Kent State Women's Basketball Battles Morehead State In 2011-12 Home Opener

Head coach Bob Lindsay

The Kent State women's basketball team welcomes Morehead State to the M.A.C. Center Friday (Nov. 18) for the 2011-12 home opener. Tip time is slated for 7 p.m. The first 750 fans to enter the building will receive magnet schedules. Stop by the Athletic Ticket Office in the M.A.C. Center or call             (330) 672-2244       for more information.

The Golden Flashes (0-2) are taking aim at their first win of the 2011-12 campaign after dropping road contests at Marshall and Robert Morris to open the season.

Friday's game against the Colonials will feature live stats and free live web video. The provided links will activate at the start of Friday's game.

 

Friday's contest will be aired live on both ESPN Radio 990 AM and KentStateSports.com, with Dave Wilson providing play-by-play commentary for a second straight season. Click the link above to listen live on your computer.

IN A FLASH

• Kent State is 25-11 in home openers, including a 17-5 record under Bob Lindsay's guidance. The Golden Flashes are 8-1 in last nine seasons in their first M.A.C. Center game of the season.

• Kent State is 2-0 all-time on Nov. 18, rolling to victories over Southern (85-71) in the Fifth
Third Classic in 2006 and at Youngstown State (70-55) in 2009.

• Morehead State is the only school out of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Kent State has
ever faced.

FLASH FORWARD

The Flashes fly west to Flagstaff, Ariz. for the Hilton Garden Inn Thanksgiving Classic. Kent State battles Utah Valley State Nov. 25 at 4:30 p.m. before taking on host Northern Arizona Nov. 26 at 4 p.m.

SCOUTING THE FLASHES

Kent State fell to host Robert Morris, 78-44, Tuesday (Nov. 15) in a non-conference game at the Sewall Center.

Junior guard Trisha Krewson (Sandusky, Ohio) reached double figures for the second straight game, totaling a game-high 18 points to lead the Golden Flashes. She also led Kent State with eight rebounds (two offensive, six defensive) and three steals. Junior guard Tamzin Barroilhet (Sainte Maxime, France) finished with six points while freshman guard Jamie Hutcheson (Ancaster, Ontario) and junior center Leslie Schaefer (Verona, Wis.) each added five.

KREWS CONTROL

Krewson has emerged as Kent State’s top offensive threat so far in 2011-12. The Sandusky, Ohio, native is averaging 18 points a game and is shooting at a 59% clip -- including knocking down five-of-nine from behind the arc. During a nearly 11-minute stretch in the second half of Kent State’s loss to Robert Morris, Krewson accounted for 16 straight Kent State points -- including three straight treys. The junior guard sat out the 2010-11 campaign after transferring from Bucknell. She earned First Team ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District II recognition as a sophomore in 2009-10, one of just three sophomores nationwide to earn first-team academic all-district honors. A McDonald’s All-America nominee as a high school senior, Krewson scored over 1,000 points for the Perkins Pirates and was named First Team Sandusky Bay Conference three times and Second Team All-Ohio in 2008 after an honorable mention nod following her penultimate prep season.

NOBODY’S BETTER THAN BODNAR

Kent State 24th-year associate head coach Lori Bodnar was recently named as CollegeInsider.com’s “Top Mid-Major Women’s Basketball Assistant Coach.” She headlined a top-25 that featured six Mid-American Conference assistant coaches. Bodnar has helped tutor the Golden Flashes to 12 20-win seasons and four NCAA Tournament appearances.

AROUND THE WORLD

Barroilhet and freshman Itziar Llobet (Sant Cugat de Valles, Spain) both prepped for the 2011-12 campaign overseas last summer. Barroilhet, who i s a dual citizen of France and England, represented Great Britain at the World University Games in Shenzen, China. Llobet competed for Spain at the 2011 FIBA U-18 European Championship in Oradea, Romania. In the team’s quarterfinal win over the Netherlands, Llobet scored eight points and added four rebounds and two assists.

REPRESENTING OVERSEAS

Former Kent State all-conference performer Taisja Jones thrived in her first season as a professional basketball player, averaging over 18 points and 11 rebounds per game for Aguas Buenas Tigresas of the BSNF.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

MOREHEAD STATE EAGLES (1-1 overall, 0-0 OVC)

All-time series: Morehead State leads, 3-2

KSU's Lindsay vs. Morehead State: 2-0

Current Streak: W2

• Morehead State shook off a 96-60 season-opening loss against then-15th-ranked Kentucky to pull off a 62-57 win over Ohio Sunday. Senior guard Courtney Lumpkin poured in a career-high 23 points, including two free throws with a second left to ice the victory, and fellow senior Linda Dixon contributed a career-high 20 points. The Eagles have made pressure defense their trademark in the early part of the 2011-12 campaign, forcing Kentucky into 27 turnovers and the Bobcats into 29 floor mistakes.

•Head coach Tom Hodges is in his second year at the helm.

• Junior forward Ashar Harris ranked third in the nation in rebounding (12.3 per game) in 2010-11 and was selected to the 2011-12 All-Ohio Valley Conference Preseaon Team.

• Kent State looks to even the all-time series against Morehead State at three wins apiece in the first matchup between the programs in nearly 20 years. The Eagles won the first three meetings in the late 70s and early 80s before Bob Lindsay and the Flashes earned victories over the Eagles two years in a row during the 1990-91 and 1991-92 campaigns.