Kansas City
North Dakota State
UMKC Upsets North Dakota State, 68-62
1/17/2009 8:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Kansas City, Mo. -- The UMKC women's basketball team played a full two halves of basketball against North Dakota State and it showed, as they handed the Bison just their second league loss with a 68-62 victory. The Kangaroos were led by Chazny Morris with 19 second-half points and Heather Davis who finished with a career-high 18 points. The win over North Dakota State puts UMKC at 8-9 overall and 3-3 in The Summit League. The Bison, who were tied for first in the league, fall to 7-8 overall and 5-2 in The Summit League.
UMKC found itself in unfamiliar circumstances when Morris earned two fouls in just four minutes of play, forcing her to be sidelined. But that didn't seem to phase the young Kangaroo squad and several freshmen stepped in and took control keeping within striking distance of the Bison. Davis' first three of the game, she would finish six-of-seven on the day, came with 12:54 remaining in the first half and tied the game at 7-7. North Dakota State would regain the lead, thanks to a free throw from Ashley Samuelson and a easy lay-up by Jerri Penley to jump ahead by four, 11-7.
The Kangaroos tied the game twice before taking their first lead of the game, 14-13, with 8:52 left in the first half. UMKC then was able to hold off North Dakota State until the final minute of play, when a jumper by Samuelson evened the tally at 31 heading into the locker room.
The Bison would hit the court in the second half and sneak two easy lay-ups past the UMKC defense to jump head by four, 35-31, in the opening minutes. Four straight points from Morris would get the Kangaroos within one, 45-44, with 12:45 left in the game. UMKC would then suffer a bad spell, with the Bison holding them scoreless for four minutes, but the `Roos came up with some defensive stops of their own and would only be down by three, 52-49, with 6:23 remaining.
Back-to-back three pointers from Davis at the 4:30 mark would put UMKC back out on top by one, 57-56. The Kangaroos weren't allowed to throw in the towel just yet, as Whitney Trecker tied the game at 60-60 with 2:21 remaining. Morris would answer on the following possession with a jumper to push the lead to two, 62-60.
Another Penley lay-up with 51 seconds remaining again tied the game (62-62), but UMKC would go 6-for-6 from the free throw line to upset the No. 1 ranked team in The Summit League.
The UMKC defense forced North Dakota State to commit 18 turnovers, and the Kangaroos finished with eight steals, three of them forced by LeAndrea Thomas. Morris finished 8-of-8 from the charity stripe and went 5-for-10 from field goal range.
The Kangaroos will continue with the difficult league match-ups, as they host No. 21 South Dakota State in Swinney Recreation Center on Monday night at 7:00 p.m
