A limited roster, an inexperienced team and a talented opponent led to another loss for the Kent State women’s basketball team yesterday against Temple in Philadelphia.

The Owls defeated Kent State 74-34. The Flashes got off to a good start, a 3-1 early lead that turned into a 9-7 Temple advantage.

But from that point forward, Temple completely took control of the game. The Flashes couldn’t find the basket for the rest of the first half, going 10 minutes and 43 seconds without a basket. In that stretch, Temple moved forward to a 24-4 run despite its All Atlantic 10 center Lady Comfort battling foul trouble throughout the half. The score at halftime was 33-12 Temple.

Once again, the coaching staff said it is looking for someone to come forward and take charge of the young team.

“Something that we need to overcome is that someone out there needs to take charge on the floor,” associate head coach Lori Bodnar said on 640 WHLO’s postgame show. “I know it’s a tough thing for someone who is a freshman or kids that haven’t played a lot together, but you’re six games into it and someone needs to step up and say, ‘hey, this is not going to happen anymore.'”

Things didn’t get any better for the Flashes in the second half. Temple continued to put the ball in the basket while the Flashes tried to come from behind. The Flashes couldn’t find the basket though, and missed several 3-pointers, shooting only 13 percent from behind the arc for the game while committing 26 turnovers.

Another big difference between the two teams was depth. Junior forward Asheley Harkins missed her second straight game with injury, and the Flashes only had eight available players compared to 13 for the Owls.

“Temple was probably the best 3-5 team in the country when you look at the schedule,” Bodnar said. “They are so deep, I think they were bringing kids off the street to play. They wore us down.”

The Flashes continued to struggle as the clock wound down, and when the clock hit zeros the Flashes were 1-5 while Temple improved to 4-5.

Leading the Flashes in scoring again was junior Anna Kowalska. The 6-foot-4 forward scored 12 points and pulled down 4 rebounds. Fellow junior forward Samantha Scull added nine points and four rebounds before fouling out in the middle of the game.

Temple was led in scoring off the bench by senior Candice Borrows with 12 points, and junior Shanea Cotton, who replaced Comfort and scored 11.

The Flashes now get a long layoff through finals, and host Northern Arizona Dec. 18 at the M.A.C. Center.

Contact sports reporter Jeff Russ at [email protected].