Kansas City
North Dakota State
`Roos Drop 71-59 Contest To Bison
12/29/2010 5:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Kansas City, Mo. -- The UMKC women's basketball team suffered a 71-59 loss to North Dakota State on Wednesday afternoon. Despite the loss, Eilise O'Connor finished the game with a career-high 22 points and Brianna Eldridge brought down a career-high 13 rebounds to lead all players. The Kangaroos fall to 5-8 overall and 0-3 in The Summit League, while the Bison improve to 6-5 overall and 2-0 in league play.
North Dakota State would take control of the game in the opening minutes, piecing together an 8-2 run in the first three minutes. The Bison would hold an eight-point lead for the majority of the middle minutes of the first half, leading 16-8 with 11:30 left in the first half. North Dakota State would jump out to a nine point lead (19-10) just two minutes later, following three free throws from Abby Plucker.
UMKC got an instant jolt from freshman Peyton Adamson, who went 2-for-2 from the three-point line on the Kangaroos next two possessions, cutting the Bison lead to three, 19-16, with 7:54 left in the first half. North Dakota State would again jump out to a nine point lead with less than five minutes on the clock. But the `Roos were able to work their way down to a three-point halftime deficit, 29-26, following field goals from Kim Nezianya and Dayon Hall-Jones.
Eldridge ripped down 10 first half rebounds, just one rebound shy of a UMKC school record.
North Dakota State opened the second half with back-to-back three's from Plucker and Whitney Trecker to jump ahead by nine, 35-26. By the middle minutes of the second half, the Bison went up by 16 points, 52-36.
The Kangaroos wouldn't get any closer than nine points, 63-54, with less than two minutes on the clock.
North Dakota State had three players finish in double figures. Plucker recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Katie Birkel led all players with 20 points and Janae Burich contributed 12. The `Roos were out-shot from the field, .460-.300, but were able to out-rebound the Bison thanks to Eldridge's 13 boards.
The Kangaroos are back in action on Dec. 31 at 4 p.m., playing host to South Dakota State inside Swinney Recreation Center.
