Plaza Lights Classic Ahead for Women?s Hoops
11/23/2016 10:40:00 AM | Women's Basketball
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – UMKC women's basketball is set to host three schools for the 2016 Plaza Lights Classic at Swinney Recreation Center on Nov. 25-26. The Roos will welcome Eastern Kentucky, Morgan State, and Western Michigan for the four-game tournament.
UMKC will open the tournament facing Western Michigan on Friday at 1 p.m. CT, followed by Eastern Kentucky vs. Morgan State at 3:30 p.m. CT to conclude the first day. Eastern Kentucky and Western Michigan will kick things off on Saturday, playing at 1 p.m. CT, ahead of UMKC and Morgan State in the tournament finale at 3:30 p.m. CT.
Tickets
Tickets for the tournament are available to purchase at the Swinney Rec. box office during the tournament, or at UMKCKangaroos.com/Tickets. Tickets start at $7, and general admission season tickets can be purchased for $50 while courtside tickets begin at $75.
Follow
A live radio stream of UMKC's games will be available for free through UMKCKangaroos.com/LiveEvents and a live video stream will also be available with a paid subscription. Live stats for the season opener will be available at UMKCStats.com.
About the Roos
UMKC (1-2) fell to Western Illinois 78-65 on Tuesday at Swinney Rec. Senior Kelsey Barrett (Kansas City, Mo.) provided a late spark off the bench for the Roos, scoring 15 points in the final 14 minutes, including knocking down her first four three-point shots. Redshirt sophomore Kristen Moore (Chicago, Ill.) scored 10 points to continue her trend of reaching double-digits in every game this season.
In a big road win at Wichita State on Tuesday, Nov. 11, junior Kiana Law (Pittsburgh, Pa.) hit a shot in the lane with 1.2 seconds left in the game to give UMKC the 56-54 victory. Junior guard Samantha Waldron (Omaha, Neb.) scored a career-high 22 points in the game, knocking down 4-of-8 three points shots.
Waldron's performance against the Shockers earned her the College Sports Madness WAC Player of the Week honor on Monday, Nov. 11.
In UMKC's season opener against Tulsa, three Roos reached double figures. Law notched a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds), Kristen Moore (Chicago, Ill.) scored 16, and Lyndsay Leikem (Tucson, Ariz.) contributed 13 points off the bench.
UMKC returns 11 letterwinners and four starters from last season, including 2016 Media All-WAC Preseason First-Team honoree Aries Washington (Kansas City, Mo.). Washington averaged 11.2 points per game a season ago, and with the return of Law and Waldron, the Roos return the bulk of their scoring load. Law averaged 10 points for the Roos in 2015-16, and Waldron put up 9.3 points per game and a team-high 12.3 in conference games.
About the Broncos
Western Michigan (1-2) picked up a win its season opener over Davidson, winning 76-63. The Broncos took No. 21 Michigan State to overtime on Nov. 18, but fell to the Spartans 68-64. Most recently, WMU lost to Michigan 66-40, with Marley Hill leading the Broncos with seven points. Breanna Mobley leads the team with 14.3 points per game and 7.0 rebounds, while Hill is averaging 14.0 points.
About the Bears
Morgan State (1-1) has three players averaging double-digits in scoring. Lexus Spears is averaging 15.0 points per game, while Tykyrah Williams and Braenan Farrar each average 14.0 per game.
Up Next
UMKC will host Central Christian College from McPherson, Kansas, at Swinney Recreation Center for a Tuesday night game on Nov. 29. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.
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