Dec. 11, 2020, was the last time the Kent State women’s basketball team scored over 80 points against Ohio University.

Wednesday night at the M.A.C. Center, KSU defeated OU 82-56.

“I was really proud of the way we came out of halftime and addressed some things in the third quarter. We were really good on both sides of the ball, kind of reminded me of how we played against Akron,” coach Todd Starkey said. “Really rigid on the defensive end, connected. Offensively we really executed and did some great things.”

Kent State improved to 18-8 and 10-5 in the conference, staying in fourth place in the Mid-American Conference standings.

The Bobcats fell to 6-20 and are now 4-11 in the conference which puts them last.

It was a back and forth for both teams to start the game as both teams traded baskets in the opening quarter with Kent State leading Ohio 17-15 at the end of the first quarter.

The Bobcats turned the ball over six times and Kent State was able to take advantage scoring nine points.

KSU went 7-of-17 from the floor and converted 2-of-7 shots from three. Ohio went 6-of-9 from the floor while going 3-of-6 from deep in the opening quarter.

At the five minute mark in the second quarter, Ohio was able to end Kent State’s 8-0 scoring run in the second quarter.

Graduate forward Lindsey Thall led the team with 11 points and senior guard Katie Shumate led in rebounds with four.

Kent State had an 11-point lead over OU at 5:34 in the second quarter.

Ohio was able to climb back, cutting the lead down to five with 0:22 left in the second quarter, trailing 35-30 at halftime.

Kent State outscored Ohio 18-15 despite OU outscoring the Flashes 16-12 in the paint.

In the opening half KSU shot 37% from the field and from beyond the arc. Ohio shot 12-of-22  from the field and shot 36% from three.

Kent State had its best quarter as a team in the third.

Three minutes went by before the Bobcats recorded a point to start the second half. The Flashes’ biggest point differential was a 23-point lead with 1:13 left in the third quarter.

“One of our big mantras is don’t practice bad habits and we were practicing bad habits in the first quarter, second quarter. First quarter I thought we were just kind of playing even back and forth, we really didn’t have an edge to us, we really weren’t setting the table like we wanted to,” Starkey said. “Second quarter we kind of pushed things out a little bit and then we took our foot off the gas, we were up by 11 and then all of a sudden it was a five point game going into halftime. It wasn’t a heated exchange or anything, it was just me saying hey you’re better than that. You’ve just given Ohio enough hope to think they can stay in this game and you’re gonna have to go out and set the tone in the third quarter.”

KSU ended the quarter going 9-of-17 from the field and connecting on four shots from three. OU was 4-of-15 from the field and 0-of-5 from three as the Flashes ended the quarter up 60-40.

KSU’s bench took over in the fourth quarter, adding to its lead and scoring 24 points. Kent State had 21 points off turnovers in total.

Sophomore forward Jenna Batsch and freshman guard Tatiana Thomas scored evenly with seven points. Batsch had a block while Thomas tallied two steals.

Kent State was successful in the second half, putting up over 20 points in the third and fourth quarter.

KSU outscored OU 25-10 in the third and 22-16 in the fourth. Four players for KSU were able to finish with double digit points.

“By the time you get to this time of year, you should be playing your best basketball,” Starkey said. “We haven’t always done that but this team has the ability to do that but we have to prove it.”

Shumate finished with a team-high in points with 16, adding nine rebounds and shooting just under 50% from the field, going 6-of-13.

She was just two rebounds away from tying the amount she had against Ohio in the team’s first meeting. Junior guard Casey Santoro was second in points scored with 14.

“Definitely has been a point of emphasis coach Starkey has been helping me out with that, keeping it on the forefront of my mind, going for every ball after losing Bridget,” Shumate said. “My teammates are boxing out, sometimes there’s room for me to crash down in there, Lindsey’s doing a good job of boxing out the bigs.”

On the road

Kent State heads up north to face off against Eastern Michigan.

EMU sits at eighth place in the MAC at 5-9. KSU won their first matchup against each other this season 79-66.

Tip off is 1 p.m. Saturday in Ypsilanti.

“I think their confidence level is pretty good right but you’re fighting human nature right now, complacency,” Starkey said. “That’s the biggest thing is how do you keep an edge when the games matter most? Teams have to beat us, we don’t beat ourselves.”

Kyle Kuchta is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].