CLEVELAND — Kent State has advanced to the Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament championship game for the first time since 2006, beating Ball State, 65-50, in a semifinal contest at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Friday.

The Golden Flashes (20-10) led for the final 36 minutes and forced the Cardinals into shooting just 32.1% from the field. Behind double-doubles from junior Bridget Dunn and redshirt senior Katie Shumate, Kent State held a dominant 50-23 rebounding advantage. Dunn scored a game-high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting and pulled down 13 boards, while Shumate finished with 12 points and career-high 14 rebounds.

In addition to controlling the boards, the Flashes outscored Ball State in the paint, 44-16

Freshman Janae Tyler matched Dunn with 16 points off the bench and junior Jenna Batsch added 10 points and career-high five assists.

The Flashes will play No. 4 seed Buffalo in the championship game Saturday at 11 a.m. on CBS Sports Network.

Be sure to follow Kent State Women's Basketball on X, Instagram and Facebook for news and updates about the team.