Bowling Green Tallies First 3-0 MAC Start Since 2013-14
Saturday's Scoreboard
Kent State 67, Eastern Michigan 61
Buffalo 75, Miami 67
Northern Illinois 73, Western Michigan 56
Central Michigan 90, Ohio 87
Bowling Green 89, Ball State 55
Toledo 65, Akron 57
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Kent State 67, Eastern Michigan 61
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. — Junior Mariah Modkins scored five of her career-high 16 points during the final seven minutes of Kent State's 67-61 win at Eastern Michigan on Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Flashes (4-2) have won four games in a row and are 3-0 in Mid-American Conference play for the second time in the past three seasons.
Despite a subpar 17-of-31 performance at the free throw line that allowed the host Eagles to stay close, Kent State was able to convert its freebies down the stretch to leave the Convocation Center victorious for the fourth time in as many visits under head coach Todd Starkey. The Flashes' 11-point lead late in the third quarter was trimmed to one with 7:49 remaining in the fourth before converting 8-of-10 attempts from the charity stripe as part of a 15-10 run to end the contest.
For the third time in as many conference games this season, Nila Blackford posted a double-double. The sophomore forward totaled 14 points and team-high 13 rebounds. Sophomore Clare Kelly scored 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the floor and matched her career-high for assists (3) and steals (2) in her first starting assignment of the season.
Redshirt junior Linsey Marchese and senior Monique Smith were key contributors off the bench. Marchese had her best game in a Kent State uniform with 10 points and five rebounds. Although she did not attempt a shot, Smith grabbed five boards and helped the Flashes outscore Eastern Michigan by eight in just over six minutes of action.
The Flashes made more than half of their three-point shots for the third time in the past four games, as their 8-of-15 performance from long range helped offset struggles at the free throw line and a season-high 23 turnovers.
Buffalo 75, Miami 67
Box Score
OXFORD, OH – Four players scored in double figures for the second straight game as the University at Buffalo women's basketball team led wire-to-wire in a 75-67 win at Miami (OH) on Saturday. With the win the Bulls move to 6-2 on the year and 3-0 in league play.
Sophomore guard Dyaisha Fair led the Bulls with 23 points to go along with seven assists. Jazmine Young scored 12 points and Hanna Hall and Keowa Walters scored 10 points each.
Buffalo opened the game on a 7-2 run, including five straight points from Fair, to take an early lead. The RedHawks responded with a 6-2 run to cut the lead to one before Hall cashed in on a transition three to put UB up 12-8 and they would lead 12-11 at the first media timeout. Buffalo would score four straight points to go up 22-16 at the 1:24 mark but Miami would close the quarter on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 22 at the end of the first.
It would be a slow start to the second quarter for both teams before the Bulls got to the free throw line and cashed them in to take a 26-22 lead at the 7:36 mark and force a Miami timeout. Buffalo would take advantage of a five minute RedHawks scoring drought to extend the run to 11-0, sparked by a three from Loren Christie and a transition layup from Hall, and take a 33-22 lead at the 5:04 mark. The Bulls would continue to stay aggressive as Fair got the bucket and the foul to give UB a 36-24 lead with just over four minutes to play. The offense would continue to click as Elea Gaba grabbed the offensive board and kicked it out to Young for a triple and Fair finished off glass in the final seconds to cap a 22-6 UB run to give the Bulls a 44-28 lead at the break. The six points scored by the RedHawks in the second quarter was the fewest allowed by the Bulls in a quarter this season.
Northern Illinois 73, Western Michigan 56
Box Score
DeKALB, IL – Led by sophomore guard Chelby Koker's (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) game-high 21 points and a plus-22 rebound margin as a team, the Northern Illinois University women's basketball team got back in the win column Saturday with a 73-56 win over the Western Michigan Broncos at the NIU Convocation Center.
Koker was 7-for-15 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line. She is now 36-for-37 from the charity stripe this season. Koker also had six rebounds and three assists. Freshman Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) had a career-high 14 points off the bench. A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) had 12 points and nine rebounds. Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) led all players with 11 rebounds and added seven points. The Huskies had a season-high 32 points off its bench.
"We got out to a slow start and our bench was able to jumpstart us," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "That was critical because everybody really does add a little bit different dynamic to us on the floor. I really like the pieces we have and, at times, all of them have been a part to some of the success we've had and the times we've played good basketball."
NIU (3-5, 1-2 MAC) used a 14-2 run over 2:36 in the first quarter to take a 14-7 lead, with Koker and Brandon combining for 12 of the points. Western Michigan responded with the next 11 points as a Megan Wagner three and a Taylor Williams layup giving the Broncos an 18-14 lead. Marable put the Huskies back in the lead with five points in the final minute of the first, giving NIU a 19-18 lead after the opening quarter.
