Kansas City
19-10,12-3WAC
Utah Valley
12-15,9-6WAC
Kansas City Women's Basketball Wins First-Ever Conference Championship
3/5/2020 8:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Awal Ajak Drops Career-High 19 Points on Historic Night
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Senior Awal Ajak dropped a career-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, Kansas City held Utah Valley without a field goal for the final 5:41, and the Roos defeated Utah Valley 61-53, earning their first regular season conference championship in school history. With the win, the Roos earn the top-seed in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) tournament, hosted in Las Vegas from March 11-14.
WHADDAYA SAY KANSAS CITY?!? CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY!!
— Kansas City Athletics (@KCRoosAthletics) March 6, 2020
Right where we belong ??#RINGTEAM | #ROOUP pic.twitter.com/zUnHhtN2fR
"This is something that we're just so proud of," Head Coach Jacie Hoyt said. "It's something that's incredibly hard to do, to be the first to do anything."
In just her third year as head coach, Hoyt has led the Roos to a 19-10 record, winning 12-of-15 conference games to this point. She has brought Kansas City to the top of the WAC by preaching defense, and tonight was no different. The Roos held the Wolverines to 19% three-point shooting on the game, and just 33% field goal shooting in the final quarter.
"I always know it's going to come down to getting stops," Hoyt said. "The points that we got at the end of the game were wide-open layups because of our defense."
Kansas City held the Wolverines scoreless for the game's final five minutes, ending the game on an 8-0 run after a 53-53 stalemate that lasted for nearly four minutes.
"This is March," senior Ericka Mattingly said. "March comes down to the wire. Every team wants to win, and I think our coaches really harped on us to focus on getting defensive stops."
The Roos found themselves in foul trouble early in the game, and that's when Ajak came into the frame. She and Jada Mickens each outscored their season averages in the first half alone, dropping eight apiece.
Ajak came out throwing flames in the third quarter, knocking all four of her field goal attempts, including three from behind the arc. She bested her previous career-high of 17 points reached earlier in the season against Missouri State, adding five rebounds and one assist.
3Q | Awal "Take No Names" Ajak is ruthless ??#KCRoos | #ROOUP | #DeclareKC | #KCcommitted pic.twitter.com/S8FO656NJr
— Kansas City Athletics (@KCRoosAthletics) March 6, 2020
This game was big for Ajak, as she missed a stretch of four games midway through the conference season, and was averaging just 11 minutes per game since returning from injury. She was on the floor for 28 minutes tonight, contributing the majority of Kansas City's 27 bench points.
"I've been struggling lately," Ajak said. "Today I was like, 'I'm gonna let it fly.'"
Entering the fourth quarter, the Roos held a five-point lead, which was erased by the Wolverines within the first four minutes. The teams traded points to 53-53, where the score stood from the 5:06 mark until the 1:14 mark.
On the game-deciding possession, Mattingly drove towards the basket, drawing the attention of the Wolverines before dumping a pass off to Cristina Soriano. With three Wolverines swarming her, Soriano banked a shot home to give the Roos the lead for good. Mattingly finished with a game-high five assists.
4Q | Cristina with the HUGE BUCKET. #KCRoos | #ROOUP | #DeclareKC | #KCcommitted pic.twitter.com/tWIxSsY0d0
— Kansas City Athletics (@KCRoosAthletics) March 6, 2020
The Roos turned Utah Valley over twice in the final 50 seconds, scoring six more points before all was said and done, and bringing the WAC regular season title to Kansas City.
"I'm most proud of this team for breaking that ceiling that was there for the history of the program," Hoyt said.
The exact moment we became CHAMPIONS ??????#RingTeam | #ROOUP pic.twitter.com/q1Ckbl1CyE
— Kansas City Athletics (@KCRoosAthletics) March 6, 2020
The Roos have one regular season game remaining, Senior Day against Seattle U on Saturday at 2 PM. Ajak, Soriano and Mattingly will all be honored for their dedication to the program after the game.
