Kansas City
New Mexico State
?Roos Fall Just Short In Bid To Spoil Aggies Perfect WAC Season
2/27/2016 5:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – UMKC women's basketball took WAC champion New Mexico State down to the wire, but could not complete the upset and spoil the Aggies bid for an undefeated conference season, falling 78-74 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M.
“I'm so proud of our kids for staying in the moment,” Head Coach Marsha Frese said. “Our mindset allowed us to counter NMSU's multiple runs and give ourselves an opportunity to win. Our team knows we are on the verge of something special. They will learn from this as we wrap up the regular season.”
Senior Taylor Leathers led the UMKC effort with her second double-double of the season, scoring 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, including 2-of-5 from beyond the arc, and 2-of-2 from the line and grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds with a block, an assist and a steal, while Aries Washington notched a team-best 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting with six rebounds.
“We wanted the outcome to be different but I'm proud of how hard we worked to follow our game plan,” Leathers said. “I'm proud of the heart we showed toward the end and the way we stayed together throughout the entire game. Tonight just showed that it's anyone's game come tournament time.”
Samantha Waldron, meanwhile, added 10 points and a team-high five assists and Kristen Moore was the final 'Roo in double figures, scoring 12 off the bench.
With the loss, UMKC falls to 9-17 on the season and 4-9 in the WAC, while New Mexico State improves to 24-3 on the season and 13-0 in the conference.
The 'Roos came out of the gate hot to open the game with Leathers finding Waldron for a three for the game's first points.
NMSU would close the lead to one at 8-7, but the Kangaroos closed the quarter on a 12-2 run with Leathers capping the rally with a three off an assist from Daijane Dillard to make it 20-10 after the opening stanza.
The lead shrunk to three early in the second, but back-to-back baskets by Moore and Ceidra Coleman pushed the lead back to nine midway through.
The Aggies would trim the margin back to five late in the half, before a three by Leathers and an Aggie free throw made it a 37-30 game in favor of the 'Roos at the break.
Coming out of halftime, Kansas City continued to lead, stretching the advantage back to eight twice, including lastly at 43-35 when Kiana Law knocked down a jumper.
New Mexico State once again brought the lead down to three, but Kelsey Barrett found Moore underneath for the layup to send the 'Roos to the fourth quarter up 55-50.
The Kangaroos continued to lead by five with 6:30 left on the clock, before back-to-back Aggie baskets brought the lead down to one.
The lead would hold at one over the next minute and half, but two NMSU free throws gave the Aggies their first lead of the game at 63-62 with 2:11 left to go in regulation.
A Waldron free throw tied the game at 63-63, but with 1:11 left, NMSU had stretched the lead to three.
Kiana Law answered the Aggies with a free throw, and after two missed free throws from NMSU, Washington tied the game at 68-68 with just under a minute left in regulation.
Over the final minute, NM State would get three chances for the win, but came up empty on all three, including the last when Leathers blocked Tamera William to force overtime.
The 'Roos, however, would go cold in the overtime, hitting just 1-of-9 from the field, while the Aggies made 4-of-6 in the extra stanza to sneak away with the 78-74 victory.
As a team, UMKC outscored the Aggies 18 to eight on second chance points and received 28 points from its bench.
Individually, Law finished with eight points and six rebounds and Coleman added five points and six rebounds.
The Blue & Gold will be back in action again next Saturday when they conclude regular season play at home against Chicago State at 2 p.m. in the Swinney Recreation Center.
