With four games left in the season, the Kent State women’s basketball team has reached a fork in the road.

On a five-game losing streak after falling to Miami in overtime Wednesday, the team is currently the number nine seed if the Mid-American Conference tournament started tomorrow. But fortunately for the Flashes (5-17, 4-8), there is still time for a late-season push.

The Flashes will hit the road this Saturday to take on an 11-15 Ohio squad (4-8 MAC) looking to duplicate its performance back on Jan. 7, where the Flashes pulled off a 68-65 victory over the Bobcats. That game was in the comfort of the M.A.C. Center, though, and the Flashes have struggled on the road this season.

Dating back to the start of conference play Jan. 4, the Flashes have only been able to win one road conference game this season. Including the regular season, the team still only has one road victory.

Recent trends for the Flashes show a lapse in ball handling and rebounds and after showing vast improvements in the middle of the team’s conference schedule, the team has started to pick up old bad habits.

“That’s obviously going to be a really tough game for us,” coach Bob Lindsay said. “(Ohio is an) athletic team, rebounds the ball well, plays a lot of zone so we’ll have to execute against the zone and against full-court pressure and based on the way we handle the ball tonight, we certainly have a lot of work ahead of us.”

Committing 55 turnovers in the last two games, both losses, Lindsay says his guard play has to be better if the team wants a chance to win. Starting guards, junior Tamzin Barroilhet and freshman Jamie Hutcheson, have accounted for 21 of the team’s 55 turnovers in the two losses, which coach Lindsay says is “way too many for this stage of the season.”

In the two teams’ last meeting, the Flashes got the biggest edge in rebounding. Outperforming on the glass, the Flashes head a 38-27 advantage and turned nine offensive rebounds into 12 points. The contributions of the “Big Three” of junior guards Trisha Krewson, Barroilhet and junior forward Diamon Beckford were crucial in the win. Combining for 52 of the Flashes’ 66 points, the savvy veterans made the difference.

Coming into Saturday’s meeting, the Flashes may be without the assistance of Beckford, who has been a consistent contributor to the team’s scoring as well as rebounding. Beckford averages 10.1 points and a team-high 5.7 rebounds per game.

Beckford missed Wednesday’s game with an undisclosed injury.

Tipoff for Saturday’s game is set for 2 p.m.

Contact Matt Lofgren at [email protected]. or @MLofgrenDKS