Kansas City
Grand Canyon
Lopes Upend ?Roos In KC
2/18/2016 11:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball
(Kansas City, Mo.) – Aries Washington finished with team-high's of 14 points and eight rebounds as UMKC women's basketball fell 68-59 on Thursday evening to Grand Canyon at the Swinney Recreation Center.
“We did a good job of continuing to battle,” Head Coach Marsha Frese said. “This one came down to execution. We let some of the mistakes we were making on the offensive end impact us on the defensive end. As this team matures we have to learn to play one possession at a time and understand you can't control what happened on the last play and move your mindset onto the next one. I'm excited to get back on the court Saturday and learn from this one tonight.”
Samantha Waldron was the only other 'Roo in double figures, finishing with 12 points, four rebounds and a team-high three assists, while Taylor Leathers added nine points, five rebounds and two assists and Ceidra Coleman tallied eight points.
“We have to be more focused and stay in the moment,” Washington said. “We were letting small things get to us and we let that affect our game. We needed to come together and focus in on the moment at hand instead of dwelling on previous plays.”
Kiana Law and Kristen Moore, meanwhile, each scored six points with Law grabbing five rebounds and Moore three.
With the loss, UMKC slips to 9-19 overall and 4-7 in the WAC, while GCU improves to 14-13 on the season and 6-5 in the conference.
Coleman opened with game's first points and two possessions later the lead grew to three after back-to-back baskets from Washington and Leathers.
GCU knotted the score at six after three straight, but Moore put UMKC back ahead with a free throw.
The Lopes, however, would reclaim the lead and stretch the margin to nine after the end of the first period with a 12-2 run that made it 18-9.
A Washington jumper and two Law free throws to open the second cut the lead down to five, and after the lead grew back to nine, Leathers drilled a three and Waldron followed with a jumper to slice the deficit to four midway through the second stanza.
The Lopes extended the lead back to six with just under five minutes remaining, but a Waldron three and two from Washington at the charity stripe made it a one point game at 26-25.
Grand Canyon would push the lead back to five before three UMKC free throws made it a two point game.
The Lopes, though beat the buzzer to take a 36-32 lead into the locker room.
Coming out of the break, GCU stretched the lead to eight and maintained the advantage until the 2:46 mark when a Waldron jumper cut the lead to six.
Law followed with a rebound put back, and after a basket by GCU, a three from Waldron and a buzzer beating teardrop from Daijane Dillard cut the margin to just one at 50-49 entering the final period of play.
Grand Canyon, however, came out hot to start the fourth, notching the period's first 12 points before two Washington free throws ended the rally.
UMKC would get as close as eight twice more, but could get no closer, falling 68-59.
The Blue & Gold will be back in action again on Saturday when they welcome in Utah Valley to Kansas City for Senior Day on Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. in the SRC.
