Kansas City
9-23,3-15Summit League
Omaha
15-16,8-10Summit League
Roos' Unprecedented Summit Championship Run Comes to a Close in Semifinals
3/6/2023 6:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Kansas City fought for the full game, but could not come back despite 27 points from Manna Mensah
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Kansas City Women's Basketball's (9-23) incredible postseason run fell just short of The Summit League Championship game, falling to #6 Omaha (15-16) in the semifinal, 69-60. The Roos kept the game close throughout, but did not have enough juice to complete a late comeback.
After leading wire-to-wire in Saturday's Semifinal round, Kansas City never held a lead in today's game. Omaha took a lead on its first offensive possession of the day and, despite tying the game up midway through the second, the Roos were never able to pull in front. KC drew within four points midway through the final frame, but Omaha went on a run and created the separation it needed to clinch the win.
Manna Mensah continued her postseason scoring onslaught, pouring in a game-high 27 points and playing the full 40 minutes. E'Lease Stafford went for 13 points and seven rebounds, while Tamia Ugass dropped 10 points, nine rebounds and a career-high-tying four steals.
KEY MOMENTS
- 1Q - 5:30 / 7-8 | After a steal by Machia Mullens, Mensah went the other way, stepped through the defense and found Sanaa' St. Andre in the fast break for an easy bucket. Omaha scored the game's next nine points to open up a lead.
- 1Q - 0:02 / 13-20 | The Roos went the distance of the court, finding Ugass underneath for a bucket. Ugass scored KC's last six points of the quarter by herself, ending the first on a 6-3 run.
- 2Q - 6:12 / 22-22 | Kansas City opened the second quarter on a 9-2 run to tie things up, using a three by Stafford, and and-one by Mullens and and a tough layup by Mensah.
- 2Q - 3:58 / 27-28 | Stafford knocked home her second three-pointer of the day on an assist by Mensah, bringing the Roos back within a point. Omaha would take a two-point lead into the half.
- 3Q - 4:46 / 38-42 | Omaha used a run to open the half and extended its lead out to seven, but once again the connection from Mensah to Stafford got the Roos a three-point shot and cut the deficit to four. The teams traded buckets the rest of the way and Omaha took a four-point lead into the final frame.
3Q | E'lease Stafford ladies and gentlemen ??
— Kansas City Women's Basketball (@KCRoosWBB) March 6, 2023
?? @MidcoSports pic.twitter.com/3KRYKrk3dh
- 4Q - 9:34 / 46-48 | After Ugass pulled down a big offensive rebound, Stafford went inside to Trinity Moreland to open the final quarter, sending finishing on the block for her first and only field goal of the day.
- 4Q - 4:29 / 51-55 | Ugass pressured in the back court and forced a steal, immediately finding Stafford down low and cutting Omaha's lead back down to four. The Mavericks scored the game's next six points to open up a double-digit lead. Kansas City continued to fight down the stretch, but the comeback effort was not quite enough.
STATS TO NOTE
- Mensah finishes the Summit League Championships averaging 27.3 points per game. After never scoring more than 16 points at the Division One level entering the month of February, she went for 20-plus seven times in the final 10 games.
- With Mullens in foul trouble, Moreland logged 13:36 of playing time and scored five points, both well above her season averages.
- Kansas City had trouble containing Omaha in the paint, where the Roos were outscored 36-18.
- Stafford played the full 40 minutes for the fourth-straight game to end the season, logging 120 total minutes on the Championship.
- Mensah sent home 10 free throws on the game, tying a Kansas City conference tournament record previously set by LeAndrea Thomas on Mar. 8, 2010.
THE ROOS, QUOTED
Head Coach Dionnah Jackson-Durrett
"I'm so proud of this team and what they accomplished, and the history that they set in this league. For E'Lease and Manna, I'm grateful that they trusted me enough to come and play for me for a short period of time. Hopefully I helped them grow their game, because they definitely helped me to grow as a coach."
"(This year) was challenging … My faith never wavered, and it can't, and it never will … These are the things that I had to learn early."
E'Lease Stafford
"All you need is five that's locked in and ready to go out on the court … If you lead by example, more people will come, so all you need is five that are going to work hard and be locked in. No matter how small you are, you can go and make some noise."
Manna Mensah
"You have to just talk to your bench players and let them know that we need this game, and try to give them some motivation to just give us what they can give us. Trinity did that today and gave us a spark off the bench."
"Anything is possible … Believe in yourself, believe in your team, block all the outside noise out and know what you're capable of."
THE SEASON IN REVIEW
In Head Coach Dionnah Jackson-Durrett's first year as a head coach, the Roos went through ups and downs, but blossomed in March. E'Lease Stafford brought home Kansas City's second-straight Newcomer of the Year award, also earning Honorable Mention All-Summit honors. The Roos entered the postseason as the 10th-seeded team in the conference, knocking off #7 Denver and #2 North Dakota State to become the league's first-ever 10 seed to qualify for the Championship Semifinals.
