Sun Feb 12 2012
By David Carducci
Record-Courier staff writer
CLEVELAND — A big second half from Jamilah Humes helped Kent State turn another potential Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal disaster into a 68-55 win over Central Michigan on Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena.
After a miserable first 20 minutes, the Golden Flashes walked to the locker room to brave a little fire and brimstone from head coach Bob Lindsay.
“We needed it,” said Humes. “We weren’t playing with character is what I got out of it. We needed to hear that to light a fire under us. We knew that if we didn’t step up in the second half, we would be going home.”
Actually, they would be going home early again.
Kent State trailed 28-21 at halftime after a tough first half of shooting from the field. The first-half nightmare was eerily similar to the poor shooting that led to the Flashes getting bounced from last year’s MAC Tournament in an embarrassing quarterfinal loss to Buffalo.
It didn’t take long for KSU to flip its fortunes. The Flashes shot just 21.4 percent from the field in the first half (6-for-28). Humes alone connected on nine of her 11 second-half shots, while scoring 22 of her game-high 24 points after the break.
The scoring outburst came after Humes was forced to sit the final 14 minutes of the first half in foul trouble.
“My teammates kept telling me to keep my head up so that I could come back in and contribute,” said Humes.
Keeping players with two fouls on the bench for the remainder of the first half is a long-standing philosophy of Lindsay’s. Even as Central put together an 11-0 run to take its halftime lead, the Flashes’ head coach refused to risk the possibility of Humes picking up her third foul.
“We played very poorly in the first half, and I thought, frankly, we played without energy,” said Lindsay, who also admitted part of the problem was because “we were playing with lineups we weren’t used to playing.”
Protecting Humes was the right decision. Playing without the worry that another foul would send her right back to the bench, Humes led KSU back into the lead midway through the second half during a stretch of eight consecutive points by the First-Team All-MAC selection. She then combined with Yoshica Spears and Taisja Jones on a string of three consecutive 3-pointers to close an 11-0 run that put the Flashes in complete control.
Humes opened the spurt with a layup at the 10-minute mark. When Jones drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing 1:50 seconds later, Kent State enjoyed a commanding 49-40 lead.
Defense also played a role in the Flashes’ turnaround.
Kent State held Central Michigan to 31-percent shooting (9-for-29), while forcing 16 of the Chippewas 26 turnovers.
“I think we were better defensively in the second half,” said Spears, who stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, nine rebounds and a career-high six steals. “We weren’t doing well on offense, so we needed to do better on defense. When you’re better defensively, the offense will come.”
The offense did come around for KSU to the tune of 60.7 percent shooting in the second half (17-for-28).
Jones contributed a double-double, scoring 10 points to go with 11 rebounds in 34 minutes.
Central was led by forward Kaihla Szunko’s 16 points and seven rebounds and a defense that forced 30 Kent State turnovers.
“When you cause 30 turnovers, you should win the game,” said CMU head coach Sue Guevara. “We forced 30 turnovers and unfortunately we committed 26. We had a real good first half, held them to 21-percent shooting and Jamilah Humes had only (two) points. But great players make great plays and (Humes) really stepped up in the second half. I give the credit to Kent State because they really shut us down after halftime.”
With the win, Kent State improved to 20-9 on the year, marking the 15th 20-win season in program history and the 12th in 21 years under Lindsay.
The third-seeded Flashes return to action Friday at Quicken Loans Arena in a 2:30 p.m. semifinal against No. 2-seed Toledo.
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Contact David Carducci at dcarducci@recordpub.com
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