The Flashes women’s basketball team was unable to overcome turnovers that resulted in 34 points for Niagara University and suffered their seventh consecutive loss. Niagara won 82-55 on Saturday.

“We’ve got to make better decisions as individuals,” said head coach Danielle O’Banion. “Today Niagara did not press us. They didn’t really do anything defensively that made us uncomfortable. There was any number of mistakes that we made that caused us to lose possession today. I think it’s primarily an issue of individual accountability and making sure that we don’t have those moments and stay focused.”

Kent State was able to tie the game early in the first half but fell into an eight-point deficit at the end of the half. Kent State allowed 19 Niagara points in the first half off of turnovers.

The Flashes had a field goal average of 25 percent in the second half compared to 45.8 percent in the first half. Niagara had a 50 percent field goal average throughout the game and had 24 points in the paint.

“I think our shot selection wasn’t as good in the second half as it was in the first,” senior Tamzin Barroilhet said. “I think we shied away a little bit from our game plan, which caused us to make quick shots, which we didn’t really want to do.”

Niagara out-rebounded the Flashes 43-30 and had 17-second chance points from offensive rebounds.

“We turned Niagara over 21 times today, which is a good number for us and so we were able to get in transition and get easier scores, and that was key for us able to be able to make a little bit of a run in the second half,” O’Banion said.

The Golden Flashes continued to have several players scoring double-digits, similar to their last game against Saint Francis.

Barroilhet had the team high 14 points and seven rebounds for the Flashes. Seniors Trisha Krewson and Diamon Beckford also scored in double-digits with 14 and 10 points respectively.

“That’s a very necessary thing for our team to be successful offensively. We need more than two players in double figures scoring on average,” O’Banion said. “The last two games, we’ve started to figure out who those scorers could be. We need to establish those three or four that we can rely upon to be in double figures.”

Lauren Gatto scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Niagara. Chanel Johnson had 16 points. Kayla Stroman and Kelly Van Leeuwen followed with 11 points each.

“I think we’re starting to find each other better and understanding who’s better at doing what and we’re going to get there,” said Barroilhet. “It’s taking more time than we want it to but eventually it will turn in our favor.”

The Flashes return home to play against Temple at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Western Kentucky at 2 p.m. on Nov. 9 in the M.A.C. Center.

Contact Erika Brun at [email protected].