Kansas City
7-17,3-10Summit League
Western Illinois
9-16,4-10Summit League
Roos Drop Game to Western Illinois in Swinney
2/9/2023 9:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball
WIU started quickly in the first quarter and the Roos could not manage the comeback
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An early scoring run put the Kansas City Women's Basketball (7-17, 3-10 Summit) behind Western Illinois (9-16, 4-10 Summit) in a 72-52 contest. First half turnovers for the Roos and a strong three-point outing from WIU opened up a first half 20-point lead which they would hold throughout the game. Kansas City found itself battling from behind without injured guard, E'Lease Stafford.
There were moments where it looked like the Roos were building momentum, but every run was answered by lights out three-point shooting and transition layups from WIU. Kansas City showed life after cutting the lead to 15 in the fourth quarter, but ultimately, they didn't have the gas to bounce back from the early lead established by WIU. The Roos were led by Machia Mullens and Manna Mensah, each scoring 13 points. Tamia Ugass worked hard on the glass, grabbing 13 boards and three blocks.
KEY MOMENTS
- 1Q – 6:57 / 5-9 | Manna Mensah got the Roos started, scoring the team's first five points.
- 1Q – 1:15 / 11-25 | Two much-needed buckets came late in the first quarter from Tamia Ugass and Machia Mullens to stop the bleeding. WIU ended the first quarter on a 19-6 run.
- 2Q – 5:04 / 19-33 | Jocelyn Ewell scored eight straight points for the Roos to get them going in the second quarter chipping away at WIU's double digit first half lead.
- 2Q – 0:59 / 25-40 | Mensah hit the contested jump shot to keep the Roos alive as the first half came to a close.
- 3Q – 3:57 / 31-53 | Mullens made the open jumper from the corner off a strong assist from Ewell to end a WIU 13-4 run.
- 3Q – 0:00 / 39-59 | Mullens attacked the rim scoring 6-of-8 of her third quarter points from the free throw line.
- 4Q – 8:13 / 44-59 | Mensah opened up fourth quarter scoring on a jumper off the assist from Zaire Harrell. A couple plays later, Harrell takes it end-to-end for the and-one layup to cap off a Roo five-point swing.
4Q | @HarrellZaire hitting' the gas ?? pic.twitter.com/OxdQSMh540
— Kansas City Women's Basketball (@KCRoosWBB) February 10, 2023
- 4Q – 3:19 / 48-69 | Ugass stopped a 10-2 run with a layup off the inbound pass from Harrell.
STATS TO NOTE
- The Roos went into halftime with three players having two fouls (Mullens, Ewell and Harrell). They ended up having no players foul out of the game.
- WIU shot 50% from three-point range in the first half on 16 attempts compared to the Roos shooting 1-of-7 for only 14.3%.
- KC collected eight blocks on the night for the first time since earlier in the season vs UTEP (13).
- The Roos committed 15 turnovers, giving up 12 points off turnovers to WIU.
COACH DIONNAH JACKSON-DURRETT, QUOTED
"It was a struggle… I knew not having E'Lease tonight was going to be hard, but I didn't expect it to be this hard. I think we could have had better play from some players."
"You got to have people step up… I am not saying step outside your box. You gotta be good at what you're good at and this is the day and night to do it."
UP NEXT
The Roos will be back in action at the Swinney Center, Feb. 11, to take on St. Thomas at 2 p.m.
