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Kansas City
Memphis
Kangaroos Fall To Tigers, 72-67, Despite Career-High 20 Points By Nezianya
3/18/2010 10:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Memphis, Tenn. -- The UMKC women's basketball team fell to Memphis in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational, 72-67. The Kangaroos close out the 2009-10 season with a 16-16 overall record. In the defeat, freshman Kim Nezianya led the `Roos with a career-high 20 points, while sophomore Dayon Hall-Jones finished with 13.
Memphis led in the early minutes of the first half but the Kangaroos were able to tie things up twice and eventually take a short lived one point lead (18-17) following a LeAndrea Thomas three with 9:13 left in the half.
The Tigers would then put together a 12-0 run over a three-minute span to jump ahead by 12 points (32-20) with three minutes left in the half. Kaycie Boyles and Simone Bridges would shave off five points, but Memphis would score a couple of late points to head into the locker room with a 37-25 lead.
UMKC hit the second half hard and began to chip away at the Tigers lead. Nezianya finished two back-to-back lay-ups and Hall-Jones drained a three to get within four (44-40) with 13 minutes left on the clock. The Kangaroos would then tie the game four times under the 10 minute mark but could never pull ahead.
With 6:33 left in the game, Memphis took over the lead for the remainder of the night and secured a spot in the next round of the WBI.
The `Roos out shot the Tigers in every category and the UMKC bench combined for 36 points compared to 14 by Memphis. But the Tigers owned the boards (41-29) and limited the `Roos to just five offensive rebounds.
This was the UMKC women's basketball program first appearance in postseason play at the Division I level and the first year for the WBI.
