Kansas City
Western Illinois
Kangaroos Get Back On Track With 53-47 Win At Western Illinois
2/21/2011 11:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Macomb, Ill. -- The UMKC women's basketball team got back on track on Monday night and defeated Western Illinois, 53-47. The Kangaroos were led by freshman Eilise O'Connor with 16 points, while Dayon Hall-Jones had and Kim Nezianya led the squad with 10 rebounds. The `Roos improve to 13-14 overall and 8-8 in The Summit League, while the Leathernecks drop to 7-19 overall and 5-11 in league play.
UMKC got off to another slow start in the opening minutes and Western Illinois took full advantage, jumping out to an eight-point lead, 12-4, following a 7-0 Leatherneck stretch. But O'Connor stepped up for the `Roos and scored six straight points, getting her team within two, 12-10, with 11 minutes left in the first half.
A Hall-Jones three would put the Kangaroos up by one point, but the pair would battle to two more ties before LeAndrea Thomas would hit a pair of three-pointers and Kaycie Boyles would drain two free throws to move ahead, 25-17, with 2:41 on the clock.
UMKC held a slight edge in the opening and middle minutes of the second half. Hall-Jones gave UMKC a five-point lead with 8:52 left in the game, but the Leathernecks would fight back and take back the lead, 41-39, with 5:14 on the clock.
The gamewinner for the Kangaroos in the end were free throws, as UMKC went 10-10 from the line in the final three minutes of play.
UMKC will close out the regular season at home with IPFW and Oakland.
