A new season of college hoops is finally here, and the Kent State women’s basketball team couldn’t be

more ready.

“This team has been very clear that they are determined to make this season our best one yet,” third-year Kent State coach Danielle O’Banion said.

Improvement will be key this season, as the Flashes finished last season 7-23, going only 4-14 in the Mid-American Conference. The team averaged just 55 points per game, ranking the Flashes 329th out of 343 teams in the country.

Though the Flashes did not have any standout scorers last season, they did prove efficient in including everyone in their offensive production.

While no players averaged double-digit points, six players averaged seven or more points per game, with then-senior Ashley Evans and then-junior Montia Johnson both averaging nine points per game.

Evans and two of the seven-plus point scorers are no longer on the team, so Kent State will rely on experience and new talent to make this season better.

“We have a group of seniors who came specifically to Kent State to help that happen, and we also have a core of underclassmen that came to Kent State to ensure that they would be the start of something,” O’Banion said,

There are only three seniors on this year’s team, which will leave room for a new crop of talent to learn under the few experienced upperclassmen. This year’s team includes six freshmen, three sophomores and three juniors.

“We’re on track to mesh our returners and our newcomers together very well,” O’Banion said. “I think there’s a level of respect between our newcomers and returners because we’re all focused on the end goal to be

very successful.”

Returning for their final seasons as Flashes are senior Johnson and redshirt senior CiCi Shannon. Both women led the team in rebounds and were among the top scorers last season, and Shannon blocked a Mid-American Conference-leading 75 shots.

“CiCi Shannon, at 6-foot-4, is one of the best shot blockers in the MAC,” O’Banion said.

O’Banion said she was pleased with the off season production of her players, especially sophomore guard Larissa Lurken.

“(Lurken) has put on at least five to six pounds of muscle, which for a female, is a significant number of pounds to gain over a summer,” O’Banion said. “She’s shooting the ball very well right now.”

Kent State’s freshman class is poised to be promising, as the class of 2018 will get significant playing time from the coaching staff.

“Two particular freshmen that we can expect to see earlier rather than later in the season would be Naddiyah Cross and Jordan Korinek,”

O’Banion said.

Cross is a 5-foot-6 guard from Centerville, Ohio, who was a McDonald’s All-American nominee in her senior season at Centerville High School. Korinek, a 6-foot-2 product of Cuyahoga Falls, led St. Vincent-St. Mary High School to the Ohio Final Four last year while being ranked the fifth-best player in the state.

With this mixture of new and old, women’s basketball will not be complacent with another 7-23 finish.

“The biggest point of emphasis for this team is to establish some level of consistency, both in individual play and as a team,” O’Banion said. “What I really like about this team is that whether it’s an exhibition game, a closed scrimmage or a modified scrimmage in practice, they compete.”

Kent State will host Ohio Christian University in the M.A.C. Center on Friday at 7 p.m. The game is the Flashes’ first and only exhibition of the season.

Contact Ben Orner at [email protected].