Mattingly's Second Half Explosion Leads Roos to Victory

Wednesday, February 19

Riverside, CA

8:00 PM

Kansas City

17-10,10-3WAC

California Baptist

12-14,3-8WAC

Kansas City

California Baptist

Mattingly's Second Half Explosion Leads Roos to Victory

2/19/2020 11:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Final Box

Ericka Mattingly Scored 23 Second Half Points; Roos Erase 11-Point Deficit in Win

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - No first half points, no problem for Ericka Mattingly. She put up 23 points in the second half, tying her season-high and willing the Roos to an 83-81 victory over California Baptist.

FINAL | Sweet, sweet sweep ??#KCRoos | #ROOUP | #DeclareKC | #KCcommitted pic.twitter.com/V91s8Peuh4
— Kansas City Women's Basketball (@KCRoosWBB) February 20, 2020

"I'm proud of the character our kids showed through adversity," Head Coach Jacie Hoyt said.

With the win, the Roos move to 17-10, besting last season's win total and giving them their first 17-win season since 2011-12. Kansas City is now 10-3 in the Western Athletic Conference, moving up to a tie with Grand Canyon for first place and securing its winningest WAC season since joining the league seven years ago.

The Lancers began the game hot, shooting 4-of-7 from three in the first 10 minutes. The Roos entered the quarter break trailing by 11, but a bright spot for Kansas City was Naomie Alnatas. She scored the first five points of the game, finishing with 17, a new career-high.

"Mimie was a separator for us tonight," Hoyt said. "That's one of my favorite things about coaching this team. They love each other. They fight for each other. They don't care who gets the credit because they just want to win, and Mimie's scoring tonight helped us do that."

1Q | Okayyyyyy Mimie ?? She's got all five of the Roos' points to start things off.

?? https://t.co/xJMPEYYlaY #KCRoos | #ROOUP | #DeclareKC | #KCcommitted pic.twitter.com/VLUkYcxhOn
— Kansas City Women's Basketball (@KCRoosWBB) February 20, 2020

Foul trouble plagued Kansas City in the early going, which translated into free throws for the Lancers. CBU shot 15 free throws in the first half alone, converting on 10. Mattingly was pegged for two fouls in the first quarter, and didn't see the court in the second.

"I thought our team did a good job of weathering the foul trouble we had in the first half," Hoyt said. "We actually outscored them in the second quarter when we had some of our starters in foul trouble."

Tajah Foster-Walker picked up the slack in the second frame, dropping seven points and pulling down five rebounds. She finished with her second-career double-double, ending with 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

2Q | "C u l8r ????" - Tajah

?? https://t.co/xJMPEYYlaY #KCRoos | #ROOUP | #DeclareKC | #KCcommitted pic.twitter.com/4BqyyH62nR
— Kansas City Women's Basketball (@KCRoosWBB) February 20, 2020

Mattingly made up for lost time in the third quarter, draining her first field goal of the game with just over five minutes remaining. She proceeded to connect on three more shots before the quarter ended, posting 13 points on three-of-three three-point shooting.

"Ericka made some big time plays that were very timely," Hoyt said. "She really took over in the second half."

3Q | Oh yeah, she'll do that ??#KCRoos | #ROOUP | #DeclareKC | #KCcommitted pic.twitter.com/ktsZVgSjmU
— Kansas City Women's Basketball (@KCRoosWBB) February 20, 2020

Part of what made the comeback possible was the Roos' rebounding effort. When these teams met on Jan. 25, a 75-65 Kansas City win, the Roos won the rebounding battle by 25. At the half tonight, they had just a two-rebound edge. In the second half, the tides turned as the Roos out-boarded the Lancers by 14.

"With CBU's offensive style, we knew rebounding would be key for us tonight," Hoyt said. "We weren't doing that in the first half, but made good adjustments to do so in the second half."

The fourth quarter was a battle of attrition. Kansas City extended its lead from one to eight with 4:35 remaining, but the Lancers were not to be forgotten. They stormed back to bring the game within one with just a minute remaining, and had possession of the ball with seven seconds left.

They went inside to their leading scorer, Lexy Ram, who posted up on Taylor Larson. Larson held her own in the paint, pushing Ram away from the hoop and getting a piece of Ram's shot attempt to seal the victory for the Roos.

4Q | TAYLOR. LARSON. LOCK IT AND SEAL IT ??#KCRoos | #ROOUP | #DeclareKC | #KCcommitted pic.twitter.com/69l7vKFgce
— Kansas City Women's Basketball (@KCRoosWBB) February 20, 2020

"Taylor's last possession of defense was big time," Hoyt said. "She knows her role, and that's to guard and play defense. I'm so proud of her and happy to see her buy-in pay off at such a crucial time."

The Roos have a brief hiatus before traveling to Chicago for their final regular-season road game against Chicago State on the 29th. Kansas City won the first matchup between the teams on Feb. 1, 73-57.