Those five points from the freshman guard helped spark a 13-0 NIU run as the Huskies took a 27-18 lead with 7:34 remaining in the second quarter. NIU's defense was on point in the second, holding Western Michigan to six points on 3-for-17 shooting and 0-for-7 from the three-point line. The Huskies took their largest lead of the half at the 4:04 mark on a Davis layup that made the score 33-20 as NIU took a 35-24 lead into halftime.
Western Michigan (1-4, 0-3 MAC) scored the first five points of the third quarter to get within six, 35-29, with 8:23 left on the clock. That was as close as the Broncos would get the rest of the way. A Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) three-pointer kickstarted a 15-4 NIU run over the next 6:58 that gave the Huskies a 50-33 lead. The Huskies took their largest lead of the game with 8:02 to play in the fourth as a Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) three and a Davis basket put NIU up 20, 61-41.
Central Michigan 90, Ohio 87
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio – A long way to go in the Mid-American Conference women's basketball race.
And if Central Michigan should go on to claim its fifth-consecutive league title, it can point to Saturday's 90-87 win at Ohio as one of those seminal moments that come in any championship season.
Micaela Kelly scored 28 points, Molly Davis had 23, and Maddy Watters added 17 as the Chippewas white-knuckled home the victory at Ohio's Convocation Center in a see-saw battle between two of the MAC's elite teams.
The win lifted CMU to 5-2, 3-0 MAC. The Chippewas are ranked seventh in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. Ohio is 3-3, 1-2 and ranked 12th.
"We knew it wasn't going to be won in the first or second quarter because both teams can score, but I was proud of the way we battled," CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "I couldn't be more proud of this team. We really battled on the road and we grinded one out against a very, very good team."
Bowling Green 89, Ball State 55
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team ended the first quarter on an double-digit run Saturday night (Jan. 2), and the Falcons never looked back. BGSU rolled along to an 89-55 road win over Ball State University in Mid-American Conference action at Worthen Arena.
The Falcons, now 7-1 overall, scored the final 11 points of the opening quarter to take a 19-8 lead after 10 minutes. Three three-point field goals in the first three minutes of the second period made it a 20-4 run, and the Falcons never looked back.
BGSU led by 16 points at the half, by 31 after three quarters and by 34 on multiple occasions in the fourth quarter, including when the final horn sounded.
Freshmen Lexi Fleming and Nyla Hampton led four Falcon double-digit scorers with 19 and 18 points, respectively. Senior Madisen Parker, the team's lone Indiana native, had 15 points off the bench, while sophomore Elissa Brett scored 11.
For the Cardinals (3-4, 1-2 MAC), Oshlynn Brown had a team-leading 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
BGSU forced Ball State to commit 29 turnovers, and the Falcons had a whopping 38-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
Toledo 65, Akron 57
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio – Sophomore Sophia Wiard poured in 12 of her team-high 16 points in the fourth quarter to lead Toledo to a 65-57 victory over Akron on Saturday in Savage Arena. With the victory, the Rockets improve to 6-1 overall, 2-1 in the Mid-American Conference.
A 2020-21 team captain, Wiard was credited with two triples, two field goals and two free throws over the course of the final 10 minutes to help the Midnight Blue & Gold secure its third-straight triumph.
With the score tied 55-55 with 4:17 left in regulation, Wiard drained a huge three-point field goal to give Toledo a lead it would not give up. Moments later, the Muskegon, Mich. native converted an acrobatic layup with the shot clock about to expire to extend the Rockets' advantage to six points, 63-57. She then finished off Toledo's scoring with two charity tosses in the final minute to preserve the victory.
Sophomore Mali Morgan-Elliott added a career-high 14 points, followed closely by freshman Khera Goss with a season-high 12. Fellow newcomer Sammi Mikonowicz also chipped in eight points, a team-best eight boards and a game-high six helpers.
As a team, the Rockets shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the field, including a respectable 40.0 percent (8-of-20) from three-point land, and 65.0 percent (13-of-20) from the charity stripe. They also finished with 16 assists and only 12 turnovers, marking the third time they had more helpers than miscues this year.
Lonasia Brewer paced Akron (3-3, 0-3 MAC) with a game-high 21 points and a contest-best 11 rebounds, while Kendall Miller had 10 points. UA's leading scorer Jordyn Dawson at 19.8 ppg was held to six points.
Besides Wiard's fourth-quarter heroics, the story of today's league matchup was the play of the Rockets' perimeter defense. They limited the Zips to a 27.3 percent (3-of-11) clip from beyond the arc. Akron came into the contest averaging 9.2 treys and shooting 37.4 percent from three-point land.
