Kansas City Travels to Chicago State in First Place

KANSAS CITY - Kansas City Women's Basketball (17-10, 10-3 WAC) is back atop the Western Athletic Conference standings heading into a Saturday afternoon matchup with Chicago State. The Roos and Grand Canyon are in a deadlock for first place with just three regular season games remaining. Should the Roos win out and the Lopes drop one of their final three games, Kansas City would be crowned outright WAC champions.

At 17-10, Kansas City has already secured its winningest season since 2011-12. Seventeen wins matches the fourth-highest win total in the program's NCAA history.
Ten wins gives the Roos their most in conference play since joining the WAC in 2012-13. They are on a chase for Candace Whitaker's 2009-10 team, which finished 12-6 in Summit League play, the most conference wins in program history.
With three games remaining and a current two-game lead over third-place Utah Valley, the Roos are in prime position for their best regular season conference finish in program history. The Dana Eikenberg-led Roos finished third in the Summit League in 2002-03 and 2003-04.
Naomie Alnatas is coming off of a career-day in the Roos' win over California Baptist. The sophomore transfer from French Guiana dropped 17 points against the Lancers, besting her previous career-high by 10 points. She added five rebounds and a career-high tying three steals. After averaging just 1.6 minutes in Kansas City's first 18 games, Alnatas has seen the floor for an average of 16.6 minutes in the last nine games.
After a four-game stretch in mid-January that saw her score well below her average, Ericka Mattingly has gone on a tear. She has scored 15 or more points in each of the Roos' last eight games, averaging 18.0 per game over that period. This has brought her scoring average up to 15.9 per game, the third-highest in the WAC.

Last Time Out: KC def. California Baptist, 83-81

The Lancers jumped out to an 11-point lead after the first quarter, but the Roos chipped back, and a 32-point third quarter gave them the final edge.
Ericka Mattingly scored all of her game-high 23 points in the second half, connecting on a season-high tying four three-pointers.
Tajah Foster-Walker contributed a double-double off of the bench, the second of her career. She finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes of play.
The Roos out-rebounded the Lancers by 14 in the second half, finishing with 24 second chance points.

Last Time vs. Chicago State: KC won, 73-57 (2/1/20)

Ericka Mattingly was all over the stat sheet, finishing with 21 points, six rebounds, six assists and seven steals in the win.
The Roos led wire-to-wire, leading by as many as 20 points at the eight-minute mark in the fourth.
All 10 Kansas City players that suited up saw the floor, and all 10 scored. Mattingly and Emily Ivory were the two players to break double-digits.
Taylor Larson played in her first game back from injury, pulling down a career-high 10 rebounds.

All-Time Series vs. Chicago State

Chicago State is the Roos' most-played and most-beaten opponent of all-time. With 50 games played between the two programs, the Roos hold a 41-9 advantage all time.
The Roos are on a current eight-game win streak against the Cougars, with the average margin of victory coming in at 29.1 points.
Head Coach Jacie Hoyt is perfect against the Cougars, posting a 5-0 record thus far.
In last year's Jan. 5 matchup in Chicago, the Roos outpaced the Cougars, 111-58. This was the third-largest margin of victory in the series, as well as the most-ever points scored by a single team.

Kansas City Travels to Chicago State in First Place

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Naomie Alnatas

Tajah Foster-Walker

Emily Ivory

Taylor Larson

Ericka Mattingly

Kansas City Travels to Chicago State in First Place

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Naomie Alnatas

Tajah Foster-Walker

Emily Ivory

Taylor Larson

Ericka Mattingly

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University of Missouri Kansas City Athletics