2023–24 Kent State Golden Flashes women's basketball team

The 2023–24 Kent State Golden Flashes women's basketball team represented Kent State University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Golden Flashes, led by eighth-year head coach Todd Starkey, played their home games at the MAC Center in Kent, Ohio, as members of the Mid-American Conference. The team finished the regular season at 18–10 and finished third in the Mid-American Conference with a 13–5 record in conference play. In the 2024 MAC women's basketball tournament, Kent State defeated Northern Illinois, Ball State, and Buffalo to win their fourth MAC tournament title and first since 2002, and advance to the 2024 NCAA tournament. In the NCAA tournament, Kent State was seeded 15th in the Albany 1 region and fell to second-seeded Notre Dame in the first round to finish the season at 21–11.^[1]

2023–24 Kent State Golden Flashes women's basketball
MAC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First round
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	21–12 (13–5 MAC)
Head coach	Todd Starkey (8th season)
Associate head coach	Fran Recchia
Assistant coaches	Alexa Golden Paige Salisbury
Home arena	MAC Center
Seasons ← 2022–23 2024–25 →

2023–24 Mid-American Conference women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Toledo	17	–	1		.944			28	–	6		.824
Ball State	16	–	2		.889			28	–	6		.824
Kent State †	13	–	5		.722			21	–	12		.636
Buffalo	10	–	8		.556			19	–	14		.576
Bowling Green	10	–	8		.556			16	–	15		.516
Northern Illinois	8	–	10		.444			15	–	16		.484
Ohio	8	–	10		.444			11	–	19		.367
Western Michigan	7	–	11		.389			12	–	18		.400
Miami (OH)	6	–	12		.333			9	–	20		.310
Akron	6	–	12		.333			11	–	18		.379
Central Michigan	4	–	14		.222			6	–	22		.214
Eastern Michigan	3	–	15		.167			7	–	22		.241
† 2024 MAC tournament winner

Previous season

The Golden Flashes finished the 2022–23 season 21–11, 12–6 in MAC play to finish in fourth place.^[2] In the MAC tournament, they defeated Northern Illinois in the quarterfinals,^[3] before falling to top-seeded and eventual tournament champions Toledo in the semifinals.^[4] They received an at-large bid into the WNIT,^[5] where they lost to Syracuse in the first round.^[6]

