19-point first half

slows Kent State’s

offensive effort

Saturday’s women’s basketball

game between Kent State and

Bowling Green held tournament

implications as both teams were in

contention for a top seed in the Mid-

American Conference.

The Flashes found themselves on

the losing end; falling to the Falcons,

69-55.

Bowling Green’s first-half performance,

in which the team shot 46

percent from the field, led to a 33-19

lead at the half. Kent State (18-9, 11-4

MAC) responded with the first four

points in the second half’s opening

minutes, but the Falcons put a stop

to the Flashes’ rally attempt with a

pair of 3-pointers by junior forward

Jen Uhl and senior guard Tamika

Nurse.

Nurse finished the game with

a team-high 24 points on 6-for-11

shooting.

The Flashes shot 45 percent from

the field in the second stanza but

failed to narrow the deficit to less

than 12 points after Bowling Green’s

back-to-back 3s.

Kent State coach Bob Lindsay

said the team’s intensity in the

second half was better, but its performance

on offense was not up to

par.

“Our effort in the second half was

good, especially the last 10 minutes

of the game when we were in desperation

mode,” Lindsay said. “We didn’t shoot the ball very well,

which has been something that

has happened to us pretty much

the whole season.”

Junior guard Jamilah Humes

scored a team-high 17 points,

while also adding four steals and

three assists.

The score was tied at 12 with

8:19 left in the first half, but

Bowling Green (23-6, 13-2 MAC)

went on a 15-0 run that was led

by three straight 3-pointers.

Nurse led the run with seven

points, while Kent State sophomore

guard Jena Stutzman’s

three baskets from behind the

arc aided the Flashes’ offense in

the first half.

Kent State went more than

five minutes without recording

a field goal, missing seven shots

during that span, but Lindsay

said the team’s defensive effort

prevented the Falcons from sealing

the game early on.

“We missed a lot of shots,”

Lindsay said. “Defensively, we

gave them some problems, but

we just weren’t good enough

offensively today to win the

game.”

The Flashes will wrap up the

regular season tomorrow when

the team travels to Buffalo to take

on the Bulls at 7 p.m. Kent State

failed to take over first place in

the MAC East Division, but with

a win over Buffalo, the Flashes

will secure a first-round bye in

the conference tournament.

Contact sports reporter Lance

Lysowski at [email protected].