It really was Black Friday for the Kent State women’s basketball team, which suffered its first loss at the National City Bank Xavier Invitational this weekend.

The Flashes (3-1) took on Valparaiso (2-1) to begin the tournament Friday. The Flashes fell to the Crusaders, 66-62, in overtime, after leading 26-19 at the half.

Kent State even opened the second half with a 13-3 run to push the lead to 17.

But with 7 minutes left in the game, Valpo made a run of its own.

The Crusaders scored 13 of the last 16 points in regulation, including two 3-pointers in the last minute by Carrie Myers.

Myers was six of nine from 3-point land, including a last-second 3-pointer which sent the game into overtime. She had a game-high 23 points off the bench.

Unlike regulation, the Crusaders never trailed in overtime to hand the Flashes their first loss.

Senior forward Lindsay Shearer led the Flashes with 18 points and six rebounds. She moved to 14th place on Kent State’s all-time scoring list with 1,236 points.

Senior guard Malika Willoughby stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, seven assists and four steals. Freshman Samantha Scull added 11 points and five rebounds off the bench .

The Flashes were on the receiving end of the comeback victory against Elon (2-2) Saturday.

After a first half consisting of 14 turnovers, 29 percent shooting and a halftime deficit for the first time this season, the Flashes came out with a 57-54 win against Elon.

Kent State opened the second half with a 12-0 run to gain the lead and never lost it.

The Phoenix made a push to get to within three with 7 minutes left, but Shearer ended their run with a three-point play.

Shearer led the game with 25 points and eight boards. Her performance earned her a spot on the All-Tournament team.

Willoughby added eight points and two assists in the second-half comeback to make Kent State history of her own. She moved to seventh place on the all-time assist list with 366.

The Flashes return home to take on Montana State at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Contact sports reporter Deanna Stevens at [email protected].