The Kent State women’s basketball team’s season may be over after a crushing 70-53 loss to top-seeded Ball State in the Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinals Friday.
After a strong win over Miami in the opening round of the tournament, the Flashes just didn’t have enough to keep it going. Going up against the No. 1 seed, the Flashes had to play perfect to have a chance at winning.
Coach Todd Starkey acknowledged the team just didn’t do enough to pull ahead.
“We got beat by the better team today,” he said. “Things just didn’t go our way. I feel like our team just gave everything they had left.”
Coming into the tournament as the one seed, the Cardinals were the favorites to win it all with their consistently dominant play. The team won several MAC awards and lost just two conference games all year.
“They’re the No. 1 seed for a reason,” Starkey said. “They have seven seniors in their rotation, and they brought in transfers to help them out. This is their year.”
This game also potentially marks the end of senior guard Jenna Batsch and senior forward Bridget Dunn’s careers. In what could be their final game, Batsch scored 14 points on 5-10 shooting, while Dunn recorded two points and 13 rebounds.
Starkey had high praise for both of them.
“The impact they’ve had on Kent State University and Kent State women’s basketball, the quality of people they are, the character they have, the type of teammates they are has just been incredible,” he said. “They’ve been an absolute joy to coach from start to finish. We’ve been through a lot together, and I’m going to miss coaching them.”
The game started poorly for the Flashes, as the team struggled offensively in the first quarter. The Flashes managed just eight points after shooting 3-13 (23%) from the field and 2-6 (33%) from 3-point range.
The Flashes defense wasn’t much better, as Ball State scored 20 points on 7-13 (54%) shooting.
“We didn’t execute the way we needed to in the first quarter,” Starkey said. “They kind of got us right out of the gate, and they executed some really good stuff.”
The Flashes were able to rebound and put up their best overall performance in the second quarter. The team outscored Ball State 18-14 and cut the Cardinals lead to eight going into halftime.
However, the momentum didn’t last long for the Flashes. Ball State would open the third quarter on a 6-0 run and later end it on an 8-0 run.
“When they put some runs on us in the third and fourth quarter, it looked out there like we didn’t have a whole lot left,” Starkey said. “They were just running on fumes at that point.”
In a make or break quarter for the Flashes, the team was outscored 24-14. Ball State built up an 18-point by the end of the quarter.
“Against a team that good, you can’t put yourself in that kind of deficit and expect to get back from that,” Starkey said.
From there, the game was out of reach for the Flashes, and Ball State held on to win comfortably after a back-and-forth fourth quarter.
Overall, the Flashes shot 21-53 (40%) from the field and 4-17 (24%) from 3-point range. The Cardinals shot 27-56 (48%) and 10-24 (42%).
Ball State disrupted the Flashes’ play on both sides of the ball. The Flashes had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 7:18, and Ball State scored 22 points off turnovers and 13 on fastbreaks.
“Defensively, we were a little bit disconnected from the game that we played at their place when we won,” Starkey said. “They ran some different actions.”
Outside of Batsch, the Flashes’ best performances came from sophomores Janae Tyler and Mya Babbitt. Tyler scored 11 points on 4-8 shooting, while Babbitt recorded 10 points and four rebounds.
For Ball State, senior guard Lachelle Austin led the way with 21 points on 8-11 shooting. Senior guard and MAC Player of The Year Ally Becki followed her up by filling up the statsheet with 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
On Saturday, Ball State will play No. 2 seed Toledo for the MAC Tournament crown. Tipoff is at 11 a.m.
For the Flashes, there is still a chance for their season to continue. Although this loss bars them from competing in the March Madness tournament, the team could still receive an invitation to play in the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament.
Starkey said he is hopeful to receive a shot at the tournament, and believes the team’s tough strength of schedule gives them a chance to qualify.
“If we get the opportunity and the invitation to that tournament, we’re going to double down and try to be our best,” he said. “If this is the last game I coached with this group, then it’s been an absolute honor.”
John Engoglia is a reporter, contact him at [email protected].
