Another strong offensive outing led the Kent State women’s basketball team to a 77-63 win over Miami (OH) Saturday. 

For the Flashes, it’s their third straight win of 14 or more points. The team previously took down Western Michigan and Central Michigan. 

In all three wins, the Flashes’ offense has been dominant, scoring 77 or more points and shooting over 49% from the field. 

“We’re playing more consistently right now, and that’s a good sign for me,” coach Todd Starkey said. “Conference play is to really seek that level of consistency, and we’re starting to see that pay off.”

After an unsteady start to conference play, the Flashes are finally starting to find their footing with their recent stretch of play. Starkey hopes to see it continue. 

“We’d like to use that momentum to carry forward and just continue to take things one game at a time,” he said. 

For this game in particular, it was more of what we’ve seen the past couple games. The Flashes maintained their balanced and efficient offensive approach by scoring in both the paint and beyond the three-point line. 

The team had shooting splits of 28-53 (53%) from the field and 7-15 (47%) from 3-point distance. The group also added 24 points in the post and 14 from the free throw line. 

“We did a much better job of executing offensively and making extra effort plays,” Starkey said. “We did a great job of keeping the floor spread and scoring high percentage shots in the paint.” 

The Flashes also did a solid job of handling the ball in a turnover frenzy. Both teams combined for 30 turnovers in the game, but it didn’t stop the team from spreading the ball around for 17 assists compared to Miami’s seven. 

“[Miami] is that type of rigid defensive team, so we expected to have some turnovers, but we also got a few ourselves, which was nice,” Starkey said. “We made a few adjustments in some of our screening actions to try and get players open in more favorable positions.” 

The game started out slow for both squads on the offensive side of the ball. The Flashes shot 11-26 (42%) for 28 points, while the RedHawks shot 7-25 (28%) for 19 points. 

“It was a bit of a defensive battle in the first half,” Starkey said. “The second half was a different game.”

It was during the second half when both offenses began to take shape, especially in the fourth quarter. The Flashes shot 17-27 (63%) for 49 points, while the RedHawks shot 15-32 (47%) for 44 points. 

“The game opened up a little bit,” Starkey said. “They were pressing a lot in the fourth quarter, and that opened the floor up.” 

Despite the offensive resurgence from the RedHawks in the second half, the Flashes maintained a comfortable lead throughout the game. Miami led for a brief period in the first quarter before the Flashes stayed in front the rest of the way. 

There were several players who stepped up in a big way for the Flashes, as the team had six players with nine or more points. Senior guard Jenna Batsch, once again, led the way with 19 points on 6-14 shooting.

Senior forward Bridget Dunn finished with a double-double after recording 13 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore forward Janae Tyler also had a solid outing with 13 points and five rebounds. 

Miami also had several notable performances. Graduate guard Maya Chandler headlines the list with 18 points and three steals. 

Sophomore guard Enjulina Gonzalez scored 17 points on 7-11 shooting. Sophomore forward Amber Tretter had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. 

After the win, the Flashes improved to 13-7 and 6-2 in conference play. Miami fell to 11-7 and 4-4 in conference play. 

Kent State remains tied for second place in the Mid-American Conference, while Miami is tied for sixth place. 

The Flashes will return home to face Eastern Michigan Wednesday. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. 

The Eagles are in last place in the MAC with a record of 1-17 and conference record of 0-8. 

“Anytime you get any road wins in the league it’s nice; back-to-back is sometimes rare,” Starkey said. “It’ll be nice to be back home after a lot of travel this past week.” 

John Engoglia is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].