Kent State led Duquesne for more than 26 minutes on Saturday afternoon at the M.A.C. Center — and still left still looking for its first win. The Golden Flashes were outscored by eight in the fourth quarter and lost 75-71 to the Dukes, Kent State’s athletics department reported.
Kent State (0-3) led 14-13 after a first period in which neither team led by more than four, the university reported. The Flashes made the game’s first big run, scoring the first 12 points of the second quarter to lead 26-13, before Duquesne answered with 11 straight. Corynne Hauser’s traditional three-point play and Emory Klatt’s triple pushed the lead back to eight, and Kent State took a 32-27 lead into halftime, according to Kent State.
The third quarter swung twice. After Duquesne pulled even at 36-36, Kent State made seven straight shots in a 16-1 run for its largest lead of the game, with sophomore Da’Nia McClain scoring eight of her season-high 10 points in the stretch, Kent State reported. Duquesne’s second 11-0 run of the day cut it to 52-48 entering the fourth, according to the university.
The finish slipped away in a drought. Whitney Stafford’s second three-pointer gave Kent State a 59-56 lead with 8:27 left, and the teams traded baskets before a scoring drought of nearly four minutes left the Flashes facing their largest deficit, 67-58, Kent State reported. Sini Luukkonen hit two late three-pointers and Hauser’s free throws made it a one-possession game with 40.2 seconds left, but Duquesne shot a perfect 6-for-6 at the foul line to close it out, according to the university. Duquesne’s athletics department reported the Dukes overcame a 15-point second-half deficit to improve to 3-1.
For the second time this season, five Kent State players scored in double figures, Kent State reported. Luukkonen led with 13 points, Stafford had 12, and Hauser, McClain and Janae Tyler Rismiller added 10 apiece, while Klatt grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds, according to the university.
The loss came with season-best team marks underneath it: Kent State set season highs in three-pointers (13), rebounds (45), assists (19) and blocked shots (6), the university reported — the profile of a team close to breaking through rather than one being outplayed.
What happens next is a road test: the Flashes are back in action at Butler on Wednesday, Nov. 18, still hunting the season’s first win, Kent State’s athletics department said.
Photo: JonRidinger, CC BY-SA