The Flashes (18-7, 9-4 Mid-American Conference) got their win and a season sweep of Buffalo (13-13, 6-7 MAC) by defeating the Bulls 72-52 at The M.A.C. Center Saturday.

Jumping out to a 6-0 lead lead on a piar of 3-pointers by seniors Stephanie Gibson and Taisja Jones, the Flashes got senior night started on a high note. Starting 5-of-8 shooting to start the game, the team’s offense got right back to where they left off last Thursday.

“I think it was really important coming out the first five minutes of the game coming out strong and ready to play instead of lying around, and letting them get the lead and thinking they have a chance to beat us” Jones said.

Jones had extra insentive to do well in this, her second to last home game as a Golden Flash.

“It felt really good (winning), my mom, she came to some of my college games but she hasn’t been to Ohio before,” Jones said. “So for her to come out here I was just excited and tried to put on a good show for her to let her know that I do appreciate her coming out here.”

Jones finished the game 5-of-5 from three point range and finished with 26 points and nine rebounds.

Senior guard Jamilah Humes became the facilitator in the first half; accumulating six assists. Her biggest contribution coming from finding open looks on the perimeter. In the first half, the Flashes shot 5-9 from beyond the arc.

Kent State capitalized on the sloppy play of the Bulls, who committed 15 turnovers in the first. The team turned those 15 opportunities into 17 points to keep the pressure on.

With their success from long range, the Flashes got almost all the looks they wanted on the floor. Jones in the first half went 4-of-4 from 3 point range which opened the Buffalo defense up in the middle.

By half, the Flashes scored 18 points in the paint to go along with the 15 points from the three ball. Shooting 42 percent from the floor and 6-of-9 from the free throw line, the Flashes were in control.

In the second half, the Flashes continued to look good offensively by working the ball under the basket. Jones picked up where she left off by sinking a tough layup to put the Flashes up 41-22.

Appearing a little rusty, the team started the half 3-of-6 shooting, and then missed their next five shots. The lapse in scoring allowed the Bulls to bring the score back down to ten (35-45) with just under 12 minutes remaining.

Running down the shot clock, Jones broke the scoring drought by sinking a buzzer beating 3-pointer to break the scoreless spell.

What hurt the Flashes most in the second was fouls. Going over the limit with 10:59 remaining and then quickly into double-bonus with 7:54, the team played more conservative through most of the second half.

The same problem the Flashes had with fouls, the Bulls got into the same troubles going into the double bonus with over five minutes remaining. Although the team shot just 60 percent from the line on the night, it was enough to hurt the Bulls on their mistakes.

Buffalo pulled the game back within nine with under four minutes remaining, but the Flashes were able to get the lead up to 15 (65-50) with 1:40 reaming on a great cut and feed from Gibson to Jones. Their next trip up court, Gibson sank a three of her own.

The Flashes converted on a few more shots and made some big defensive shots to hold on to the big win on senior night.

The win improves the team to 16-0 in games where they hold opponents to under 60 points, keeping the team’s defensive mindset key for victories.

“Probably typical of a game of ours this season where a percentage of the game we played real well, a percentage of the game we don’t play really well, and then find a way to win it at the end,” Kent State coach Bob Lindsay said. “The story in this game is not necessarily the win, it’s the seniors and going out on a positive note as far as this particular game goes anyways. It was important to them and I think they tried to step up and play as good as they could.

The Flashes will have their final home game of the season on Wednesday against Ohio (7-18, 3-9 MAC) at 7 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center.

Contact Matt Lofgren at [email protected].