?Roos Open Up Final Road Trip Of The Season At Seattle U
3/5/2014 9:59:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Site: Seattle, Wash./Connolly Center
Television: none
Live Online Video: GoSeattleU.com
Radio: 102.9 FM – TJ Jackson (p-b-p)
Live Online Audio: KCXL.com (Free) – TJ Jackson (p-b-p)
Twitter: @TheUMKCKangaroos
The Game
The Kansas City women's basketball team (10-17, 6-8) hits the road for its penultimate regular season game when it heads to Seattle, Wash., to take on Seattle U (13-14, 8-6) on Mar. 6 in WAC play. The 'Roos and the Redhawks are slated for a 9 p.m. CT tip on Thursday at the Connolly Center.
The Opponent
Seattle enters the game with a 13-14 record overall and an 8-4 mark in conference play, falling on the road to Grand Canyon and Idaho in their last two contests. Kacie Sowell leads a group of three Redhawks in double figures at 15.0 ppg, while Sylvia Shephard (12.6) and Ashley Ward (11.4) are also over the mark. On the glass, Sowell is grabbing a team best 9.3 of the team's 40.9 rpg.
The Series
This will be the second meeting between the 'Roos and the Redhawks with UMKC winning earlier this season, 77-65 in Kansas City.
First Meeting
All five starters scored in double figures, led by senior Eilise O'Connor's 23, as the Kansas City women's basketball team (5-10, 1-1) knocked off preseason Western Athletic Conference favorite Seattle (6-9, 1-1) 77-65 on Saturday afternoon at the Swinney Recreation Center for its first ever WAC victory.
O'Connor added seven rebounds and a pair of assists, while senior Kim Nezianya grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with 12 points and three steals for her sixth double-double of the season and her second straight. As a team, UMKC out-rebounded Seattle 42-37, while limiting the Redhawks to just 9.1 percent shooting from long range.
Seattle U
Series: Kansas City leads 1-0.
Home: 1-0
Away: 0-0
Neutral: 0-0
Last Meeting: Kansas City won 77-65 on Jan. 4 in Kansas City.
Seattle U (1-0)
J4, 2014 (H) W, 77-65 Frese
The Coaches
Renowned for her top-notch recruiting classes, Marsha Frese enters her second season as head women's basketball coach at UMKC. Named as the Kangaroo head coach on April 25, 2012, Frese brings 16 seasons of experience as a Division-I player and coach to the UMKC campus.
Joan Bonvicini, one of the most successful coaches in women's collegiate basketball history and former coach at the University of Arizona and Long Beach State, was named head coach of the Seattle University women's basketball team on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009. The veteran head coach is in her fifth season at Seattle University behind an all-time 666-365 (.645) record (as of Nov. 17, 2013) and is currently 11th on the NCAA Division I all-time wins list for women's college basketball.
Last Time Out
The Kansas City women's basketball team (10-17, 6-8) fell 67-63 on Thursday night to Grand Canyon (18-8, 7-6) in the final home game of the season where the 'Roos honored Eilise O'Connor, Kim Nezianya, Hailey Houser and Audrey Thrasher at the Swinney Recreation Center.
O'Connor led the 'Roos offensively tonight, finishing with 28 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Nezianya added 13 points and six rebounds and Houser finished with six points and two boards. Freshman Calli White, meanwhile, was the third 'Roos in double figure, scoring 10 points, including two threes which gives her the UMKC freshman record for three-point field goals in a season at 61.
White from Deep
This season, freshman Calli White has made 61 three-point field goals, breaking Katie Houlehan's record for most three-point field goals as a freshman. Her 36.5 percent mark, meanwhile, is fifth.
Senior Trio
Hailey Houser, Eilise O'Connor and Kim Nezianya make up the 'Roos trio of seniors. In their career, they have combined to play 356 games with 221 starts, while scoring over 3,300 points, grabbing over 1,700 rebounds, handing out over 600 assists, with over 300 steals and 100 blocks.
O'Connor Named To 2013-14 CoSIDA Academic All-American
Senior Eilise O'Connor was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-American Team for her efforts on and off the court. On the court, O'Connor's name is littered throughout the record book, while off the court, the San Francisco native holds a 3.99 GPA in Health Sciences.
Highest Scoring Teammates In School History
With her 11 points in the 'Roos win over San Francisco, senior forward Kim Nezianya eclipsed the 1,000 point mark joining teammate Eilise O'Connor as one of just the 12 1,000-point scorers in UMKC history. The senior duo is the first pair in school history in the Division I era and just the second pair ever to have 1,000 points at the same time, joining Penny Waggener and Laurie Smith who each reached the mark in the 1984-85 season. After their final game, Waggner and Smith finished with 2,757, while O'Connor and Nezianya now have 3,025
WAC Leaders
The 'Roos currently lead the WAC in two categories: three-point FG defense (.269) and free throw percentage (.777), while sitting second in 3-Pt. FG% (.333) and scoring offense (74.1). The FT%, meanwhile, ranks ninth in the NCAA, while the team is 13th in the nation three-point defense and 56th in scoring.
Individually, Eilise O'Connor is tops in the conference in scoring (21.5), second in free throw percentage (.876) and third in assists (4.5), while Kim Nezianya is first in rebounding (11.0) and fifth in scoring (16.2) and Calli White is fifth in 3-pt. FG per game (2.3) and in 3-pt.% (.365).
