The Eastern Michigan University women’s basketball team lost its third straight conference game to the Golden Flashes of Kent State, 86-67, Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
“I’m really disappointed in our effort and execution today,” said coach Fred Castro. “We had a game plan and from the start we didn’t execute it or follow it.”
Kent States’ Larissa Lurken led the game with a game-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. “No secret that Lurken is a great player and a great scorer and she had 13 points in the first quarter,” said Castro. “We had done a lot of work to do a better job with that, but we just didn’t execute.
Leading the way for the Eagles was senior Sasha Dailey and Phillis Webb with 18 points each. Sheyna Deans came off the bench and provided 13 points respectively. The Eagles shot 26-of-64 from the floor (40.6 percent) as well as seven-of-18 from beyond the arc (38.9).
The Eagles offense was on point at the start of the tip as they hit their first three shots of the ball game. Kent State did not shy away offensively as the Golden Flashes were able to knockdown shots from the perimeter midway through the first quarter. Kent State closed the opening quarter with a buzzer beater three to take an 8-point 25-17 lead.
The Golden Flashes kept their offense fluent going 9-for-14 from the field including seven made shots from beyond the arc to end the half. The Eagles walked into the locker room trailing 48-29. Sasha Dailey and Phillis Webb produced majority of the scoring, but it was junior guard Micah Robinson who struggled to get her offense going – missing all nine of her attempts from the field at halftime. Robinson finished the game with 11 points on 4-19 shooting in 38 minutes.
“I think she miss some shots I think she’s capable of making,” said Castro. “We have to keep in mind that Micah has not played these types of minutes or has played conference basketball – so even when she’s a junior on the floor, she’s a freshman on all intensive purposes. There are growing pains, but we’re going to stick with her and fight with her moving forward.”
In the second half, the Eagles opened up with a 9-2 run to cut their deficit. Sheyna Deans brought life to the offense off the bench. Kent State led by as many as 20 points, but EMU cut their deficit down to 11 points entering the final quarter.
In the final quarter of the game it continued to be all Kent State on both ends of the floor as the Eagles lose their third straight conference game.
