Kansas City Welcomes Bellevue and Western Illinois

WATCH | STATS | TICKETS

Starting Five

The Roos improved their home record to 2-1 with a win over Arkansas State. Both Nariyah Simmons and Emani Bennett put up double-digit performances in the matchup, with Simmons documenting 16 and Bennett putting up another 11.
Dominique Phillips brought down seven rebounds in the matchup against Arkansas State, just one shy of her season high. Phillips leads the team in offensive rebounds with 12 and total rebounds on the season with 36. She averages 4.5 rebounds per game and 0.5 blocks.
Simmons leads the Roos on the offensive end and is the only Kansas City player to start in all eight games so far this season. She leads the Blue and Gold with 33 field goals made, 12 three-pointers made and an 81.3% free throw percentage. Simmons's 16 points against Arkansas State was her fourth double-digit appearance.
Following their matchups against Bellevue and Western Illinois, the Roos will be just three games away from the start of conference play. In the five games leading up to conference play last year, the Roos went 2-3 picking up an OT road win over Bradley 71-68 and a 74-58 win over Bellevue in the Swinney Center.
In the last matchup, 12 players checked in for the Roos. So far this season, Kansas City has played at least 12 players in every game playing the full roster against Austin Peay and Bradley.

Bellevue Notes

The Bruins come into the matchup on a two-game winning streak after picking up a win over Nebraska Wesleyan 57-49 and William Woods 67-60.
This is just the second matchup between the Roos and the Bruins. It will be Bellevue's second time playing Kansas City in the Swinney Center after falling 74-58 against the Roos on Dec. 15, 2022. Both the Roos and the Bruins boast a 2-1 record, Kansas City at home and the Bruins on the road.
Junior guard, Gabby Moore leads Bellevue on the offensive end. She has racked up 98 points so far this season and averages 12.3 per game. Moore leads the team in assists, averaging 3.6 a game.

Western Illinois Notes

This will be the first meeting between the Roos and the Leathernecks since Western Illinois left the Summit League. Kansas City and Western Illinois matched up twice last year, during Summit League play with the Leathernecks picking up wins in both matchups.
Western Illinois enters the matchup on a seven-game winning streak. They picked up a win over Chicago State on Nov. 28, 86-72. The Roos matched up with Chicago State in the Cleveland State MTE, also documenting a win, 77-46. The Leathernecks will face Omaha before heading to Kansas City. The Roos will face Omaha on Jan. 20 for their second home game of conference play.
First-year guard Raegan McCowan leads the Leathernecks on both offense and defense. She averages 27 minutes per game, racking up 54 rebounds and 133 points so far this season. She averages 6.8 rebounds per game, 16.6 points, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals.