Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Kent State
Women's Hoops Knocks Off Kent State
1/25/2006 9:53:08 PM | Women's Basketball
Sophomore Patrice McKinney turns in a double-double with 20 points and 13 boards
Box score.
YPSILANTI, Mich.-- In a cross division battle of Mid-American Conference women’s basketball elite, Eastern Michigan University used a strong second half to claim a 65-55 victory over a visiting Kent State team here Wednesday night in the Convocation Center. The Eagles’ victory marked their second victory over the Golden Flashes in the last three years and just the third in the previous 26 meetings between the two schools.
Sophomore guard Patrice McKinney (Lansing, Mich.-Everett) paced the Eagles with a double-double, scoring 20 points and hauling down 13 rebounds. McKinney made 8-of-14 shots from the field while adding four assists, three blocks and two steals. Senior guard Ryan Coleman (Detroit, Mich.-CMA) and senior forward forward Nikki Knapp (Blue Springs, MO-Blue Springs South) added 15 points each. Junior forward Sarah VanMetre (Noblesville, Ind.-Noblesville) scored four points but grabbed nine rebounds. The win boosted EMU to 12-5 overall and 6-0 in league play.
Kent State, now 11-6 (4-2 MAC) on the year, was paced by Lindsay Shearer with 22 points while Sarah Burgess added 16.
The Eagles raced out to a 6-2 advantage on the strength of four points off Nikki Knapp free throws. Kent State missed on its first three possessions before Sarah Burgess managed to get the Golden Flashes on board with 16:18 left in the half. Eastern’s edge ballooned to 13, 15-2, as Kendra Gallert (Lowell, Mich.-Lowell) drained a three-pointer from the corner, forcing KSU to burn a time out with 13:00 to go in the period. Kent State used a quick 10-2 run to pull back within seven, 19-12, as Lindsay Shearer capped off the run with a pair of free throws at the 11:10 mark.
The Eagles were held without a field goal for the game’s next 6:16, but Kent State went just as cold managing just one field goal over the same span. Eastern converted on 4-of-4 free throw attempts to keep the seven-point cushion. Coleman laid one off the glass for her first points of the game with 2:39 to end the drought and push the lead to nine, 25-16. KSU, the defending MAC East Division co-champion, would not go quietly, however, rolling off six quick points to pull within three, 25-22, with under 30 seconds to play. Eastern found its own answer though as freshman Kiemeitha Randle (Saginaw, Mich.-Saginaw) kissed one off the glass as time expired to send the teams into the lockerroom with EMU up five, 27-22.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half with KSU only managing five field goals for a 20.0 percent clip (5-of-24) while EMU shot only 36.0 percent on 9-of-25 shooting. McKinney paced the Eagle attack with 10 points and nine rebounds in the first 20 minutes while Knapp turned in eight boards. Shearer poured in 10 points to lead the Flashes while Burgess added four.
Coming off the intermission Kent State used back-to-back layups to pull within one, but junior Annie Malatinsky (Holt, Mich.-Holt) connected on a jumper to go back up three, 29-26, with 17:26 left in the game. The tempo was starting to pick up as the Golden Flashes took their first lead of the contest at the 13:32 mark as Burgess hit a trey to make it 37-35.
Unfazed by its first deficit of the game, EMU went to work using consecutive layups by McKinney to key a 14-5 run over the next five minutes to regain control and take a 49-42 lead at the 8:23 mark. The Eastern run continued as a fast break layup by Knapp with 4:47 left gave the Eagles a nine point edge, 54-45, forcing KSU’s Head Coach Bob Lindsay to call another time-out.
The score remained close as the Golden Flashes converted on 21-of-24 attempts from the charity stripe, but Eastern was able to answer each trip down the court and would never relinquish control the rest of the way.
The Eagles are next in action Saturday, Jan. 28, when they battles the University at Buffalo Bulls. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Alumni Arena.
