Kent State's defense proves too much for Akron Zips in MAC women's basketball
Given that Wednesday’s women's basketball game between the University of Akron and Kent State featured two of the Mid-American Conference top three defensive teams, it was no surprise points were in short supply.
Nor should it have been a surprise if the rivals played a hard-fought game. Ultimately, though, Kent State had an extra gear and used a 14-2 run in the third quarter en route to a 57-55 victory over the Zips at Rhodes Arena.
Building on a one-point halftime lead, the Golden Flashes (14-6, 6-3) turned up the pressure defensively in the second half to take control of the game, forcing 18 UA turnovers that led to 17 points.
Neither team had much in the way of offensive flow. By the percentages, UA (14-6, 5-4) actually outshot Kent State 38% (17-of-55) to 31% (19-of-50) from the floor.
Hannah Young scored a game-high 16 points and Katie Shumate chipped in 11 for Kent State.
Reagan Bass led the Zips with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Molly Neitzel added 12 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double, and Alexis Stewart had 12 points.
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A 1-of-10 shooting start to the game along with Kent’s defense threw off UA’s offensive flow.
“They're a really good defensive team, too, so this isn't like we're playing against a team that can't defend,” UA coach Melissa Jackson said. “And they were doing some things to take away our ball screen action to take away some of our sets.
“And in a rivalry game, everybody knows each other. We know what they're running, they know what we're running. So, a lot of times it comes down to just playing basketball, and I think we got away from that.”
However, part of UA’s offensive woes can be attributed to losing two key players to foul trouble. The team’s starting point guard and second-leading scorer, Dominique Camp, spent most of the game in foul trouble before fouling out with 9:33 to play.
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Kent State took advantage of Camp's foul problems. She left the game with her third foul with 5:49 to play in the first half and the Zips leading 14-11, and the Golden Flashes went on a 13-4 run.
Then, with the score tied 26-26 with 6:29 left in the third quarter, Camp earned her fourth foul and Kent State pounced again, peeling off a decisive 14-2 run to take command. The Flashes built a 43-30 lead by the end of the third quarter and the Zips never got closer than the final score again.
Jackson said Camp’s fouling out was a big loss.
“I mean it on both ends of the floor. She's leading the conference in steals. She's one of the best defenders in our league and then she's our point guard,” Jackson said. “And the way that Ken State was guarding us this could have been a really big game for her offensively, getting downhill, getting into her pull-up but, unfortunately, she wasn't on the floor enough for us to really exploit that.”
It certainly didn’t help that the Zips lost another guard, Layne Ferrell, to fouls with 4:39 left in the fourth and the team making a final push to get back into the game.
“They fought and they clawed,” Jackson said of her players, “but there were multiple times in this game where we have to be tougher, we got to get loose balls and we didn't do that tonight.”
Reach George M. Thomas at gthomas@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hannah Young leads Kent State to win over Akron Zips women's team
