Kansas City
Southeast Missouri State
'Roos Take Down Redhawks For First Win Of The Season
11/12/2012 11:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The 'Roos found themselves trailing 59-58 with 1:38 on the clock when Nezianya had a rebound put back, getting fouled in the process and connecting on the free throw to put Kansas City in front 61-59.
After a missed layup by the Redhawks on the other end, Nezianya converted her second straight layup to extend the margin to four with just under a minute remaining in the contest.
Freshman Lauren Dudding and junior Ashli Hill added a free throw each on the next two UMKC possessions, while junior Eilise O'Connor put in four more in the final 30 seconds to ice the game.
In the opening half, the Kangaroos scored seven of the game's first nine points with freshman Taylor Leathers capping the 7-2 run with her first collegiate field goal.
The 'Roos would extend their lead to a first half-high nine at the 7:04 mark on a Nezianya layup, but a 13-6 run by Southeast Missouri State to close the half cut the margin to 25-23 heading into the locker room.
Coming out of the break, the Redhawks would take their first lead since scoring the contest's first points when they went ahead 48-37 at the 14:30 mark.
At that point the two teams would battle back and forth, with neither building more than a three point advantage until Nezianya's five straight points late in the game.
As a team, the 'Roos forced 18 Redhawk turnovers, while outscoring SEMO 38-26 in the paint.
Individually for Kansas City, Hill finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks, while O'Connor scored 17 points, grabbed four rebounds and handed out four assists.
The Blue & Gold will be back in action again on Thursday when they welcome in cross state rival Saint Louis to Kansas City for a 7 p.m. contest at the Swinney Recreation Center.
