Junior guard Megan Carter was the only Kent State player to make more than half of her shots, helping lead the Flashes to their second over Western Michigan this season by a score of 56-52.

“We found a way again to get a win,” coach Todd Starkey said. “Megan Carter showed up big, especially in key moments. I was really proud of how she played and we were able to make enough plays to get the win.”

Kent State played Western Michigan at home two weeks ago and won by four.

Carter led with Flashes with 22 points. Alexa Golden was second with nine.

“She’s not a selfish player, but she is so talented she needs to be more selfish,” Starkey said about Carter. “So when she really wanted the ball, I think her teammates really trusted her with it down the stretch and went to her. She did a really good job of finishing plays.”

Golden might have only scored nine points, but three of them came on foul shots in the last 16 seconds. She also lead the Flashes with eight rebounds.

“Miss reliable,’ Starkey said of Golden. “She is playing hurt right now. Most people don’t know that, but she played through a lot of pain tonight, and was very reliable with the ball in her hands. She was one of our big talkers defensively when it seemed like everyone else wanted to be silent.”

When it comes to defense, the Flashes held strong against Western Michigan, despite what Starkey called a lack of “consistent talking on the defensive end.”

Western Michigan outscored the Flashes by one point in the third quarter, a quarter in which Carter scored all six of the Flashes points.

Despite that, the Flashes hung on thanks to 21 points in the fourth quarter.

“We came into the huddle and we were like ‘let’s win the fourth quarter,’” Carter said. “And that’s what we did.”

The Flashes played aggressively in the final frame, scoring nine points off  turnovers. 

“Defensively, we are sticking to what coach has planned,” Carter said. “I think that is what is going well for us right now.”

This is the Flashes third win a row, making them 8-5 in the Mid-American Conference. They currently sit at fourth place in the MAC East.

“If we’ll find a way to put four quarters together, if we find a way to all show up on the same night, I think we are a team that can really cause some problems for teams down the stretch,” Starkey said. “If we can’t figure that out, then it might remain a little bit ugly. I’m just happy to be 8-5 in the conference and heading home. We will regroup, and we got a really tough opponent in a few days,”

Kent State faces Ohio University on Saturday in the M.A.C. Center. The last time they played the Bobcats they lost by two.

“Everybody in this league, from top to bottom, is good,” Carter said. “You can pretty much throw records out the window.”

 Gina Butkovich is a sports reporter. Contact her at [email protected].