Coach: ‘We got our rear ends kicked’

View photos of the women’s defeat against Akron.

AKRON – Something good ended for the Kent State women’s basketball team last night: an 18-game winning streak against Akron.

The Flashes (13-4, 2-3 Mid-American Conference) lost 64-62 to the Zips at James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron. After the game, Kent State coach Bob Lindsay had a simple reason for why Kent State lost for just the second time in 20 years to Akron.

“We were outplayed,” Lindsay said. “There’s really no other way to put it. Akron played harder than we did and wanted to win the game more than we did. That was pretty obvious.”

A telling statistic of last night’s game was rebounds. The Zips collected 15 more boards than Kent State, including 11 more offensive rebounds. In one possession late in the first half, Akron grabbed five offensive rebounds and held the ball for more than a minute and a half.

“We really didn’t come out and do what we were supposed to do defensively,” sophomore guard Jamilah Humes said. “We just didn’t make stops. They killed us on rebounding. We didn’t box out well enough. We didn’t do what we needed to do to win the

game, basically.”

Akron forward Kara Murphy, who leads the MAC in scoring, was shut out in the first half, missing all five of her shots from the field. In the second half, Murphy scored 11 to help fuel the Zips’ 40-point half. However, Lindsay said her overall performance was not a result of Kent State’s play.

“If Kara didn’t score many points, it wasn’t because we were guarding her,” Lindsay said. “She was 5-for-13 in the field; she’s certainly better than that.”

Despite Kent State’s defensive struggle, the team still held a thin 48-47 lead with 9:31 left in the second half – largely thanks to 19 points by senior center Anna Kowalska.

Kowalska shook off a 0-for-2 start from the field in the first half to sink her next eight shots – five field goals and three free throws – for 13 first-half points. She finished on the night shooting 8-of-15 from the field.

“Based on where she shot the ball, she should have had six more baskets,” Lindsay said. “Our execution wasn’t very good. Our recognition of what they were doing defensively wasn’t very good. (Akron) didn’t trick us. They didn’t do anything we hadn’t seen before on tape.”

The Flashes, who ranked second in the nation in 3-point percentage coming into the game, connected on only two of 14 attempts from the perimeter. Leading 3-point shooter freshman guard Jena Stutzman missed all four of her long shots.

“Regardless of what we did offensively, I think they just played harder than us. I really do,” Lindsay said. “We can talk about X’s and O’s all you want, but I think they just played harder than we did and they wanted to win more than we did.”

“. We got our rear ends kicked by them. That’s what happened. I don’t want to sugar coat it either.”

Contact sports reporter Josh Johnston at [email protected].