Mon Feb 13 2012
By David Carducci
Record-Courier staff writer
Last year’s quarterfinal loss to Buffalo to open the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland still sticks in the throat of some of Kent State’s women’s basketball players.
“It’s definitely still motivation for us this year,” said First-Team All-MAC selection Jamilah Humes. “We lost to Buffalo after beating them by at least 20 twice in a row during the regular season. Now we have to come out and show we deserve to be where we are.”
The third-seeded Golden Flashes appear to be in far better position this year as they prepare for a MAC Tournament quarterfinal battle with sixth-seeded Central Michigan today at 2 p.m. at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena.
“Last year, we started the year fast at 11-1, then went 8-8 in the conference,” said KSU head coach Bob Lindsay. “This year, we were within a couple games of .500 in the (non-conference schedule) then were 12-4 in the conference. So, I think we are better now than we were a year ago at this time.
“We have a lot of the same players we had last year, but every team is different,” Lindsay said. “You could have five returning starters from one year to another, and that team isn’t necessarily the same. I think mentally this team is better than they were last year going into the tournament.”
According to Lindsay, the key to success in any conference tournament is to be peaking at the right time and then spend a week committed to playing defense.
“Your trend lines defensively have to be up,” he said. “You have to be playing better defensively in March than you were in Febuary. I think we’ve played well enough defensively to win games, but I think we can play better than we have.”
While continuing an upward defensive trend for three games may be the key to KSU’s week, finding a little more offensive firepower may be the secret to surviving today’s opener.
When the Flashes were handed an early exit from last year’s tournament, it was due in large part to a miserable shooting display. The Flashes hit 35 percent (20-for-57) from the field and 47 percent (8-for-17) from the foul line against the Bulls.
KSU should be able to depend on stars like Humes to put up her usual numbers against Central Michigan. Humes earned her First-Team selection by scoring at a 14.4 points per game clip, while ranking nationally in assists (3.9 per game) and steals (2.6).
Third-Team All-MAC selection Taisja Jones leads KSU in scoring and the 6-foot junior forward has been trending upward lately, scoring 20 points or more in 12 of her last 21 games.
But there are some question marks. Humes considers sophomore backcourt-mate Jena Stutzman, who is averaging a respectable 7.1 points per game, an “X-factor” for today.
“Jena hasn’t had the type of season she wanted to have this year, and I think this is the time for her to have her breakout game,” said Humes. “I think the way Central plays defense is the perfect opportunity for her to get open shots. They help a lot defensively, which leaves dribble-penetration-and-pitch opportunities. I think that’s going to be a key.”
The good news is Stutzman enjoyed one of her better games this season against Central. She scored 14 points while hitting 4-of-9 from 3-point ragne in the Flashes’ 82-76 win over the Chippewas back on Jan. 27.
Rachel Bennett, a four-year starter at guard, could also benefit from a few open looks to break out of her recent shooting slump.
“I would hope Rachel shoots better than she has been,” said Lindsay. “She has been in the gym shooting every day trying to get herself out of the slump. If she can make some shots, that will help us.”
On defense, Kent State will try to stop similar drive-and-kick attempts by Central Michigan and its three Third-Team All-MAC selections — Britni Houghton, Shonda Long and Kalhia Szunko.
“They score a lot of points, they shoot a lot of 3s, and they try to score a lot in transition,” said Lindsay. “They try to score off of their traps and extended defenses. They all can do damage if you don’t guard them the right way. You have to take them out of what they do, which is dribble penetrate, pitch and shoot the 3.”
The Chippewas are 12-17 following their 69-66 home win over Ohio in Saturday’s first round of the MAC Tournament. The winner of today’s game faces either No. 2 Toledo or No. 7 Ball State in a noon semifinal on March 12.
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Contact David Carducci at dcarducci@recordpub.com
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