Women's Basketball Set to Host Western Illinois, St. Thomas

Thursday, February 9

Kansas City, Mo.

7:00 PM

Kansas City

Western Illinois

Photo by: Ryan Weaver Photography

2/7/2023 3:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball

The Roos welcome WIU to town on Thursday at 7 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. game against UST on Saturday

The Roos return to the Swinney Center for their second-to-last home stand of the season, hosting Western Illinois and St. Thomas, two teams that sit just a half-game behind KC in the Summit League standings. The Roos' have had demonstrably more success at home than on the road this season, posting a .500 record in KC.
Manna Mensah had a monster game in the Roos' last showing at Oral Roberts. She posted 32 points and 11 rebounds, the most points by a Roo since last season and the most points in a double-double performance since Ericka Mattingly went for 37 points and 10 boards in a WAC Quarterfinal loss to New Mexico State on Mar. 15, 2019.
Tamia Ugass showed out for her first-career double-double against ORU last weekend, posting 18 points and 20 rebounds to go along with a career-high four steals. Her 20 boards are the most by a Roo in a double-double since Leilah Vigil had 14 and 21 against Utah Valley on Feb. 23, 2019.
This weekend's games will likely have large seeding implications for the Summit League Championships in early March. A pair of wins would put Kansas City at least 1.5 games clear of both WIU and UST in the Summit League standings, with just two weeks left to play.
Since the beginning of conference play, many of Kansas City's final scores have been decided between the 9-to-11 point range. Of the past nine games, seven have been decided by either nine, 10 or 11 points. The Roos are 3-4 in such games.

Western Illinois Notes

The Leathernecks currently sit tied for last place in the Summit League standings and have lost four-straight games.
WIU sits at a 2-10 record on the road this season, with its lone road win in league play coming against St. Thomas on Jan. 21.
All-time, the Leathernecks hold a 30-22 advantage in the head-to-head series and are 13-11 in games played in Kansas City.
In the first meeting this year, WIU came away with a 78-68 win. E'Lease Stafford led KC with 24 points.
The Leathernecks are one of the best teams in the nation at drawing fouls, and average 17.0 free throw makes per game, the fifth-best mark in the NCAA.
Anna Deets leads WIU with an average of 12.2 points per game and scored a career-high 35 in the Jan. 14 meeting.

St. Thomas Notes

St. Thomas is tied with Western Illinois at the bottom of the Summit League, but is 3-4 across its last seven games.
The Tommies currently have a 2-10 record in road games, most recently earning a 70-64 win at South Dakota on Jan. 28.
Kansas City is 1-0 against the Tommies in Kansas City, defeating UST, 69-53, on Feb. 14, 2022.
In the first meeting between the two teams this year, St. Thomas squeaked out a 63-60 win. Four Roos finished in double-digits, and Machia Mullens posted a double-double.
Maggie Negaard and Jade Hill both average double-digit scoring, at 12.5 and 11.1 points per game, respectively.