The Kent State women’s basketball team fell 66-59 to Western Michigan at University Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich., today. Also today it announced its leading scorer, junior forward Anna Kowalska, would sit out the game with a stress fracture in her right foot.

Kowalska is out indefinitely with the injury. Coach Bob Lindsay said he did not have a timetable for Kowalska’s return, but thought she would most likely play again before the end of the season. Until her return, the team will play with a seven-player roster comprised of six scholarship athletes and one walk-on.

The Flashes (5-13, 2-4 Mid-American Conference) kept the game close with the abbreviated seven-player roster and trailed by 2, 29-27, at halftime. But the Broncos depth eventually wore the Flashes down.

The Broncos rotated players early and often, bringing in 12 players in the first half. The Flashes bench was stretched even thinner in the first, when sophomore guard Rachel Bennett picked up a second foul within the first five minutes of play and sat out the rest of the half.

Freshman forward Chenel Harris led the Flashes in points, with a career high 17, and rebounds with eight. Freshman forward Ellie Shields also scored in double figures for the Flashes with 14 points.

Kowalska was the Flashes leading scorer this season, averaging 17.8 points per game. Last Saturday she scored a career-high 30 points against at the University of Akron. More information on her injury will be available through kentnewsnet.com and the Daily Kent Stater.

Contact sports reporter Thomas Gallick at [email protected]