# 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 (MAC). 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.

## Previous season

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

## Schedule and results

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