After winning its first six games in February, the Kent State women’s basketball team has now dropped back-to-back games.

The Flashes lost 77-66 to Bowling Green Monday.

KSU (8-8 Mid-American Conference, 16-9 overall) is in a four-team tie for sixth place, which includes the Falcons (8-8, 13-12).

The top eight teams make the MAC tournament and with four games to go it’ll be a tight race to see which one makes it. 

It was all junior forward Nila Blackford early on as she scored the first six points of the game to make it 7-6. KSU went on a 7-0 run with two buckets from freshman forward Bridget Dunn and three free-throws from senior guard Hannah Young to go up 13-9. Bowling Green tied it at 15, but a three-pointer from Dunn put KSU ahead by three. A late layup by the Falcons made it 18-17 after one quarter. 

The game stayed a back-and-forth match in the second quarter. But a 10-5 KSU run, headlined by three junior guard Katie Shumate baskets, helped the Flashes take a 35-33 lead into halftime. 

KSU held a 46-42 lead three minutes into the second half, but BGSU went on a 9-0 run to jump ahead. Dunn sank a three-pointer to break up the run, but the Falcons scored five straight to increase their lead. Freshman Jenna Batsch made a layup and a free throw near the end of the quarter, and Kent State trailed 57-54 after three.

KSU had a 6-2 run to start the final quarter, but five straight points by sophomore guard Nyla Hampton put BGSU back ahead by four. The Flashes pulled within two with just over three minutes remaining, but the Falcons scored five straight points again to go up 71-64. 

Dunn hit a three-pointer with 1:50 left, but BGSU would answer with a layup. KSU wouldn’t find the basket again, losing 77-67. 

The Falcons shot 58 percent from the field in the second half after shooting only 47 percent in the first. 

Kent State finished with a 42.6 percentage on field goals and only shot 33.3 percent in the final quarter.

Dunn had a career-high 21 points, five rebounds and a steal.

Young finished with 11 points, two rebounds and two steals while Shumate scored 10 points, two rebounds and two assists. 

Blackford rounded out the double-digit scoring with 10 points, seven rebounds and a steal. 

Hampton had a career-high 23 points for the Falcons, and 12 of those came in the crucial fourth quarter. 

The Flashes will next play at Miami (4-12, 8-17), which is in 10th place in the conference, Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Jimmy Oswald is a sports editor. Contact him at [email protected]