CLEVELAND -- Second-seeded Kent State University (21-7) turned a tight game at halftime into a 86-70 win over sixth-seeded Miami University (18-11) in the second semifinal of the 2001 Kraft Mid-American Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament at Gund Arena.

Miami's Jenny Martin, right, tries to get by Kent State's Carrie Nance. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

The Golden Flashes have won nine games in a row will now face the top-seeded University of Toledo Rockets in the final for the bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Center Julie Studer had a career-high 31 points in the victory, bettering her 27 against Northern Illinois Feb. 8, 2001. Studer went 9-of-12 from the field and 13-18 at the line. She scored 23 points in the second half and also added five blocks for the game, one off her career high. This is the 14th time this season that Studer has had 20 or more points. The lead changed hands five times in the first half before Kent State took the lead for good on a free throw by Carrie Nance, making the score 25-24 with 8:28 left in the opening half. Kent State then went on a 8-2 run the last 4:13 of the half to extend the lead to eight at the break. The Golden Flashes scored the first seven points of the second half, extending their lead to 15 points. The lead would stay in double digits for the rest of the game.

Kent State shot 53.2 percent from the field and went 33-of-41 from the free-throw line. The RedHawks shot 33.9 percent, including 8-of-29 from the field in the second half.

Nance added 21 points for the Golden Flashes. Christi Shibata was the game’s top rebounder, pulling down eight caroms.

The RedHawks were led by Heather Cusick, who had a career-high 27 points. Kim Lancaster, who scored 40 points in a quarterfinal win over Ball State University, was held to 11 points on 3-of-13 from the field.

“We are a tournament-tested team that has won a lot of games in a variety of tourney situations, including the NCAA’s,” head coach Bob Lindsay said. “When it comes to big games we come to play. I told the team that our success today would be determined by our willingness to leave everything out on the court and I think we did that.”

This will be the six straight MAC Tournament championship game between Kent State and Toledo, with the Rockets holding a 3-2 advantage. That game will be Saturday, March 10 at 1 p.m. and will be televised on Fox Sports Net.

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