Kansas City
Stephens College
?Roos Use Big Third Quarter To Burn Out Stars
12/6/2015 6:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball
(Kansas City, Mo.) – UMKC women's basketball outscored Stephens College 31-5 in the third quarter to propel the 'Roos to their first win of the season, a 76-46 win over the Stars on Sunday afternoon at the Swinney Recreation Center.
“We definitely dialed up the intensity in the third quarter,” Head Coach Marsha Frese said. “I was really proud of how our team locked in to sharing the basketball. We know we have a lot of scorers on the floor and when we move the ball and look for the mismatches we can have success.”
Aries Washington led the 'Roos on a career day for the sophomore, scoring a season-high 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting, to go with career-high's of 11 rebounds and three steals, as well as two assists for her first career double-double. Kristen Moore, meanwhile, matched her career-high with 14 points, while narrowly missing a double-double with a career-high eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“I see the ball and go after it when I rebound,” Washington said. “We have to attack the boards. Coach Frese has been emphasizing rebounding because we have got away from it, but that's one of the things we are good at. We moved the ball and when we move the ball, people get good looks. Today, I was the one who happened to have the hot hand.”
With the victory, UMKC improves to 1-6 on the season, while Stephens College remains at 4-6 as the game served as an exhibition contest for them.
In the first half, UMKC built a 10 point lead at 17-7 after a three from Daijane Dillard, but the Stars battled back to close the gap to 30-27 at the half.
Coming out of the break, Stephens struck first to pull to within one, but from there, the Kangaroos turned up the heat, stretching the advantage to 25 with a 24-0 run.
Taylor Leathers got the run started with a jumper and Moore followed with back-to-back layups, one on an assist from Washington and one from Samantha Waldron.
Kelsey Barrett added a free throw before Waldron connected on two straight field goals with Ceidra Coleman setting up the first and Barrett the second.
Moore then found Washington for a jumper and, after two Moore free throws, Leathers found Barrett for back-to-back jumpers, including one from distance.
Moore and Washington added a pair of free throws each, before a Stephens College free throw ended the rally.
During the stretch, UMKC finished with eight made field goals, seven of which came via an assist.
The 'Roos were not done in the quarter as Washington finished it off with two straight steals and layups before knocking down a jumper off an assist from Leathers to beat the buzzer and send Kansas City to the fourth quarter up 61-32.
In the fourth, UMKC would go on to extend its lead to as many as 32 twice, including lastly at 74-42 on a layup from Justice Collins before coming away with the 76-46 victory.
Individually, Barrett added eight points and a team-high three assists and Waldron chipped in seven points, four rebounds and an assist. Leathers, meanwhile, stuffed the stat sheet with six rebounds, four points, three assists and a block.
As a team, UMKC dominated the Stars in the post, outscoring them 38-18 in the paint and out-rebounding Stephens 41-22. The 'Roos assisted on 15 of their 30 field goals and knocked down 14-of-16 free throws, good for an 87.5 percent clip.
The Blue & Gold will be back in action again on Thursday when the head west to Lawrence to take on Kansas at 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.
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