Kansas City
8-8,5-5Summit League
Omaha
2-10,1-6Summit League
Three-Point Onslaught Propels Roos Over Mavs
2/12/2021 5:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
KC made a program record 16 threes, including seven from Mandy Willems, in the victory
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The threes started falling and they did not stop for Kansas City Women's Basketball (8-8, 5-5) today. The Roos knocked down a program record 16 triples en route to a 69-59 victory over Omaha (2-10, 1-6).
"We love shooting the three here, that's no secret," Head Coach Jacie Hoyt said. "In the last couple of weeks we've gotten a ton of shots up and just worked on building our shooters' confidence."
Kansas City started slow in the first half, knocking down just 2-of-13 three point attempts in the game's first 17 minutes. With Omaha leading 27-17, RaVon Nero and Naomie Alnatas knocked down back-to-back triples as a sign of what was to come.
"We felt like we were getting wide open looks, they just weren't going in," Hoyt said. "We had the confidence that they would fall in the second half, and they did."
After connecting for a career-high 28 points in the Roos' last game against NDSU, Nero had another great game. She finished with just eight points, but pulled down a season-high seven rebounds and dished out a career-high five assists.
"I thought that (Nero) played the best game of her career," Hoyt said. "The energy that she gave us, leading the team and being the floor captain that we need her to be, she did everything."
The second half was the Mandy Willems show. After earning her first-career start, she did not score in the first half. She got going immediately in the third quarter however, scoring five-straight to bring the Roos within a point. She knocked down three triples in the quarter and the Roos went 6-of-10 as a team, taking a six-point lead into the fourth quarter.
"I just tried not to rush anything and let the game come to me," Willems said. "My teammates were great at finding me in open situations, which led to all of my threes."
Willems, a transfer from North Iowa Area CC, led all of women's collegiate basketball with 186 threes in her freshman year. She averaged just seven minutes per game last season, but Hoyt knew that it was only a matter of time before she had a chance to shine.
"Mandy is a great example of what it looks like to consistently work hard," she said. "We've seen her in practice play really well so it was awesome to see her be rewarded in a game. We knew her time was coming, I'm just happy she trusted that process."
Willems continued her hot shooting into the fourth quarter, connecting on four more threes. Her seven threes in the second half was the most by a Roo in a single half in program history. She finished with a game-high 23 points, besting her previous career-high by 10.
"It feels amazing, honestly," Willems said. "It's been a long time coming for me and I've just had to stay aggressive and trust the process."
Naomie Alnatas also contributed to KC's record-breaking shooting, knocking down 5-of-11 three point attempts and finishing with 20 points. Jada Mickens put together a full stat line as well, contributing four points, seven rebounds and a career-high five assists.
The Roos and Mavericks will play again tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m., to be streamed on the Roo Sports Network.
"Everything comes from our defense," Hoyt said. "We need to let our defense and rebounding turn into easy offense. We can't expect to shoot it like we did today, but we're going to try."
