?Roos Set To Take On Vandals In Regular Season Finale
3/7/2014 4:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Site: Moscow, Idaho/Cowan Spectrum
Television: none
Live Online Video: GoVandals.com
Radio: 1510 AM – TJ Jackson (p-b-p)
Live Online Audio: none
Twitter: @TheUMKCKangaroos
The Game
The Kansas City women's basketball team (11-17, 7-8) closes out the regular season when it heads to Moscow, Idaho, to take on Idaho (21-8, 14-1) on Mar. 8 in WAC play. The 'Roos and the Vandals are slated for a 4 p.m. CT tip on Saturday at the Cowan Spectrum.
The Opponent
League leading Idaho enters the game with a 21-8 record overall and a 14-1 mark in WAC play after knocking off Chicago State on Thursday and falling only to Bakersfield in conference play. Three-time WAC Player of the Week Stacey Barr (17.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg), one-time winner Alyssa Charlston (14.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and Christin Salvatore (10.4, 5.2 rpg) lead the Vandals this season. On the year, Idaho is out-scoring opponents 73.6 to 61.5, while limiting them to 34.1 percent shooting.
The Series
This will be the fourth meeting between the 'Roos and the Vandals with UMKC leading 2-1. Idaho won the last meeting on Jan. 2, 81-64 earlier this season, while UMKC won the first two meetings in 1991 and 1992.
First Meeting
Senior Kim Nezianya recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while classmate Eilise O'Connor added team-high's of 16 points and eight assists, as the Kansas City women's basketball team (4-10, 0-1) dropped its WAC opener 81-64 against Idaho (8-7, 1-) on Thursday night at the Swinney Recreation Center.
Freshman Grace Mitchell chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds in the loss, with Taylor Leathers notching 10 points as the fourth 'Roo to reach double figures. As a team, UMKC out-rebounded the Vandals 41-38, while matching the taller Idaho squad with 30 points in the paint
Idaho
Series: Kansas City leads 2-1.
Home: 1-1
Away: 1-0
Neutral: 0-0
Last Meeting: Idaho won 81-64 on Jan. 2 in Kansas City.
Idaho (2-1)
D14, 1991 (H) W, 66-51 Agler
D5, 1992 (A) W, 56-55 Agler
J2, 2014 (H) L, 64-81 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.
Jon Newlee was hired as the ninth head coach in University of Idaho women's basketball history on April 15, 2008. Despite inheriting a team that won just four games the season before his arrival, Newlee has led Idaho to two postseason bids in his five seasons. Newlee has won a WAC tournament championship, 42 WAC games, 6 WAC tournament games and WAC Coach of the Year honors. He led the program to its first postseason appearance in 25 years with a WBI bid in 2011 and its first NCAA bid since 1985 by winning the 2013 WAC tournament.
Last Time Out
Freshman Calli White hit the game-winning jumper with 3.5 seconds left in overtime as the Kansas City women's basketball team (11-17, 7-8) completed the season sweep of preseason WAC favorite Seattle U (13-15, 8-7) on Thursday night at the Connolly Center.
Senior Eilise O'Connor led the 'Roos offensively with 24 points, including two late free throws to send the game to overtime, while adding a season-high five steals. Classmate Kim Nezianya, meanwhile, recorded her 16th double-double of the season, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds. White was the final 'Roo in double figures, scoring 17 points, including the game winner and a pair of late threes that helped the 'Roos overcome an eight point deficit with 2:37 left in regulation.
In the win, Leathers finished with a career-high six assists to go along with six rebounds and three points. As a team, the 'Roos shot 46.2 percent from the field, including 33.3 percent from beyond the arc, while limiting the Redhawks to just 23.1 percent shooting from threes. At the line, UMKC hit 72.7 percent, while Seattle made just 10-of-18 for 55.6 percent.
Games Played List
Senior Kim Nezianya has tied the UMKC record for games played, sitting at 127 in her career, while teammate Eilise O'Connor has appeared in 120 games tied for eighth most all-time.
Double-Double Machine
This season, the 'Roos have produced 22 double-doubles with Kim Nezianya leading the way with 16. Eilise O'Connor has added four and Grace Mitchell has two, accounting for the other six.
Closing in on the Top Spots
Senior Eilise O'Connor is closing in on a pair of school records. O'Connor trails Chazny Morris by 67 points, leaving her with a 33.5 ppg pace to overtake the top spot, while she trails Penny Waggener by 31 assists with 15.5 per game needed for the record.
100 Starts and Counting
Halfway through her senior season, Eilise O'Connor has started 117 games, unofficially ranking 13th among all NCAA Division I players.
White from Deep
This season, freshman Calli White has made 64 three-point field goals, breaking Katie Houlehan's record for most three-point field goals as a freshman. Her 36.2 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 359 games with 223 starts, while scoring over 3,400 points, grabbing over 1,700 rebounds, handing out over 600 assists, with over 300 steals and 100 blocks.
Against the NCAA
Senior Eilise O'Connor stacks up tall against her peers, as the 5-8 guard currently ranks third among active leaders in free throws (595), 16th in free throw percentage (84.2%), 27th in assists (472) and 34th in points (1,739). On the season, she ranks 26th in points with 605, 21st in ppg at 21.6 and 13th in FT% at 87.9%. Kim Nezianya, meanwhile, is 17th in double-doubles (16) and 18th in rebounding (11.0).
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 3,070
WAC Leaders
The 'Roos currently lead the WAC in two categories: three-point FG defense (.268) and free throw percentage (.776), 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 55th in scoring.
Individually, Eilise O'Connor is tops in the conference in scoring (21.6), second in free throw percentage (.879) and third in assists (4.4), while Kim Nezianya is first in rebounding (11.0) and fifth in scoring (16.4) and Calli White is fifth in 3-pt. FG per game (2.3) and in 3-pt.% (.362).
Climbing the Scoring Charts
Eilise O'Connor has scored 1,736 points in her career, placing her second all-time in school history, while Kim Nezianya ranks fifth with 1,334 points
O'Connor In The Books
Career:
- Points - 2nd - 1,739
- Assists - 2nd - 472
- Steals - 5th - 190
- Rebounds - 8th - 549
- FG Made - 4th - 531
- FG Attempts - 2nd - 1,401
- Scoring Average - 5th - 14.5
- FT made - 1st - 595
- FT Attempts - 1st - 707
- FT% - 3rd - .842
Season:
- Points - 8th - 491
- Points - 2nd - 605
- Assists - 3rd - 154
- FG Attempts - 4th - 441
- Scoring Average - 8th - 16.9
- Scoring Average - 2nd - 21.6
- FT Made - 2nd - 180
- FT Made - 1st - 232
- FT Made - 9th - 102
- FT Attempts - 1st - 264
- FT Attempts - 2nd - 205
- FT Attempts - 10th - 136
