Kent State, the tournament’s No. 8 seed, finished 15-16. Mya Babbitt led the Golden Flashes with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Tatiana Thomas and Emory Klatt added 10 points apiece.
Miami seized control with a dominant closing stretch in the opening quarter and spent much of the afternoon answering every Kent State challenge.
Núria Jurjo opened the scoring with a 3-pointer on Miami’s first possession, and the RedHawks built an early 7-2 lead. After Kent State briefly moved in front 14-13 on Riley Rismiller’s 3-pointer, Miami responded with a decisive 12-0 run to close the first quarter.
Ilse de Vries and Scalia hit back-to-back 3-pointers during the burst, and Singer finished it with a driving layup at the buzzer for a 25-15 lead.
The RedHawks stretched the margin in the second quarter behind Singer, who scored from all levels as Kent State struggled to generate offense. Her layup early in the period pushed the lead to 12, and later 3-pointers from Scalia and Singer helped Miami open a 33-18 advantage.
Singer buried another 3-pointer with 1:40 left before halftime, sending Miami into the break with a 36-22 lead after Kent State shot just 2 for 18 in the second quarter.
Kent State made its move after halftime.
The Golden Flashes opened the third quarter on a 5-0 run and slowly chipped away, trimming the deficit to 45-42 late in the period behind interior scoring and free throws. But Singer once again steadied Miami, driving for a layup with one second left in the quarter to send the RedHawks into the fourth ahead 47-42.
Kent State cut the lead to two after a three-point play by Corynne Hauser early in the final period, but Miami answered with the game’s pivotal stretch.
Scalia knocked down two free throws, Amber Tretter followed with an offensive rebound and putback, and Scalia added two more free throws before Singer scored in transition to cap a 13-1 run that pushed the lead to 55-45.
That surge gave Miami enough breathing room to withstand one final Kent State rally. The Golden Flashes closed within 62-56 in the final minute, but Miami made enough plays at the foul line to finish it off.
The RedHawks shot 19 of 25 from the free-throw line and forced 17 Kent State turnovers, turning them into 19 points. Miami also got key defensive efforts from de Vries, who blocked four shots, and Tretter, who added three blocks.
Kent State shot just 29.2% from the floor and 2 of 14 from 3-point range, struggling to find consistency against Miami’s half-court defense.
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