Kent State (21-11, 12-6 MAC) advances to the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) tournament after taking down Miami (OH) (19-11, 11-7 MAC) 66-61 in the quarterfinals.
Here’s how it went down:
The opening first quarter and beginning of the second half were tightly contested between both squads, until Kent State’s Mya Babbitt went 3/3 in the span of a minute to force a Miami OH timeout, with Kent State heading into the timeout up 36-22.
Kent State’s Bridget Dunn sent the Golden Flashes into the half up 39-25- heading into halftime with a 15-point lead. Heading into the third quarter, Kent State was in the driver’s seat on a 21-5 run.
Kent State shot 63.6% from three-point range in the first half, along with winning the rebounding battle 27-15 at the end of the first two quarters.
During the third quarter, the Redhawks outscored the Golden Flashes 20-15, the Redhawks trailed 54-45 heading into the final quarter.
Miami OH began the fourth quarter with a 5-0, getting the first round to a four-point game, 54-50. Heading into the first media timeout, with the game remaining at 54-50, with Kent State scoreless for over five minutes and Miami OH scoreless for nearly four minutes.
Kent State strapped themselves back into the driver’s seat and took the game back over, taking down Miami OH 68-61 and advancing to the second round.
The Golden Flashes shot 40% from the field and 41.2% from three-point range. Kent State dominated in the rebounding battle vs the RedHawks, outrebounding their MAC competition 48-31.
Babbitt finished with 19 points and 7 rebounds, her teammate Dionna Gray finished with a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
“Proud of our team, five players in double figures- all five starters scored in double figures,” said Kent State head coach Todd Starkey.
Starkey praised the performance of Dunn, who finished her day with 13 points and 16 rebounds. Starkey spoke on his belief of Dunn being snubbed for a spot on the MAC All-Defensive team post-game.
“I’m gonna say this again, put it on record I think Bridget really got snubbed by the conference for not being on the All-Defensive team,” Starkey said. “She’s fifth in the nation in defensive rebounding, which is how you end every defensive possession, second in the conference in blocked shots, not on the defensive team and she played like that today.”
Miami OH’s Maya Chandler led the RedHawks with 23 points on 9-24 shooting from the field.
Kent State advances to the semifinals of the MAC tournament, where the reigning champions of the MAC will take on the number one seed Ball State Cardinals in the second round.
Kent State will face Ball State this Friday, with tip-off at 10 a.m. Falcon Media Sport’s Network’s Henry Kosko and Kaden Knapp will have the call of the matchup on Falcon Radio.
