KALAMAZOO, Mich.- After leading the first 37 minutes of the game, Western Michigan got rattled in the final three and Kent State slipped out of University Arena with a 57-48 victory Saturday. The Broncos got off to an 11-0 start and led 29-22 at halftime, but were outscored 35-19 in the second half.
Western Michigan shot 41.7 percent in the first and then had trouble with Kent State's changing defense in the second, where WMU hit under 23 percent.
Kent State's three bigs, Cici Shannon, Janae Peterson and Montia Johnson, caused trouble for WMU post players Miracle Woods and Marquisha Harris who were held below their season averages. Woods entered averaging 18 ppg and 8.2 rpg while Harris was at 13 ppg and 7.5 rpg in conference games. Woods finished with 13 points and four rebounds and Harris had five points and five rebounds.
"Basketball is such a match-up game and we just did not match up with that team," said WMU head coach Shane Clipfell. "They were able to keep Miracle and Marquisha at bay on the inside.
“You have to give credit to Kent State's pressure and their bigs on the inside. But for a lack of credit it was our composure. We had turnover after turnover after turnover. They just kept us completely off balance, we spent most of the time trying to figure out which defense they were running and that doesn't give you a lot of time to run offense.”
The Broncos raced out to an 11-0 lead and played a cat and mouse game with Kent State from there on out. Every time the Broncos went up by a decent margin, the Golden Flashes tore off a run to stay within striking distance. WMU's 21 turnovers also helped Kent State hang around.
The Broncos held a lead of nine with 7:49 remaining and Kent State finally caught up to Western Michigan with 2:36 left when a pair of free throws by Ashley Evans gave the Golden Flashes took their first lead, 48-47. A.J. Johnson's free throw with 1:54 remaining was the last point for WMU, tying the score at 48, and the Broncos' final minutes were not their best. WMU committed four turnovers in the final 90 seconds and sent KSU to the free throw line earlier than needed, where the Golden Flashes made 7 of 8.
Woods was Western Michigan's highest scorer, followed by sophomore point guard Alex Morton with nine. Morton also had four assists. Junior Jazmine Windham had six points, five rebounds, three steals and assists, but totaled all of her stats other than one steal in the first half.
Kent State (5-18, 2-10 MAC) got 12 points and five rebounds from Larissa Lurken. Amber Dunlap had nine points and Mikell Chinn scored eight, all from the free throw line.
KSU shot 25.9 percent from the floor and improved to 40.9 in the second half. The Golden Flashes outrebounded WMU, 40-31.
"The part of the game I am most disappointed in is our rebounding, and I am most disappointed about that because we continue to work on that every single day," Clipfell said. "The second thing would be our turnovers, I did not expect us to get 21 turnovers.”
The Broncos (9-14, 5-7 MAC) return to University Arena Wednesday, hosting Ohio (8-15, 3-9 MAC) at 7 p.m. The Bobcats defeated WMU earlier this season in Ohio, 70-53.
