Roos Fall to Tournament Champs Cleveland State

Saturday, November 25

Cleveland, OH

3:00 PM

Kansas City

2-5,0-0Summit League

Cleveland State

5-1,0-0Horizon

Kansas City

Cleveland St.

Photo by: Ryan Weaver Photography

Roos Fall to Tournament Champs Cleveland State

11/25/2023 5:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

The Vikings ran away in the third quarter, keeping a win out of reach for the Roos

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Kansas City Women's Basketball (2-5) could not stage a comeback, falling 82 – 55 to Cleveland State (5-1). The Roos improved their shooting in the field and outside the arc to hang with the Vikings for the first half. Ten Kansas City turnovers and seven Cleveland State steals allowed the Vikings to extend their lead. Outside the arc, the Roos outshot the Vikings 57.1% to 50% in the first two quarters. Cleveland State had the Roos beat in the first half from the field going 16-for-30 compared to the Roos 11-to-26.

The Kansas City bench contributed 16 points in the first half. Alayna Contreras led the Roos offensively with eight points and one assist. She closed the first half with a jump shot at the buzzer to bring the Roos within 11.

The Roos struggled to get hot in the second half, going scoreless in the first four minutes and allowing three turnovers in the third quarter. Kansas City saw a game-low 11 points in the third quarter struggling to make shots fall. In the second half. Cleveland State pulled out of reach, after outscoring KC in all four quarters. Dominique Phillips led the Roos on the offensive end with 11 points, making her the only Roo to reach double digits.

KEY MOMENTS

1Q —7:33 / 2-4 | Both teams went scoreless in nearly the first two minutes of play. Cleveland State made it on the board first, but Emani Bennett and Lisa Thomas responded quickly with a jump shot and assist respectively. On the following Kansas City drive, Em. Bennett knocked down another jump shot to put the Roos ahead.
1Q —3:30 / 9-8 | Phillips brought down a defensive rebound for the Roos. Thompson then carried the ball up the court, linking a few passes before Phillips passed the ball into Jocelyn Ewell. Ewell stayed strong banking the shot and bringing the Roos within one.
1Q —0:37 / 20-15 | Contreras held onto the ball for the Roos in their final possession of the first quarter. She passed the ball over to Nariyah Simmons who drilled the three, earning herself an assist in the process.
2Q — 6:49 / 29-20 | Kansas City faced another scoring drought at the start of the quarter, going nearly three minutes without a basket. The Roos then got some momentum going with a Contreras jump shot followed by a Phillips three-pointer on back-to-back drives.
2Q — 5:16 / 33-23 | Kelby Bannerman knocked down a three for Kansas City off another Thomas assist. This was Thomas' third assist of the game and her second assist on a three-point field goal in the second quarter.
2Q —1:41 / 41-29 | Kansas City put up two shots that didn't fall but followed through for their rebound on both. The Roos reset and fired up a third shot, a Contreras three that found nothing but net.
3Q — 6:16 / 51-33 | Em. Bennett earned Kansas City's first points of the half with a jump shot. The Roos passed the ball over to Simmons in the top left, and Simmons found Em. Bennett in the paint. Bennett knocked down the basket to end the near four-minute blue and gold dry spell.
3Q — 0:24 / 64-42 | Phillips knocked down another step-back three, this time on an assist from Em. Bennett. It was her third three of the day and second of the third quarter.
4Q — 8:01 / 76-46 | Driving towards the right side of the net, Thomas faced some Viking traffic in the lane. She tossed up the layup and picked up a foul on the way. Thomas sank the free throw and picked up her first three points of the day.

STATS TO NOTE

Phillips put up her fourth double-digit performance of the season and was the lone Roo to reach double digits in the matchup. She earned a season-high three three-pointers, shooting 50% outside the arc and 44.44% from the field.
Along with a strong offensive showing, Phillips brought down a season-high seven rebounds. She documented three rebounds on offense and another four on defense. Before this matchup, Phillips was averaging 3.67 rebounds per game.
For the second game in a row and the fourth game this season, Thomas led the Roos in assists. She documented four assists in the matchup, three of which came in the first half. She leads the team in assists with 17 so far this season.
During her eight minutes in play, Zanaa Cordis had two rebounds, two assists and two points. She matched her season-high with two rebounds and earned a season-high in assists.

UP NEXT
The Roos return home to Kansas City for a brief one-week break in the season before their next game. Next Saturday, the Roos face Arkansas State (2-2) at 2 p.m. in the Swinney Center, the first game of their five-game home stretch.