Kansas City
SIU Edwardsville
`Roos Post 71-59 Win Over Cougars
11/23/2010 10:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Kansas City, Mo. -- The UMKC women's basketball team played its way to a 71-59 win over SIU Edwardsville on Tuesday night inside Swinney Recreation Center. Dayon Hall-Jones led all players with 20 points, while Kim Nezianya finished with 11 and Peyton Adamson contributed a career-high 10 points. The `Roos improve to 2-2 on the season, while the Cougars fall to 0-4.
The Kangaroos hit the court running in the opening minutes of the first half, beginning the game with a 14-0 run. The Cougars were finally able to put some points on the board with 10:39 left in the first half, making it 14-2. SIU Edwardsville was able to string together a few minutes of quality possession, cutting the Kangaroos lead to seven points (16-9), with 8:41 in the half.
UMKC held on for a comfortable 11-point lead to close out the half, 34-23. The `Roos posted a .542 field goal percentage in the first half, compared to the Cougars .226.
The second half was more evenly played, but the Kangaroos great first half and 12 second-half points from Hall-Jones would seal the win for the `Roos. UMKC would jump out to 16-point lead just two minutes into the second half, following a Hall-Jones layup and three-pointer from Adamson.
SIU Edwardsville was able to keep the score within 10 points during the middle minutes of the second half, but the closest they would get was eight points (59-51) with 5:42 on the clock.
The Kangaroos kept a safe lead for the rest of the night, thanks to scrappy play from Nezianya, with seven straight points for the Blue and Gold.
UMKC will play in its first tournament of the 2010-11 season, competing in the Houston Baptist Holiday Tournament. The Kangaroos face Houston Baptist on Friday at 7:30 p.m., and close with Lamar on Saturday at 3 p.m.
