Roos Fall to St. Thomas in Wire-to-Wire Matchup

Sunday, December 31

Kansas City, Mo.

2:00 PM

Kansas City

7-8,0-2Summit League

St. Thomas

8-6,2-0Summit League

St. Thomas (MN)

Kansas City

Photo by: Francie Wilson

Roos Fall to St. Thomas in Wire-to-Wire Matchup

12/31/2023 5:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Coach Jackson-Durrett Postgame Highlights Photo Gallery

Kansas City stayed within striking range of the Tommies but could not close out a win

KANSAS CITY, Mo —Kansas City Women's Basketball (7-8, 0-2) fell to St. Thomas (8-6, 2-0) 66-57 in a back-and-forth matchup. The Roos got to work early putting four on the board early and holding St. Thomas scoreless. The Tommies connected a few passes and found the net, going on a seven-point scoring streak, but the Roos still had fight left. Kansas City brought the score back within one and stayed with St. Thomas for the rest of the first half going into halftime down by five, 34-29. Alayna Contreras went 3-of-4 from the field in the first half and Emani Bennett put up three steals to keep the Blue and Gold in the game.

After halftime, the Roos came out hot, getting off three shots and making two layups to reclaim the lead. The Roos and the Tommies exchanged the lead a handful of times in the third quarter with the Roos outscoring St. Thomas 19-18 in the third quarter. Both the Roos and the Tommies were cold from the field to open the fourth quarter Dominique Phillips knocked down two free throws to bring the Roos within two and Contreras hit a jumper to tie the score, almost two minutes into the final quarter. A St. Thomas bucket followed by a three-pointer gave them the momentum they needed to close out the game. Kansas City could not stage a comeback as St. Thomas held the Roos to two points in the final three minutes.

KEY MOMENTS | HIGHLIGHTS

1Q — 5:04 / 5-8 | Nariyah Simmons drove the ball down the court and into the lane. She found Ifunanya Nwachukwu with a bounce pass. Nwachukwu banked the shot and extended the Roos lead to three.
1Q — 1:36 / 14-12 | Phillips carried the ball from just outside the arc through traffic, putting up a wraparound shot. The Roos picked up a foul on their next drive and went 1-2 from the line.
2Q — 4:50 / Emani Bennett got a hand on a St. Thomas pass on the other end of the court, she was able to maintain control and steal the ball for the Roos. Bennett quickly passed the ball to Thomas who dribbled through traffic, finding the top of the backboard and the net for the Roos.
2Q — 3:02 / 29-24 | Contreras knocked down a driving layup for the Roos to get the momentum going. St, Thomas responded with a bucket, but the Roos were ready to fire back. Tamia Ugass pushed a pass from under the basket to Kelby Bannerman at the top of the key who knocked down a three-pointer.
3Q — 8:04 / 34-33 | In the second half, Simmons opened scoring for the Roos with a driving layup. A few minutes later, Contreras got her lone steal of the night, giving Kansas City possession. From under the basket, Phillips found Simmons who drove the ball in for a floating jump shot, bringing the Roos within one.
3Q — 5:38 / 39-40 | Facing pressure as she drove the ball towards the basket, Zaire Harrell passed the ball to Simmons near the baseline. Simmons fired off the open three, reclaiming the lead for the Roos.
4Q — 3:39 / 55-59 | Zanaa Cordis came down with a defensive rebound for the Roos. Kansas City connected a string of passes, with Bannerman finding Simmons who knocked down her second three of the night. On the next play, the Roos forced a St. Thomas shot clock violation to reclaim possession. Bannerman and Simmons connected again with 18 seconds remaining in play. Bannerman came up with a big steal and Simmons closed the deal with a layup, but their efforts were too little too late.

STATS TO NOTE

Nariyah Simmons put up her first double-digit game since notching 11 points against Alabama A&M on Dec. 14. Prior to the matchup Simmons was averaging 9.9 points per game.
The Roos documented seven blocks in the matchup with Kelby Bannerman leading the charge. Bannerman had two blocks and two steals on the day, both of which were season highs.
The Kansas City bench earned 29 of the Roos' 57 points while the Tommie bench put up 16 points. Contreras led the Kansas bench with 10 points and one assist.
Both Phillips and Bennett put up three steals each to earn season-highs. As a team, Kansas City had 11 steals for their fourth double-digit steal performance of the season. The Roos put up a season-high 19 steals against Kansas Christian on Dec. 18.

POSTGAME INTERVIEWS
Coach Jackson-Durrett Postgame

UP NEXT
Kansas City faces Portland State at home in the first game of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. The Roos and the Vikings tip off at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.