Women?s Basketball Starts Off 2015-16 Season With Exhibition Opener Against Rockhurst
11/5/2015 5:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ON THE AIR AND ON THE WEB
Date-Time: November 6, 2015 - 7:30 p.m. CT
Site: Kansas City, Mo./SRC
TV: none
Online Audio: UMKCKangaroos.com (Free)
Talent: T.J. Jackson (p-b-p)
Webcast: RoosTV (Subscription)
Talent: T.J. Jackson (p-b-p)
Live Stats: UMKCKangaroos.com
Twitter: @UMKCWBB @TheUMKCRoos
Hashtags: #RooUp #WACHoops
Series: UMKC leads 10-3
Home: 6-2
Away: 4-1
Neutral: 0-0
Last Meeting: RU-65-60 on 11/22/14 at KC.
The Game
UMKC women's basketball kicks-off its 2015-16 campaign when it welcomes in cross-campus foe Rockhurst into the Swinney Recreation Center for its exhibition opener on Friday, Nov., 6 at 7:30 p.m.
The Opponent (Last Season)
Rockhurst (0-0)
PPG: 63.4
PPG Allowed: 65.5
Leading Scorer: Mary Dineen - 14.3
Leading Rebounder: Lauren Meyers - 5.1
Assists Leader: Jillian Myers - 2.9
The Series (Regular Season)
Rockhurst (10-3)
N21, 1980 (H) L, 49-60 Ross
J23, 1981 (A) W, 58-53 Norman
F14, 1982 (H) W, 80-54 Norman
F17, 1983 (A) W, 104-51 Norman
F28, 1983 # (H) W, 83-48 Norman
F24, 1984 (H) W, 91-68 Norman
F1, 1985 (A) W, 69-64 Norman
D10, 1985 (H) W, 80-54 Norman
D13, 1986 (A) W, 96-75 Norman
F18, 1988 (H) W, 89-76 Norman
J30, 1989 (A) L, 52-60 Agler
N16, 2010 (H) W, 80-40 Whitaker
N22, 2014 (H) L, 60-65 Frese
Last Season
UMKC finished the 2014-15 season 6-24 overall and 4-10 in WAC play, concluding the season with a loss to UTRGV in the WAC Tournament quarterfinals, with a majority of its production and minutes coming from underclassmen during the season. This year, the 'Roos will look to improve up their record with a four of five starters returning to the lineup.
The Coaches
Nationally known for her top-notch recruiting classes, Marsha Frese enters her fourth season as head women's basketball coach at UMKC. During her first three seasons in Kansas City, Frese began to establish her vision for a championship culture while guiding the 'Roos toward excellence, both on the court and in the classroom. Under Frese's guidance, the 'Roos have established a standard of excellence for classroom performance as UMKC earned top honors in back-to-back years with the highest team GPA in all of Division-I women's college basketball for both the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.
Larry Park is in his sixth season as the head coach of the women's basketball program. He guided the Hawks to their first berth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament in 2014. Park has coached for the past 31 seasons on the collegiate level. He has been an assistant coach for the Rockhurst men's program since 1996. He also was an admission and financial aid counselor, and assistant men's basketball coach, at Rockhurst from 1989-91.
Up Next...
The 'Roos will open the Regular season at home against North Florida on Friday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m.
Washington Named WAC All-Newcomer
UMKC freshman Aries Washington was named to the Western Athletic Conference's All-Newcomer team in a vote by the conference's eight head coaches. During WAC play, the Kansas City native led the 'Roos in scoring at 11.9 points, to go along with 5.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists. At the line, Washington led the entire conference in free throw percentage in WAC contest, hitting at 89.5 percent, while she finished first among the conference's freshmen in scoring and third in rebounds. Nine times she reached double figures in scoring during WAC play, including scoring a career-high 26 against Bakersfield.
Young Guns' Contributions
Last season, the 'Roos regular rotation featured six freshmen and nine underclassmen, with underclassmen accounting for 167.9 minutes (86.2%), 52.1 points (90.1%), 29.1 rebounds (83.8%), 9.6 assists (86.4%), 4.3 steals (93.3%) and 1.8 blocks (83.6%). Among the group, freshman made up 104.5 minutes (51.4%), 32.3 points (56.4%), 19.3 rebounds (53.6%), 5.7 assists (48.7%), 2.5 steals (51.4%) and 1.3 blocks (62.3%)
Overall, the 'Roos were third in the NCAA in minutes played by freshmen at 51.4% of total minutes, trailing only Clemson and Miami (OH).
Compared to the WAC, both the 'Roo freshman and underclassmen accounted for more minutes, points and rebounds than any other WAC school.
Against the NCAA, the 56.4% of points that the 'Roos freshmen scored was the highest percentage and the 90.1 percent of points from underclassmen was second.
Freshmen Records
Last season's freshmen included their names in the UMKC freshmen annals with Kiana Law ranking fifth in rebounds (205) and third in free throws (74), Paige Husa 10th in blocks (15), Aries Washington 10th in field goal percentage (.488), scoring average (10.0) and field goals (105) and eighth in free throw percentage (.763) and free throws (61) and Samantha Waldron third in three-point field goals made (43), and 3-pt. FG% (.381) and tied for first in games started (30).
Doubling Up On Double-Doubles
Three times last season the 'Roos frontcourt duo of Kiana Law and Grace Mitchell recorded double-doubles in the same game. In both games against Chicago State they accomplished the feat, while also doing so in the game against Grand Canyon. Overall, Mitchell led the team with six double-doubles, while Law was second with five.
'Roos In The Classroom
For the second straight season, the UMKC women's basketball team has claimed the top spot on the WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll presented by AT&T after posting and cumulative team total of 3.726, making them the only Division I team to post a cumulative GPA above 3.7.
2015-16 Preseason Women's Basketball Media Poll
Rank Teams (1st Votes) Points
1. New Mexico State (9) 79
2. Bakersfield (1) 65
3. UTRGV 54
4. Seattle U 48
5. Grand Canyon 43
6. Utah Valley 40
7. UMKC 19
8. Chicago State 12
2015-16 Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches Poll
Rank Teams (1st-Place Votes) Points
1. New Mexico State (7) 49
2. Bakersfield 39
3. Seattle U (1) 33
4. UTRGV 30
5. Grand Canyon 27
6. Utah Valley 26
7. UMKC 13
8. Chicago State 7
Paul Named WAC Freshman of the Year by CSM
'Roos incoming freshman LaDerica Paul, meanwhile, was named Preseason WAC Freshman of the Year by College Sports Madness.
Coaching Family
UMKC head coach Marsha Frese comes from a strong coaching family as her sister, Brenda Frese, serves as the head coach at the University of Maryland. Since her first season at the helm when the team won just 10 games, Frese has guided Maryland to a National Championship in 2006, 10 winning seasons, nine-straight 20-win seasons, five30-win campaigns and nine trips to the NCAA Tournament. In 2006-07, Maryland also received its first-ever No. 1 preseason national ranking, remaining in the top spot in the polls for 10-consecutive weeks. The duo represent the only sister combination to serve as head coaches in all of Division I basketball.
