of Batsch, several other Flashes had notable performances. Sophomore forward Janae Tyler was one of the most dominant players for the team in the post.
She finished with 16 points on 5-7 shooting. She also drew several fouls to go 6-7 from the charity stripe.
Sophomore guard Mya Babbitt finished with 11 points on 3-6 shooting. Senior forward Bridget Dunn was two points away from a double-double after finishing with 11 rebounds and eight points.
Western Michigan’s players were largely kept in check, but the team did have a couple noteworthy performances. Graduate guard Hannah Spitzley had 18 points on 5-8 shooting.
Junior guard Marina Asensio notched 13 points on 5-15 shooting and also recorded eight assists.
Following the victory, the Flashes moved to 11-7 and 4-2 in conference play. On the other hand, Western Michigan falls to 7-9 and 4-2 in conference play.
Next up for the Flashes is a road trip to Central Michigan Wednesday. Tip-off is at 11 a.m.
Central Michigan is currently in ninth place in the MAC with a record of 7-10.
“We’re just going to have to make sure we minimize our mistakes, and once again, try to steal one on the road,” Starkey said.
John Engoglia is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].