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Kansas City
Chicago State
UMKC Frontcourt Leads ?Roos To Win Over Cougars
1/17/2015 3:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball
(Chicago, Ill.) – The 'Roos starting frontcourt of Grace Mitchell and Kiana Law each recorded double-doubles and the Kangaroos outrebounded the Cougars 44-18, as the Missouri-Kansas City women's basketball team picked up its first WAC victory of the season with a 65-59 win over Chicago State at the Jones Convocation Center.
“I'm really happy about how Kiana and Grace locked up the boards today,” UMKC Head Coach Marsha Frese said. “They've made a commitment to this team to be our strong side in the paint. When they want to rebound, they can put us on their backs and we saw tonight what they are capable of in this conference.”
Mitchell led the 'Roos in the contest, scoring a career-high 20 points, on 9-of-12 shooting, and grabbing 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season and fourth of her career, while Law added 11 points, a career-high 13 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
“We needed this win,” Mitchell said. “It give us momentum going forward in the conference and it shows that we can compete and win these games. These teams are beatable and as a team, we can do a lot. A lot of my performance today was my mindset. Coming in, we were longing for a win and we knew this was a game we could grab. Our mindset as a team was to look at this game as an opportunity and to capitalize on it and we did.”
With the win, UMKC improves to 3-14 overall and 1-1 in the WAC and snaps its 11-game skid, while the Cougars fall to 2-13 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
In the opening half, the 'Roos struck first down low on a basket from Law, but the Cougars scored the next five before extending their lead to a game-high nine at 24-15.
The 'Roos, though, battled back to reclaim the lead with a Mitchell led 14-2 run over the next six minutes that gave them a three point advantage.
Chicago State, however closed out the half on an 8-2 run to take a 34-31 lead into the locker room.
Coming out of the break, the Kangaroos reeled off 11 straight, including a pair of threes from Samantha Waldron and one from Calli White, to grow their lead to a game-high eight at 42-34 with 16:07 left to play.
The Cougars, answered with an 11-0 run of their own, reclaiming the lead at 45-42 until Grace Mitchell converted back-to-back three-point plays to put UMKC in front 48-45.
The two teams would continue to battle as neither gained more than a two possession lead until the 3:17 mark, when, with the 'Roos trailing 57-56, they went on an 8-0 run that included two free throws each from Law, Aries Washington and White and Kaw basket to take a 64-57 lead with 26 seconds left and put the game away.
The Cougars added a basket with 19 second left and White hit the 'Roos final free throw send the 'Roos home with a 65-59 victory.
As a team, UMKC shot 51.3 percent from the field (25-49), including 41.7 percent (5-12) from three-point range, and individually Waldron chipped in nine points, a career-high five assists and four rebounds and White added 13 points.
“Today was a great example of what can happen when kids put in the work and they are consistent in their practice efforts,” Frese added. “I'm really proud that were able to see the results of that on the stat sheet.”
The Blue & Gold will be back in action on Jan. 22 when they head to Bakersfield, Calif., to continue their three game WAC road swing against Bakersfield at 9 p.m. CT.
