Miami University took a 75-74 lead with 55 seconds left in the game. It was the first time the Redhawks had the lead since the first quarter when they were up 6-5. 

Going into the fourth quarter, the Kent State women’s basketball team (10-6, 3-2 in the Mid-American Conference) had a 59-52 lead over Miami (8-9, 1-4 MAC). With 5:29 left in the game, the Flashes had a 13 point lead over the Redhawks. That lead would slowly diminish as Miami went on a 17-3 run.  

After losing the lead, sophomore guard Asiah Dingle was fouled with seven seconds left. Dingle scored two free throws to regain the lead 76-75. The Flashes would go on to win 78-75.

“We dodged some bullets there. I thought Miami did a great job of being resilient coming down. Obviously, we made some major defensive mistakes we got to get better at pressure situations like that,” coach Todd Starkey said. “Any road win is a good win in the league and I thought Miami played a great game. It’s nice to get a win no matter how it happens; now we get a bye week and kind of regroup and get healthy. 

With senior guard Megan Carter out sick, the Kent State women’s basketball team had a starting team of all freshmen and sophomores for the second game in a row. Freshman forward Nila Blackford put up 23 points with eight rebounds. Dingle was tied for second in scoring with 18 points. In her last three games, Dingle has put up a total of 55 points. 

Freshman guard Katie Shumate was tied with Dingle in scoring. The freshman guard led the Flashes in rebounds with 11. 

Despite Blackford’s offensive success, she was limited to just two points in the third quarter. The Flashes’ 53 percent shooting average is above the team’s season average and they had a 3-point shooting percentage of 54.5 percent.

The Flashes out shot the Redhawks 30 for 56, while the Redhawks were 29 for 60. Kent State also scored eight points through the third quarter on Miami’s turnovers. The Redhawks turned the ball over 12 times, while Kent had 20 turnovers. 

Lindsey Thall had two blocked shots against Miami Saturday afternoon. Thall is second on the MAC leader board for blocked shots behind No. 1 Savannah Kluesner of Miami.

The Flashes are going into a bye week and their next game will be Saturday, Jan. 25 at the M.A.C Center against the University of Buffalo. 

“We just got so much to learn, but we’re making mistakes on hustle plays. Once again I think this team still has so much room to grow and we just want to continue and improve as we’re heading into late January and February,” Starkey said. 

Contact Amanda Levine at [email protected].