The Kent State University women’s basketball team is in contention to advance to a familiar spot — the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Kent State (13-13, 7-7) entered this week seventh in the MAC standings with four regular-season league games remaining. The top eight teams advance to Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
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Kent State has made 37 MAC Tournament appearances since the league’s first tournament in 1982, and has won four championships — in 1998, 2000 and 2002 under former coach Bob Lindsay and in 2024 under current coach Todd Starkey.
The road to this year’s MAC tournament will be challenging during the next two weeks as KSU visits Massachusetts at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25; hosts Central Michigan at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28; visits Miami at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 4; and hosts Western Michigan at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 7.
Miami (22-5, 13-1) is atop the MAC standings, Massachusetts (19-6, 11-3) is third and Central Michigan (16-10, 10-5) is fourth.
“I think today showed what we’re capable of,” Kent State junior guard Mya Babbitt said Feb. 21 after an 80-61 win over host Akron (7-20, 4-10) at Rhodes Arena. “We’re playing good basketball right now, as of today, and I think that will really help us go into these next three games. We know it’s a grind. We’ve played all three teams before, and we’re excited to see them again.”
Kent State University’s Mya Babbitt (23) drives down court as University of Akron’s Keiryn McGuff (20) guards, Jan. 17, 2026, at M.A.C. Center in Kent, Ohio.
Kent State lost its first games against Miami (67-63, Dec. 31), UMass (75-70, Jan. 3) and Central Michigan (66-57, Jan. 7), but Starkey and his players said they are confident they can win the second matchups.
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“It’s been a little bit up and down,” Starkey said after the win at Akron. “You know, we’ve used seven different starting lineups this year. We’ve had so many injuries and players rotating in and out of the lineup. It’s been hard to kind of get continuity with that. This was a really good sign.
“We got a win against Northern Illinois [at home Feb. 18], but it was a struggle. We found a way to win [70-67]. This one was a much more complete effort [against Akron]. I was really pleased with what I saw in the second and third quarter from this team. If we can put together 40 minutes like we played in the second and third quarter, I think that’s what we’ve been searching for all season and it’s the right time of year to do it.
“So, tough schedule coming up. I’m just still focused on one at a time, so the only thing that matters is what’s in front of us, and that’s at UMass on Wednesday, and then we’ll deal with what comes next after that.”
Kent State University’s Emory Klatt (35) looks to put up two points as University of Akron’s Monique Mitchell (35) guards, Jan. 17, 2026, at M.A.C. Center in Kent, Ohio.
Babbitt had 20 points and four steals to lead KSU to its second win over UA this season. Flashes sophomore forward Emory Klatt totaled 13 points and 10 rebounds and freshman guard Anna Campanelli scored nine points.
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“We came out strong in the first half and we played amazing defense,” Babbitt said. “We went on a crazy run in the second quarter and that really pushed us above them. Our defense was really good today. We took care of the ball and we got a bunch of steals on defense.”
KSU compiled a 24-2 run in the final 6:55 of the second quarter to lead 45-28 at halftime. The “crazy run” erased Akron’s 26-21 lead with 7:54 to go in the second quarter.
“After the first quarter, I thought our team did a great job of just really digging in on the game plan,” Starkey said. “We communicated better and we kept them off the glass. We really want to have a point of emphasis of dominating the paint, points in the paint and rebounding. I thought throughout the game we did a great job, but we really kind of pushed tempo and really enforced our will on them defensively in that second quarter and it carried over into the third quarter.”
Kent State University’s Mya Babbitt (23) shoots for three in a game agains University of Akron, Jan. 17, 2026, at M.A.C. Center in Kent, Ohio.
KSU senior guard Tatiana Thomas and sophomore guard Journey Hildebrand contributed eight points apiece in the win at Akron. Graduate forward Biance Juzzo and freshman guard and former Ellet standout Caitlyn Holmes had six points apiece.
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“This is one of the best games we’ve played this year so far,” Klatt said. “Just playing together and as a team making the extra pass. Playing hard, we got to the free-throw line a lot, and that’s what’s been helping us a lot. So, I’m really proud of this team and I’m so happy.”
KSU is 40-32 all-time in the MAC Tournament with 13 championship game appearances and the four titles.
“I think at the [break after the first] quarter [against Akron] we made some slight adjustments, talked about what we wanted to do on a little bit more of a rigid standpoint, and they did it,” Starkey said. “They dug in. I thought they were really good at getting their hands on the ball. We created [19] turnovers and 13 steals for us is high.
“Journey Hildebrand came off the bench and hit two big 3s back-to-back. That kind of gave us a boost as well, and so from then on it felt like we really controlled the tempo of the game, for the most part.”
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kent State women’s basketball ends MAC regular season with tough teams
