Kent State women’s basketball allowed the fewest points per game in the Mid-American Conference games at 61. 

Saturday at the M.A.C. center, KSU was defeated 75-69 as the Falcons converted seven 3-pointers in the first half. 

“It was a tough loss, and we did a lot of things well but not well enough,” coach Todd Starkey said.  “We had to convert, and we had some good looks down the stretch that we needed to convert.”

The Flashes fell to 15-8 on the season and remain at fourth place in the MAC at 7-5. 

BGSU has now won 11 games in a row, sitting at 22-2 overall, and is tied for first place in the conference with Toledo at 11-1. 

Both teams were off to a fast start on offense in the game’s opening five minutes. Bowling Green shot 5-of-6, converting two 3-pointers, while the Flashes shot 5-of-8. The Falcons led 14-11. 

KSU ended the first quarter on a 12-6 scoring run, taking a 21-20 lead heading into the second quarter. During the run, freshman guard Corynne Hauser recorded five points – totaling nine points in the opening quarter. 

Both teams continued to shoot efficiently to start the second quarter, shooting a combined 10-of-14. 

BGSU took a 34-32 lead with 4:45 remaining in the first half.

Bowling Green ended the first half on an 11-7 scoring run, building its lead to 45-39. 

In the first 20 minutes of action, the Falcons shot 57.1% from the field and converted on seven shots from behind the arc – BGSU guard Elissa Brett converted on all five 3-pointers, leading all scorers with 17 points. 

KSU shot 13-of-29 and was 4-of-14 from behind the arc. 

“I think that falls on us in transition, and we were getting a little bit lost, and their shots were pretty wide open,” graduate student forward Lindsey Thall said. “I think if we have a hand in their face, at least half of those don’t go in, so we kind of dug ourselves a hole.”

Both teams battled back and forth in the opening five minutes of the third quarter. 

Junior guard Casey Santoro converted on two 3-pointers as the Flashes began to cut into the halftime deficit but still trailed  51-47.

“She’s [Santoro] a scrappy player,” Starkey said. “She plays hard, and when she brings that type of energy, she’s going to be very effective.”

Kent State and Bowling Green matched each other in scoring to end the third quarter. BGSU led 61-58 going into the final quarter of play. 

“We had blown assignments in the first half, and it wasn’t like we changed anything,” Starkey said. “We just did what we were supposed to do better, and I thought defensively in the second half, we played well enough to win.”

The Flashes’ defense continued to force the Falcon’s defense to struggle, as they started the quarter missing their first five shots. The score was now 63-61 BGSU. 

In the next three minutes, Bowling Green went on a 9-5 scoring run, bringing the score to 72-66.

With 36 seconds left in the game, Santoro converted on a shot from behind the arc to bring the score to 72-69 Falcons. 

In the game’s final seconds, BGSU converted on three free throws.

Thall finished with a team-high 15 points and recorded two blocks and two steals. 

Hauser finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. 

After scoring 17 points in the first half, Brett was limited to three points in the second half.

KSU finished the game 8-of-28 from behind the arc; the Falcons shot 7-of-19 from behind the arc. 

Next up

Kent State will head to Buffalo, N.Y., to take on Buffalo (9-12).

The Bulls are tied for seventh place in the MAC with two teams. They are 4-8 in the conference.

Tip-off is 6 p.m. Wednesday.

In their previous matchup this season, the Flashes defeated UB 64-63 on Jan. 4.

“Today showed that we have that fight in us,” Hauser said. “They hit a lot of shots, and you can’t control that all the time. I think it just shows how good of a team we could be knowing that we’re able to hang with the top team in the MAC.”

Jacob Shondel is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].