The Kent State women’s basketball team’s zone defense helped propel the Flashes to a 77-39 victory Wednesday at the M.A.C. Center.

The Kent State women’s basketball team’s zone defense helped propel the Flashes to a 77-39 victory Wednesday at the M.A.C. Center.

Bob Lindsay, Kent State coach, said he hates running a zone, but he thought it was effective.

“We felt that if we played a little bit of it and force them to shoot from the perimeter, we could see how they would react to it,” Lindsay said. “Fortunately, they didn’t make that many shots, and it was good enough for us to win.”

The Penguins were forced to take 38 3-point shots, while only making five.

Stephanie Gibson, Kent State senior guard, said the team’s defensive goal was to stop the Penguin offense from penetrating.

“They had a couple of 3-point shooters, but we weren’t expecting them shoot that much 3’s,” Gibson said. “We just stayed in that zone, so I guess they had no choice.”

The Flashes found themselves down 13-6 early in the game after Youngstown State forward Brandi Brown scored seven of the Penguins’ points.

Kent State (6-0) started its offensive assault on the next possession. Senior forward Jamilah Humes hit a layup, and Gibson followed with a 3-pointer to bring the team within two. She was 3 for 3 on the day from beyond the arc.

Gibson, senior forward Taisja Jones and sophomore guard Tamzin Barroilhet all finished with 11 points in the team’s victory.

One minute later, freshman Tayler Stanton hit a tough-fought layup in the paint to tie the game at 13. Stanton, a 6-foot forward, finished the game with a team-high 14 points.

The Flashes went on an 18-0 run following Stanton’s layup to take a commanding 31-13 lead late in the half. As a team, Kent State shot 29 for 56 (51.8 percent) from the field.

Brown hit a 3-pointer to end the Penguins’ scoring drought with 3:07 left in the half to bring the score to 31-16. Brown finished the game with a game-high 16 points. She shot just 2 for 7 from 3-point range.

Jamilah Humes, Kent State senior, said she didn’t realize the defense held Youngstown State University (2-4) scoreless for more than 10 minutes.

“To be honest, Coach Lindsay always is in our ear about ‘push the ball, push the ball’, so we really weren’t paying attention,” Humes said. “We were really playing like the game was close.”

After being out-rebounded in the home opener against Marshall, the Flashes battled Youngstown State in the paint to out rebound the visitors 50-33. Jones led Kent State with eight rebounds, while Gibson and Stanton grabbed seven.

“A team that shoots 23 percent from the field, you should out rebound that team,” Lindsay said. “We out-rebounded the ball better by numbers.”

In the second half, the Flashes dominated as the team jumped to a 38-point lead to finish the game.

The victory gives Lindsay 398 in his career. As he approaches 400, Lindsay said he isn’t concerned with the number.

“I don’t even pay any attention to it,” he said. “Honest to God I don’t. People start mentioning that stuff to me; I could care less.”

The Flashes hit the road to take on St. Francis Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m.

Contact Brad Tansey at [email protected].