Kansas City
Abilene Christian
Johnson?s Big Second Half Propels Roos to Overtime Victory Over Abilene Christian
12/3/2016 6:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Abilene, Texas – Fourteen second half points from redshirt junior India Johnson (Overland Park, Kan.) would prove to be the spark UMKC women's basketball needed, as the Roos posted a 71-68 overtime victory on the road against Abilene Christian on Saturday afternoon.
Not only did Johnson score a game-high 19 points, but she knocked down the game-winning three-pointer, her fifth of the game, with 1.7 seconds left in overtime to keep the Roos undefeated on the road.
UMKC struggled to get things going in the first half, shooting 35.7 percent (10-for-28) from the field and were hampered by foul trouble, with four players, accumulating two fouls. Junior guard Samantha Waldron (Omaha, Neb.) kept UMKC close, scoring nine points on 4-for-9 shooting, but the Roos trailed the Wildcats by 13 at the intermission.
Graduate transfer Lyndsay Leikem (Tucson, Ariz.) provided a huge spark in the third quarter, scoring nine points on 4-of-6 shooting, including a three-pointer to cut the ACU lead to five with 3:30 on the clock.
Following Leikem's trey, Johnson knocked down her second three of the game, cutting the Wildcats' lead to two and forcing ACU to take a timeout.
Following the timeout, ACU finished the quarter on a 7-0 run to lead by nine, 52-43, heading into the fourth quarter.
The Roos widdled the ACU lead down to five within the first 40 seconds of the fourth, with a pair of free throws from Ceidra Coleman (Bryant, Texas) and a jumper in the paint from Waldron, but the Wildcats grew the lead back to eight.
With 6:18 left in regulation, Johnson took over. She knocked down a three to make it 57-52, and moments later repeated with her fourth three of the game, to cut the ACU lead to two. A Wildcat layup moved the margin back to five, but Johnson answered with a floater in the lane to bring the Roos back within two.
With 1:54 left in the game, junior forward Kiana Law (Pittsburgh, Pa.) tied the game for the first time, hitting a jumper to make the score 59-59.
Another layup from the Wildcats gave them back the lead with 1:23, but Waldron, who finished with 18 points, made a great move to the basket and tied things up at 61-61 with 25 seconds remaining in regulation, and after a missed three-point shot from the Wildcats, the game headed to overtime.
ACU jumped out to a five-point lead quickly, but a pair of free throws from Coleman and a jumper from Law cut the lead to one with 1:41 left. After the Wildcats made 1-of-2 free throws, Leikem knocked down a huge three with 1:12 remaining to give UMKC its first lead since the opening basket of the game.
With time winding down, Law picked up a foul that sent ACU to the line to shoot two. A missed first free throw and made second tied the game and gave UMKC the ball with 25 seconds remaining and a chance at the game.
The Roos brought the ball down the court and Waldron found Johnson in the corner with a look at a three. With just seconds remaining, Johnson did what she had been doing all game, and knocked down the game-winner.
UMKC returns to Kansas City for a four-game homestand, starting with a Wednesday night matchup against UMSL at Swinney Recreation Center on Dec. 7. The Roos will then face Omaha at Municipal Auditorium on Dec. 10, before facing Northern Illinois and Southern Illinois in the Roo Holiday Classic at Swinney Rec., Dec. 19-20.
For more information on UMKC Women's Basketball, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
– UMKC –
