Kansas City
Southern Utah
Kangaroos Fall to Thunderbirds, 68-52
1/10/2009 10:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Cedar City, Utah -- A sluggish first-half start plagued UMKC the entire game causing them
to drop a road contest at Southern Utah, 68-52, on Saturday night in
Cedar City, Utah. The Kangaroos fall to 7-9 overall and 2-3 in The
Summit League, while the Thunderbirds improve to 6-9 overall and 2-3 in
league play. Chazny Morris led all players with 26 points to go along
with six rebounds, while Brianna Eldridge secured a career-high nine
rebounds.
Southern Utah shot 40 percent from the field in the first half, which helped them head into the locker room with an eight point lead at 32-24.
The Kangaroos knocked it down to four (32-28) in the opening minutes of the second half off of an Eldridge jumper with 17:58 remaining. A four-point spree for the Thunderbirds would result in a 13-point lead with 10:15 remaining and then Morris went to work for UMKC.
Morris then scored seven straight points for the Kangaroos. The Oakland, Calif., native opened the spurt with a three-pointer before connecting on a jumper to cut the margin to nine points. The guard then swished a pair of free throws to pull the Kangaroos to within nine (49-40), with 7:24 left on the clock.
UMKC managed to get to within four points (53-49) at the 4:43 mark off of another field goal from Morris, but that was as close as the team would get for the remainder of the game. The Thunderbirds put the game away with a nine-point run to crush any hopes the `Roos would have for a late comeback, as they led by 13 points (62-49) with 58 seconds remaining.
The Kangaroos will get seven days off before facing North Dakota State at Municipal Auditorium on Jan. 17 at 4 p.m.
