Women's Basketball Wins Home Opener Over Bradley

Monday, November 6

Kansas City, Mo.

11:00 AM

Kansas City

1-0,0-0Summit League

Bradley

0-1,0-0MVC

Bradley

Kansas City

Photo by: Copyright Ryan Weaver 2023

Photo by: Ryan Weaver

Photo by: Copyright Ryan Weaver 2023

Photo by: Ryan Weaver

Photo by: Copyright Ryan Weaver 2023

Women's Basketball Wins Home Opener Over Bradley

11/6/2023 3:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Thomas/Contreras Postgame Coach Jackson-Durrett Postgame Photo Gallery

The Roos created separation in the fourth quarter to secure the win

KANSAS CITY, Mo — Kansas City Women's Basketball (1-0) opened its season with a 73-66 win at home over Bradley (0-1). The Roos got on the board first, but Bradley was quick to respond taking over the lead for just over a minute. Throughout the game Kansas City stayed on the offensive, holding the lead for 33 minutes.

While Kansas City dominated offensively for the majority of the game, they began to pull away in the fourth quarter, scoring 24 points. Alayna Contreras led the Roos in scoring with 19 points and five assists. Fast breaks were another highlight for the Roos, earning 14 points from fastbreaks and holding Bradley to zero in the same category.

The Roos outshot the Braves 43.1% to 39.2% from two and 33.3% to 27.8% from outside the arc. Kansas City outscored Bradley in every quarter except for the second, in which both teams earned 16-points. Lisa Thomas was another key player for the Roos, drawing eight fouls and going six-for-eight from the free throw line.

Ifunanya Nwachukwu was a defensive force for the Roos, earning 12 rebounds. The bench for Kansas City came up clutch, combining for 32 points. Contreras led the bench in scoring followed by Emani Bennett who earned seven points. The Roos combined for 15 assists as a team and 43 rebounds.

KEY MOMENTS

1Q — 9:42 / 2-0 | Thomas came up with a steal to put Kansas City on the offensive. The Roos strung together a few passes finding Dominique Phillips and she sank a jumper to put the Roos on the board.
1Q — 6:44 / 6-4 | On defense, Nwachukwu brought down a rebound for the Roos, they brought the ball up the court and Nariyah Simmons landed a floater to reclaim the lead for the Roos. Kansas City held the lead for the rest of the game.
1Q — 2:14 / 13-9 | Tamia Ugass pushed one over to Contreras who pulled up just outside the arc. Contreras drained the Roos first three-pointer of the matchup.
1Q — 0:00 / 15-13 | The Roos held on to the ball as time wound down in the first quarter. Kelby Bannerman passed the ball over to Contreras who drained it as the buzzer sounded, earning her second three-pointer.
2Q — 6:30 / 19-17 | Following a Bradley layup, the Roos drove the ball towards the net, Phillips passed the ball over to Nwachukwu who stood strong against the defense and earning two points for the Roos.
2Q — 5:57 / 21-19 | The Roos and the Braves were tied at 19 a piece. Contreras passed the ball over to Phillips landed a jumper. On the following play, Elauni Bennett came down with a defensive rebound. The Roos held onto possession and Contreras once again passed the ball over to Phillips who earned her first three-pointer of the night.
2Q — 2:09 / 29-25 | Kansas City put up a shot and brought down their own rebound. Em. Bennett stepped back and landed another shot, picking up a foul in the process. She knocked down the free throw, converting the and-one.
3Q — 8:47 / 36-30 | The Roos put up a few shots but came up with the rebounds, Thomas was able to launch one over to Contreras who buried the three. On the next offensive drive, Ugass passed it over to Contreras who landed another three-pointer, putting the Roos up by seven.
3Q — 5:45 / 42 -37 | Thomas stole the ball away from Bradley carrying it all the way to the net. She drove the ball in for the layup to extend the Roos lead.
4Q —9:15/ 52- 46 | The Roos carried the ball up the court quickly, Contreras launched the ball to Thomas who followed through with the layup. Thomas drew a foul on the play and converted the and one.
4Q — 4:57 / 62-49 | Kansas City went on a ten-point scoring streak with a variety of drives from Kelby Bannerman, Contreras and Thomas. Bannerman earned her sixth points of the scoring drive off of a layup.
4Q — 1:55 / 65-53 | Nwachukwu earned her first assist of the day, passing the ball over to Phillips who went in for the layup. Phillips drew a foul in the process and sank the free-throw, putting Kansas City up by 12-points going into the final minutes.

STATS TO NOTE

Contreras led the team in assists with five. Kansas City had 15 assists as a team, the most since Jan. 28 against Denver when the Roos documented 15 assists. Last season, the Roos only earned 15 or more assists in three of their games.
In her first game at the Division One level, Contreras scored a team-high 19 points. Last season at Cochise College, her season-high scoring performance was 18 points.
The Roos earned six steals in the matchup. Last season, the Roos averaged 7.2 steals per game, ranking fourth in the Summit League.
Nwachukwu put up 12 rebounds for the Roos. This was her sixth-career double digit rebound game at the D1 level and her first since earning 17 rebounds against Ohio State on March 3, 2022 while playing for Missouri State.

UP NEXT
The Roos hit the road traveling to UTEP (0-0) for their first away game of the season. The Roos face the Miners on Saturday at 5 p.m.