Kent State women’s basketball team (17-9, 9-8 MAC) got back in the win column with a 61-52 victory over Miami University (8-18, 4-13 MAC) Wednesday.

The win put the Flashes in a tie for fifth place in the conference with Northern Illinois, and the loss eliminated the RedHawks from tournament contention.

Kent State’s defense held Miami to nine points in the first quarter which helped the Flashes to a 14-9 lead after the first ten minutes of play.

The Flashes scored 16 points in the second quarter on 50 percent shooting from three-point range and only allowed nine RedHawk points to take a 30-18 lead to the locker room at halftime.

KSU’s offense got off to a hot start in the second half as the team shot 77.8 percent from the field to score 19 points in the third quarter. The Flashes defense held Miami to just 10 third quarter points on 22.2 percent shooting. Kent State found itself up 49-28 after three quarters.

The script flipped in the fourth quarter as the Flashes scored just 12 points on 33.3 percent shooting while the RedHawks exploded for 24 fourth quarter points on 55.6 percent shooting. However, Miami’s fourth quarter comeback wasn’t enough as the Flashes went on to a 61-52 victory.

Overall, KSU shot 40.4 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from behind the three-point line.

Leading the way for the Flashes was senior forward Lindsey Thall with 18 points and three blocks, senior guard Mariah Modkins with 10 points and junior guard Katie Shumate and junior forward Nila Blackford each with nine points.

Overall for Miami, the RedHawks shot 32.8 percent from the field and 29.4 percent from three-point range.

Leading the way for the RedHawks was junior guard Peyton Scott with 24 points and five steals and sophomore guard Edyn Battle with 11 points.

Kent State outrebounded Miami 48-31 with Blackford grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds for the Flashes.

The Flashes turned the ball over 23 times which allotted for 17 Miami points while the RedHawks turned the ball over 10 times which counted for five Kent State points.

Miami stole the ball 13 times and had 21 fastbreak points while the Flashes stole the ball twice and had one fastbreak point.

Kent State’s next game will be against University at Buffalo (19-8, 13-4 MAC) on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Kent. The game will be Senior Day for the Flashes.

Kathryn Rajnicek is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].