Flashes close off homestand with win
After losing to Cleveland State on Wednesday, the Kent State women’s basketball team bounced back with a dominant 21-point win against North Dakota State University Saturday night.
Looking at the final box statistics, it can be seen that the Flashes were out-rebounded 42-26 in this game. It’s very rare to see a basketball team out-rebounded by a large amount and still manage to pull of a big victory.
Stiff defense is how the Flashes were able to take command of the ball game after a fiercely competitive first half. The offense moved very well in the early stages of the game, but the shots struggled to fall. The Flashes went 0-5 from behind the arc and only shot 39.5 percent from the field.
In the third quarter, the Flashes put the pedal to the floor and forced turnover after turnover, before converting those turnovers into points. Kent State forced 34 turnovers throughout the night.
Sophomore forward Jordan Korinek led the team for the third game in a row with 27 points and seven rebounds. Following her was Larissa Lurken and Tyra James with 15 points apiece.
The Flashes’ top three players performed as expected, but what was not expected was the team’s extremely low percentage from three-point range. Although they didn’t make a three in the first, the Flashes turned around in the second half to split the pair attempted in the second half.
The team only attempted seven three pointers on the night, which is rare for their offense. Usually putting the shots up in bunches, the Flashes instead turned to the paint for scoring. They finished the night with 50 of their 75 points in the paint.
The Flashes improves to (3-4) on the year and will look to become .500 Tuesday evening as they take on the (3-4) Bradley University Braves. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. in the Renaissance Coliseum.
Ty Sugick is a sports reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact him at t[email protected].