Kansas City
9-22,3-15Summit League
North Dakota State
18-11,12-6Summit League
Kansas City's Postseason Run Continues with Upset of #2 North Dakota State
3/4/2023 6:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Manna Mensah and E'Lease Stafford willed the Roos to victory, holding off the Bison's comeback attempt
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Kansas City Women's Basketball's (9-22) unprecedented postseason run continued on Saturday afternoon as the Roos defeated #2 North Dakota State (18-11), 71-67, to advance to the Summit League Semifinals for the second year in-a-row. E'Lease Stafford, Machia Mullens and Manna Mensah held the court down for the Roos, each playing the full 40 minutes as Kansas City remained shorthanded with only seven players available.
The Roos jumped on the Bison early, jumping out to a double-digit lead within the first half. Kansas City extended its lead out to as many as 17 points midway through the third quarter when NDSU mounted its comeback efforts. The Roos were able to sustain a Bison run, coming up with big stops late to hold NDSU to 15.4% fourth quarter shooting.
For the second-straight game, it was Mensah that shouldered the load of KC's offensive efforts, going for 25 points and sending home 10 field goals. Stafford was not far behind with a 17-point night, and Tamia Ugass flirted with a double-double, going for nine points and pulling down 11 rebounds.
KEY MOMENTS
- 1Q - 4:56 / 11-7 | The Roos set the tone on the offensive end, getting the ball inside early and often. E'Lease Stafford got the ball inside to Machia Mullens for a finish through contact, taking the Roos into the first media timeout with a four-point advantage.
- 1Q - 0:12 / 18-11 | Kansas City put down three free throws, including a pair by Tamia Ugass, to secure a lead at the end of the first frame of play.
- 2Q - 7:19 / 25-17 | Manna Mensah went for a pick pocket steal, and Ugass found her streaking down the open court for a fast break layup. After a Roos' stop, Stafford pulled up for a bucket and extended the lead to double-digits.
- 2Q - 5:27 / 33-20 | Zaire Harrell pulled down a rebound and led the fast break by herself, leaning into contact and putting the ball through the hoop for an and-one, converting the free throw to cap a six-point Kansas City run.
2Q | ANOTHER ONE @HarrellZaire ????
— Kansas City Women's Basketball (@KCRoosWBB) March 4, 2023
?? @MidcoSports pic.twitter.com/KBg3myfAfh
- 2Q - 0:03 / 41-29 | The Bison cut KC's lead down to 10, but Mensah came around the three-point line, driving to the hoop and finishing over a defender to make the Roos' lead a dozen at the half.
- 3Q - 6:35 / 49-33 | North Dakota State pulled within 10 early in the second half, but a six-point run by the Roos, including four-straight by Sanaa' St. Andre, forced a Bison timeout. Following the timeout and a pair of free throws by NDSU, St. Andre found Mensah in the corner for a three-pointer, extending KC's lead to a game-high 17 points.
- 4Q - 7:59 / 60-54 | The Bison ended the third quarter on an 11-point run, drawing within two points. Three offensive rebounds kept the first possession of the fourth quarter alive and Mullens hit a free throw to stop the bleeding. After a pair of empty possessions by both teams, Mensah found Stafford in the corner for a three-pointer.
- 4Q - 3:58 / 67-60 | With time running down on the shot clock, Mensah found Harrell in the corner for a long two-pointer. The ball went through the hoop as time expired, extending KC's lead to seven. NDSU scored the game's next four points to draw within three, but a clutch defensive stop by Ugass and free throws down the stretch by St. Andre and Mensah iced the game for the Roos.
4Q | @TamiaUgass with the clutch clamps ????
— Kansas City Women's Basketball (@KCRoosWBB) March 4, 2023
?? @MidcoSports pic.twitter.com/ywGUyI0Ta2
STATS TO NOTE
- Kansas City took the game wire-to-wire, claiming a lead on a Mensah layup 54 seconds into the game and holding onto that lead the rest of the way.
- The Roos' 12-point halftime lead was the team's largest lead at the half since the season opener against Westminster on Nov. 7.
- Kansas City shot at a 53.3% clip from the field in the first half, including a 14-of-21 mark from inside the arc.
- KC held the Bison without a three-pointer in the first half, going 0-of-6 from long range.
- Mensah has now gone for 20-plus in three-straight games and six times this season. Prior to joining the Roos in December, she had never scored more than 16 points in her career.
- The Roos finished the day 27-of-54 from the field, the first time KC has gone 50%-or-better from the field since shooting 50.8% in a WAC Quarterfinal win over Chicago State on Mar. 11, 2020.
- A freshman, Harrell played 29:02 in today's game, her second-highest playing time total this season.
THE ROOS, QUOTED
Head Coach Dionnah Jackson-Durrett
"I can't say it enough, how proud I am of this team. Basketball is a game of runs, and a good team like North Dakota State is going to go on their runs, but Kansas City, we sustained that run as level-headed as we could possibly be, and we came out with the win."
"What I want for this team to understand is that, when March gets here, and it's the postseason, everybody's playing their best basketball … At the end of the day, when you come in to March, anything can happen, anybody can win."
E'Lease Stafford
"We tell [the role players] that we believe in them to make that shot … it's a bad shot if you don't take it, you're either going to make it or miss it, so we believe in them."
"Having a coach that's really invested in you on-and-off the court, it means a lot and it helps with your game."
Manna Mensah
"We've been hit with adversity all season … Being a grad student, we just had to turn it up a notch and motivate our other teammates to come out and play hard."
"I'm going to call us 'The Mighty Seven.' We're going to play. We don't care, we have nothing to lose."
UP NEXT
Kansas City moves on to the Summit League Semifinals, where it will take on the winner of #3 North Dakota and #6 Omaha on Monday at 3 p.m. The Roos split the season series with both teams, defeating North Dakota in KC and Omaha on the road. KC will be seeking its first Summit League Championship appearance since the 2012 season.
