Miami's Offense Comes Alive With 79-63 Win Against Kent State

Saturday, January 26

Oxford, Ohio

1:00 p.m. ET

Miami University

Kent State

Kent St.

Miami (OH)

Miami's Offense Comes Alive With 79-63 Win Against Kent State

1/26/2019 4:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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The RedHawks scored a season-high 79 points against the Golden Flashes.

OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University women's basketball team (13-4, 4-2 MAC) beat Kent State (10-8, 3-4 MAC) by a 79-63 margin on Saturday. Lauren Dickerson and Savannah Kluesner each scored 19 points to lead the Miami offense while Kristen Levering scored a career-high 15 points. Leah Purvis also reached double figures with 11 points.

Miami's defense forced four turnovers on the first five defensive possessions of the game while the RedHawk offense put up the first 11 points of the game. Dickerson sunk two three-pointers with Baleigh Reid and Savannah Kluesner also scoring on the 11-0 run by Miami. Kluesner completed a three-point play with a hard drive to the bucket during the run.

And 1! @skluesner32 with the layup and the foul to complete the 3-point play!

Watch Live: https://t.co/3iBLUmLzkq pic.twitter.com/wPgVUejEet
— Miami University WBB (@MiamiOH_WBB) January 26, 2019

Kent State called a timeout with 7:21 left in the first quarter as Miami had the early 11-0 lead. The Golden Flashes scored their first basket of the game on the first possession out of the timeout. Kent State put together a 6-0 run to cut Miami's lead to 11-6 with under five minutes to play in the first quarter.

Miami went on an 11-4 run to end the first quarter with a 22-10 lead over Kent State. Dickerson had 11 first-quarter points including three shots from behind the arc. This is her 13^th game scoring in double figures this season. The RedHawks' defense forced the Golden Flashes to shoot just 3-of-11 from the floor and 0-of-4 from the three-point line during the first quarter.

Another 3 for @L_13_O!

Watch Live: https://t.co/3iBLUmLzkq pic.twitter.com/iV3ar8OgdF
— Miami University WBB (@MiamiOH_WBB) January 26, 2019

Miami held a 28-14 lead two minutes into the second quarter after back-to-back baskets from Kristen Levering and a shot from Kendall McCoy.

All alone @L_13_O finds @KristenLevering for the easy layup!

Watch Live: https://t.co/3iBLUmLzkq pic.twitter.com/DuIkQyAEq6
— Miami University WBB (@MiamiOH_WBB) January 26, 2019

Kent State went on a 12-3 run over the next three minutes to cut the RedHawks' lead to 31-26 midway through the second quarter. Dickerson scored the next two baskets for the RedHawks to bring her first-half point total to 15.

Great move to get the layup for @L_13_O!

Watch Live: https://t.co/3iBLUmLzkq pic.twitter.com/Ia3gEbH4fI
— Miami University WBB (@MiamiOH_WBB) January 26, 2019

Levering scored Miami's final two baskets of the first half to get into double figures for the fourth time this season with 10 first-half points. Levering also had a block at the buzzer to hold Miami's lead at 41-29 over Kent State going into the locker room.

Miami shot 17-of-32 from the floor in the first half while holding Kent State to just 1-of-8 from the three-point line during the first 20 minutes of play.

Kluesner opened second-half scoring with a three-point play and a basket to reach double figures for the 13^th time this season.

First possession of the first half @leahpurvis finds @skluesner32 for another and-1!

Watch live: https://t.co/3iBLUmLzkq pic.twitter.com/NLgRcit6G7
— Miami University WBB (@MiamiOH_WBB) January 26, 2019

Each team scored 20 points in the third quarter as Miami held onto at least a seven-point lead. Kent State put together a 12-4 run over the span of four minutes to cut Miami's lead to 48-41 midway through the third quarter. Dickerson and Leah Purvis scored back-to-back to help the RedHawks re-gain a double-digit lead.

Nice layup for @leahpurvis! Miami leads 52-41 with 4:10 left in the third quarter.

Watch Live: https://t.co/3iBLUmLzkq pic.twitter.com/pQvNeCYC0x
— Miami University WBB (@MiamiOH_WBB) January 26, 2019

Kluesner and McCoy each hit two shots, one of McCoy's being a three-pointer, to cap scoring for the RedHawks in the third quarter. Miami held a 61-49 lead over Kent State after three quarters of play.
Miami outscored Kent State 9-2 to open the fourth quarter and increase the RedHawks' lead to 70-51 with 6:17 to play. The Golden Flashes responded with a 7-2 run of their own as Miami led by a 72-58 margin with less than five minutes remaining. Levering completed a three-point play to give the RedHawks a 75-58 lead and give herself a career-high 15 points.

Here is that layup that gave @KristenLevering and career-high!

Watch Live: https://t.co/3iBLUmLzkq pic.twitter.com/g4I6tThj6T
— Miami University WBB (@MiamiOH_WBB) January 26, 2019

Purvis reached double figures for the sixth time this season with less than two minutes left in the game. Kennedy Taylor scored the final RedHawks basket as Miami won by a 79-63 margin.

The RedHawks are on the road on Wednesday as they face Ohio. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.