The Kent State women’s basketball team continued its dominance over Akron Saturday at the James A. Rhodes arena in Akron, with a 71-62 victory, the Flashes’ 17th straight over the rival Zips.

The Flashes (5-11, 2-2 MAC) locked up their second Mid-American Conference win by looking to junior center Anna Kowalska often in the second half. The Zips had no answer for Kowalska, who posted her eighth double-double of the season with a career high 30 points.

Kowalska, a junior college transfer from John Logan, said she is still trying to make a greater impact with every game.

“Each game I’m trying to improve,” Kowalska said. “I’m trying to spread the floor, to play harder in the post (and) take care of the ball.”

In his 19 years as coach, Bob Lindsay has only lost to Akron once, and now holds a career record of 32-1 against the Zips. Lindsay said the Flashes’ tough play in the second half led to their victory.

“I think both teams played really hard and we made a few more plays in the second half that made the difference, and that was really the bottom line,” Lindsay said. “There’s not much difference between the two teams in terms of level of talent.”

The Flashes shot the 3-pointer well in the first half, going 4-8 behind the arc, forcing Akron to guard the perimeter and give more room to Kowalska inside. She scored 21 of her 30 points in the second half.

Sophomore Rachel Bennett also scored in double figures for the Flashes, going 2-5 from behind the arc and 5-12 overall for a total of 13 points. Bennett said the team came out on a mission to keep the win streak against rival Akron alive.

“As long as I can remember Akron has never beaten Kent State, and that was probably most of our fire today,” Bennett said. “We didn’t want to be that team that got beat.”

With the loss, Akron falls to 5-11 overall and 0-4 in the MAC. Kent State returns to action Tuesday night at the M.A.C. Center against Buffalo.

Contact sports reporter Thomas Gallick at [email protected]