Women's Basketball

Kent State's Strong Second Half Sinks RedHawks

Feb. 1, 2017

Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML)

KENT, Ohio - The Miami University women's basketball team fell to Kent State, 84-66, on Wednesday evening at the MAC Center. The loss drops the Red & White's record to 7-15 (1-8 MAC) on the year while the Golden Flashes advanced to 12-10 (6-4 MAC).

Savannah Kluesner paced MU with a career-high 15 points. Lauren Dickerson and Molly McDonagh also scored in double figures with 14 points apiece. On the KSU side, Larissa Lurken collected 30 points while Jordan Kurinek contributed 21 points.

The RedHawks and Golden Flashes opened by trading one basket each all the way up to the media timeout at the 5:16 mark of the first quarter. At that point, the score stood at 11-10 in favor of KSU. The Flashes came out of the timeout by collecting the game's next seven points, but the RedHawks responded with a quick 7-2 run to end the quarter with scores from Kluesner and McDonagh. Through 10 minutes of action, KSU was clinging to a 20-17 lead.

Kent State's lead quickly vanished in the early moments of the second frame. After a Flashes bucket, a Kluesner triple and a lay-in by McDonagh had the game knotted up at 22-all. Following two makes at the charity stripe for KSU, Miami took its first lead of the night at 27-24 with a three-point play the hard way from Leah Purvis and a layup by Kendall McCoy. The lead change forced a KSU timeout just 2:48 into the quarter. The break from action proved useful for the Golden Flashes as they quickly re-grabbed their advantage, however the Red & White kept the game tight and trailed by just three at the halfway point. Kent State carried a 42-39 edge after 20 minutes.

The Golden Flashes captured early control of the second half with a quick 6-0 run to kick things off. Miami got buckets from McDonagh, Kayla Brown and Dickerson in the frame but, when all was said and done, KSU had racked up 23 points in the quarter to Miami's nine, giving them a 65-48 lead through three periods of play.

Kent State maintained its margin in the fourth quarter to secure the 18-point victory. The `Hawks made 26-of-57 attempts from the floor for a .456 shooting percentage while the Golden Flashes shot slightly worse as they converted on 27 of their 60 attempts for a .450 percentage form the field. Their biggest advantage came on the boards as they grabbed 41 rebounds to Miami's 26.

The RedHawks get back on the hardwood on Saturday when they hosts Ball State in a noon tip. The game will be available to stream live on ESPN3, and will also air on Spectrum Sports and BCSN.

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Players Mentioned

Lauren Dickerson

#13 Lauren Dickerson

Guard
5' 3"
Sophomore
Savannah Kluesner

#32 Savannah Kluesner

Forward
6' 2"
Sophomore
Leah Purvis

#21 Leah Purvis

Guard
5' 6"
Freshman
Kendall McCoy

#40 Kendall McCoy

Guard/Forward
6' 0"
Freshman
Kayla Brown

#15 Kayla Brown

Guard
6' 2"
Freshman
Molly McDonagh

#25 Molly McDonagh

Forward/Guard
6' 0"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Lauren Dickerson

#13 Lauren Dickerson

5' 3"
Sophomore
Guard
Savannah Kluesner

#32 Savannah Kluesner

6' 2"
Sophomore
Forward
Leah Purvis

#21 Leah Purvis

5' 6"
Freshman
Guard
Kendall McCoy

#40 Kendall McCoy

6' 0"
Freshman
Guard/Forward
Kayla Brown

#15 Kayla Brown

6' 2"
Freshman
Guard
Molly McDonagh

#25 Molly McDonagh

6' 0"
Freshman
Forward/Guard