.png&width=40&type=webp)
Kansas City
13-9,6-2WAC
Chicago State
1-20,1-7WAC
Mattingly Fires on All Cylinders in Win over Chicago State
2/1/2020 5:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Mattingly Drops 21 Points, Six Rebounds, Six Assists and Seven Steals in Convincing Win
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Halfway through conference season, the Kansas City women's basketball (13-9, 6-2 WAC) team finds itself in a tie atop the Western Athletic Conference standings following a 73-57 thumping of Chicago State (1-20, 1-7 WAC). The Roos opened the game with an Emily Ivory three and never looked back, taking their second straight wire-to-wire victory.
Â
Fun fact: We haven't trailed in the last 14 days ??#KCRoos | #ROOUP | #DeclareKC | #KCcommitted pic.twitter.com/TNEPDMHEMu
— Kansas City Women's Basketball (@KCRoosWBB) February 1, 2020
Ericka Mattingly had an Ericka Mattingly-esque game, finishing with a team-leading 21 points, six assists and seven steals to go along with six rebounds. With much of the Roos' starting lineup running into foul trouble early on, Mattingly took over and dominated the Cougars.
Â
2Q | Newton's fourth law: An Ericka Mattingly in motion will stay in motion until she gets a bucket ??#KCRoos | #ROOUP | #DeclareKC | #KCcommitted pic.twitter.com/qW28KumIaC
— Kansas City Women's Basketball (@KCRoosWBB) February 1, 2020
"Whatever I could do to help my team is what I focused on," Mattingly said.
The win comes despite committing 21 turnovers, the third highest mark for the team all season. The Roos were able to counter sometimes-sloppy play with stout defense, taking away 17 steals and forcing Chicago State into 23 total turnovers.Â
"At the end of the day, a win is a win," Head Coach Jacie Hoyt said. "I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day of the week. Chicago State is better than what their record shows, they play hard."
Taylor Larson made her first appearance on the floor since Jan. 9 against UTRGV and made her presence felt immediately. In just 16 minutes of play, she pulled down 10 rebounds, a new career-high for the most experienced player on the Roos' roster.
"That's what it takes, just everyone stepping up," Hoyt said.
After a first quarter that saw Kansas City take just a two-point lead, the Roos shut down the Cougars. In the second frame, the Roos held Chicago State to just 18.8% shooting, outscoring them 20-10. Kansas City's lead was established by halftime and was never in question in the second half.
For the fifth game in a row, Ivory knocked down at least three triples, finishing four-of-13 from behind the arc. She hit a pair of threes in the second quarter that allowed Kansas City to push its lead into double digits. Besides Ivory, Mandy Willems was the only Roo to hit a shot from long range, knocking down a fast break three in the third quarter.
Â
3Q | Whoop, there it is ??#KCRoos | #ROOUP | #DeclareKC | #KCcommitted pic.twitter.com/9OyspP2pzP
— Kansas City Women's Basketball (@KCRoosWBB) February 1, 2020
The Roos finish the first round of WAC play at 6-2, which guarantees a tie for first going into the second go-around. Grand Canyon moved to 6-2 with their fourth-straight victory over New Mexico State, and CSU Bakersfield sits at 5-2 pending the results of today's game against UTRGV. The Roos have a competitive week ahead of them, taking on UTRGV and New Mexico State on the road.
"Our team has done a great job of taking care of business at home," Hoyt said. "We've got some really hard ones coming up, and that's no secret."
Game Notes
Every Roo that saw the floor scored a bucket, capped off by two Lauren West free throws with 1:00 remaining ... Kansas City took away 17 steals, a season-high. Five Roos had multiple takeaways ... Kansas City is on a three-game winning streak, its longest of the season ... Tajah Foster-Walker finished with a near double-double, ending with nine points and nine rebounds
