Kansas City
LIU Brooklyn
Bench Shines As ?Roos Rally From 16 Down In Win Over Blackbirds
11/24/2012 2:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The win snaps a three game skid for the 'Roos and moves them to 3-4 on the season, while LIU Brooklyn drop to 1-3.
Sophomore Lexis Hardiek and freshman Kelsey Barnwell led the 'Roo charge off the bench, as each scored a career-high 16 points, to combine for 32 of Kansas City's 38 bench points. Junior Kara Lee, meanwhile, added the final six points off the bench, a new career-high for her, while also adding a new career-high in rebounds with seven.
"In order to get the win, we on the bench knew we had to step up," Hardiek said. "It felt great to have a good team win like this."
In the game, the 'Roos found themselves down 16 at 18-2, before senior Kim Nezianya notched the first Kansas City field goal at the 11:21 mark.
The Blackbirds would push the lead back to 16 a minute later, but a three from Barnwell started a 10-0 run, cutting the margin to six with 5:38 left in the half.
LIU built its lead back to nine at 26-17, but eight of the next nine came from the 'Roos, including a pair of Hardiek threes, bringing UMKC to within two with just under two minutes remaining.
Brooklyn, however, notched the final two points of the half to take a 29-25 lead into the locker room.
Coming out of halftime, freshman Taylor Leathers knocked down a jumper to bring the 'Roos back to within two, but six of the next eight went to LIU, pushing the lead back to six.
Kansas City again answered, this time a jumper by Lee and a three from Hardiek trimmed the margin to one at 35-34 with 16:03 on the clock, the closest the 'Roos had been since the opening tip.
The Kangaroos would pull to within one twice more over the next eight minutes before an 18-0 run, including eight points from Nezianya, gave the 'Roos their first lead of the game and put them ahead by 13 with just 4:17 remaining in the game.
LIU Brooklyn, however, was not going to go away quietly, as the home team reeled off the next 10 points to cut the UMKC lead to 63-60 with 1:25 left.
Leathers would end the run with a three from the right wing as the shot clock was expiring to stretch the lead to six with less than a minute to play, but a three by Krystal Wells on the ensuing Blackbird possession cut the lead back to three at 66-63.
After a pair of free throw by each team, the 'Roos got a stop on the defensive end when Leathers blocked a three by LIU that went out of bounds off a Blackbird leg.
At the other end, Hardiek would knock down two free throws for UMKC to increase the lead to 70-65, before limiting LIU to just one free throw after a desperation three with 1.3 second on the clock to hold on for a 70-66 win.
"We started out slow, but we hung in there and stayed together as a team," Barnwell said. "I am proud of the team for fighting back and finishing strong to get this win."
Nezianya finished with a team-high 17 points to go along with nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, to earn a spot on the LIU Turkey Classic All-Tournament Team, while junior Hailey Houser added a career-high 13 rebounds, eight points, two assists, a block and a steal.
As a team, Kansas City out-rebounded LIU Brooklyn 45-41, while knocking down 9-of-14 from beyond the arc, good for 64.3 percent.
The Blue & Gold will be back in action again next weekend when they head to Colorado Springs, Colo., for the Air Force Classic on Nov. 30-Dec. 1 against Air Force and Boise State.