Roster

2023–24 Kent State Golden Flashes women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Kaley Perkins 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) RS So Oklahoma Houston, Texas F 1 Tatiana Thomas 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) So Bolingbrook High School Bolingbrook, Illinois G 3 Corynne Hauser 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) So Rochester High School Rochester, Pennsylvania F 5 Bianca Juzzo 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Jr New Mexico Junior College Ribeirão Preto, Brazil G 10 Eléna Maier 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) RS So Waunakee High School Waunakee, Wisconsin G 11 Lexy Linton 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr Jackson Memorial High School Westampton, New Jersey F 12 Jenna Batsch 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Loveland High School Loveland, Ohio G 14 Katie Shumate 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) RS Sr Newark High School Newark, Ohio F 15 Bridget Dunn 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Jr Carmel High School Carmel, Indiana G 21 Dionna Gray 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) So Huntington High School Huntington, West Virginia G 22 Abby Ogle 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) GS West Virginia Baldwin City, Kansas G 23 Mya Babbitt 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr Millard South High School Papillion, Nebraska C 30 Mikala Morris 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) GS Quinnipiac Springfield, Ohio F 34 Janae Tyler 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr Holt High School Lansing, Michigan	Head coach Todd Starkey (Montreat) Assistant coach(es) Fran Recchia (Virginia Tech) Alexa Golden (Kent State) Paige Salisbury (Kent State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: February 19, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 5, 2023* 1:00 pm		Muskingum	W 106–35	–	MAC Center (–) Kent, OH
Non-conference regular season
November 12, 2023* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Louisiana MAC-SBC Challenge	W 64–55	1–0	Cajundome (572) Lafayette, LA
November 14, 2023* 12:00 pm, SECN+		at No. 7 LSU	L 79–109	1–1	Pete Maravich Assembly Center (9,117) Baton Rouge, LA
November 21, 2023* 7:00 pm, FloHoops		at Xavier	W 64–57	2–1	Cintas Center (324) Cincinnati, OH
November 24, 2023* 5:45 pm, FloHoops		vs. Chattanooga Daytona Beach Classic	L 54–64	2–2	Ocean Center (200) Daytona Beach, FL
November 25, 2023* 5:45 pm, FloHoops		vs. Missouri Daytona Beach Classic	W 67–64	3–2	Ocean Center (250) Daytona Beach, FL
November 29, 2023* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Coppin State	W 77–40	4–2	MAC Center (1,077) Kent, OH
December 3, 2023* 2:00 pm, ACCNX		at No. 15 Florida State	L 49–76	4–3	Donald L. Tucker Center (1,237) Tallahassee, FL
December 10, 2023* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Duquesne	L 82–89 ^2OT	4–4	UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (1,054) Pittsburgh, PA
December 19, 2023* 11:00 am, ESPN+		Lake Erie	W 84–20	5–4	MAC Center (1,791) Kent, OH
December 30, 2023* 1:00 pm, ESPN+		La Roche	W 109–31	6–4	MAC Center (788) Kent, OH
MAC regular season
January 3, 2024 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Buffalo	W 73–64	7–4 (1–0)	Alumni Arena (1,188) Amherst, NY
January 6, 2024 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Ohio	W 92–63	8–4 (2–0)	MAC Center (820) Kent, OH
January 10, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Miami (OH)	W 69–38	9–4 (3–0)	Millett Hall (289) Oxford, OH
January 14, 2024 6:00 pm, CBSSN		Northern Illinois	W 73–48	10–4 (4–0)	MAC Center (838) Kent, OH
January 17, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Toledo	L 76–87	10–5 (4–1)	MAC Center (1,321) Kent, OH
January 20, 2024 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Akron	W 69–60	11–5 (5–1)	James A. Rhodes Arena (1,059) Akron, OH
January 24, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Eastern Michigan	W 66–57	12–5 (6–1)	MAC Center (754) Kent, OH
January 27, 2024 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at Bowling Green	W 82–74	13–5 (7–1)	Stroh Center (2,296) Bowling Green, OH
January 31, 2024 6:30 pm, ESPN+		at Ball State	L 46–57	13–6 (7–2)	Worthen Arena (1,073) Muncie, IN
February 3, 2024 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Central Michigan	W 2–0 Forfeit^[7]	13–6 (8–2)	MAC Center  Kent, OH
February 7, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Western Michigan	W 70–57	14–6 (9–2)	MAC Center (1,854) Kent, OH
February 10, 2024* 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Old Dominion MAC-SBC Challenge	L 76–82	14–7	MAC Center (1,044) Kent, OH
February 17, 2024 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at Central Michigan	W 77–54	15–7 (10–2)	McGuirk Arena (1,189) Mount Pleasant, MI
February 21, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Ohio	L 77–79	15–8 (10–3)	Convocation Center (567) Athens, OH
February 24, 2024 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Akron	W 73–51	16–8 (11–3)	MAC Center (2,080) Kent, OH
February 28, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Eastern Michigan	W 76–64	17–8 (12–3)	George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,440) Ypsilanti, MI
March 2, 2024 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Buffalo	W 67–59	18–8 (13–3)	MAC Center (2,687) Kent, OH
March 6, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Ball State	L 71–75	18–9 (13–4)	MAC Center (1,290) Kent, OH
March 9, 2024 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Toledo	L 61–83	18–10 (13–5)	Savage Arena (6,238) Toledo, OH
MAC tournament
March 13, 2024 6:30 pm, ESPN+		vs. (6) Northern Illinois Quarterfinals	W 63–60	19–10	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (1,426) Cleveland, OH
March 15, 2024 12:30 pm, ESPN+		vs. (2) Ball State Semifinals	W 65–50	20–10	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse  Cleveland, OH
March 16, 2024 11:00 am, CBSSN		vs. (4) Buffalo Championship	W 78–60	21–10	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (2,292) Cleveland, OH
NCAA women's tournament
March 23, 2024* 2:15 p.m., ESPN	(15 A1)	at (2 A1) No. 9 Notre Dame First round	L 67–81	21–11	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. A1=Albany 1. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[8][9]

References

1. Mascitti, Carly. "'It still feels unreal': Kent State prepares for first NCAA tournament appearance in decades". News 5 Cleveland. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
2. "2022-23 Women's Basketball Standings". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
3. "Early Three-Point Shooting Barrage Helps Flashes Advance to MAC Tournament Semis". Kent State Golden Flashes. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
4. "Kent State falls to top-seeded Toledo in MAC women's basketball tournament semifinals". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
5. "Bracket, Round 1 matchups and times announced for 2023 Postseason WNIT". WNIT Pre and Post Tournament. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
6. "Dyaisha Fair torches Kent State for 24 points; Syracuse women advance to second round of WNIT". Syracuse.com. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
7. "Saturday's CMU-Kent State Women's Basketball Canceled". Central Michigan University Athletics. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
8. "2023-24 Women's Basketball Schedule". Kent State Golden Flashes. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
9. "Kent State Golden Flashes 2023-24 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved February 19, 2024.