Stifling Defensive Effort Gives Kangaroos Easy 81-32 Win

Wednesday, January 2

Kansas City, Mo. (Swinney)

6:00 p.m. CT

Kansas City

Newman University

Stifling Defensive Effort Gives Kangaroos Easy 81-32 Win

1/2/2008 9:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: UMKC Athletics

Kansas City, Mo. -- UMKC returned to the court on Wednesday, hosting Newman University after a 13-day layoff over the holiday break. A stifling defensive performance combined with the best shooting performance of the year for the Kangaroos powered UMKC to an easy 81-32 win.

The Kangaroos opened the game with a 14-3 run, missing on just two of their first eight efforts. Marta Waalen paced UMKC with four points and a block during the spurt.

Newman pulled back to within single digits with back-to-back jumpers from Melissa Brockleman with 14:15 left in the half.

UMKC stepped up the defensive pressure, holding the visitors without a point over a span of nearly eight minutes, stretching out to a 30-7 cushion.

Kassie Pauly hit a jumper with 6:21 left in the half to pull Newman to within 21, but Brittny Picconi answered with a trey to push UMKC's margin back to 33-9 with just over five minutes left in the half.

UMKC missed just two shots over the final five minutes of the half, taking a 42-14 lead into the locker room.

Newman caught the Kangaroos a bit off guard coming out of the break, jumping out to a 7-2 run. Picconi scored UMKC's only points in the first 2:30 of the second half.

The Kangaroos retaliated with a 21-0 run spanning better than seven minutes. Picconi paced UMKC during the run with seven points, an assist and two offensive rebounds. She hit three of four shots during the run, cleaning up her own three-point miss with just over 14 minutes left.

Down the stretch, UMKC continued to run a high-pressure defense, holding Newman to just 11 points over the final 10:19 to cruise to a 49-point victory, marking the first time since the 2004-05 season that the Kangaroos held an opponent to fewer than 40 points, and the second-lowest point total for a UMKC opponent in the Division I era.

Picconi led the Kangaroos with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, with Alysa Klein chipping in 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Waalen and Kalei Nance also finished with double digits as well.

Brockleman was the lone scorer in double figures for Newman, tallying 10 on the evening. Ashley Hanson and Kassie Pauly each pulled in a team-best six rebounds.

UMKC shot better than 50 percent on the night, hitting 34 of 65 for a 52.3 percent mark, shooting 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) from three-point range. The Jets managed just 11 makes on 49 attempts for a 22.4 percent clip.

The Kangaroos (7-6) return to action on Saturday afternoon, taking on Western Illinois in the first game of a doubleheader with the UMKC men's team. Tipoff for Saturday's game is set for 4 p.m. at Municipal Auditorium.