Kansas City Drops Matchup in Denver

Thursday, February 1

Denver, CO

7:00 PM

Kansas City

10-13,1-7Summit League

Denver

5-16,2-6Summit League

Kansas City

Denver

Photo by: Julia Kapros

Kansas City Drops Matchup in Denver

2/1/2024 10:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Highlights

A big fourth quarter for the Pioneers allowed them to pull away for the win

DENVER, Colo. —Kansas City Women's Basketball (10-13, 1-7) fell to Denver (4-16, 1-6) 65-50 in their first meeting of the season. Both the Roos and the Pioneers brought energy to open the matchup, fighting to break their tie in the Summit League. It was a team effort early for the Roos with each of the first four baskets scored by different players. As the first half progressed, Kelby Bannerman played a critical role on defense, leading the team in rebounds and bringing down three for the Roos. She also earned the Roos' only assists of the first half, earning one to open the first quarter and another opening the second. Alayna Contreras drove the Roos on the offensive end, leading all scorers at halftime with ten points. She knocked down buckets to end the first quarter and the second, with her second quarter bucket putting the Roos up by two going into halftime, 30-28.

The Pioneers came out of the break and earned themselves a bucket followed by a three-pointer to put the momentum in their favor. The Roos kept themselves with arms reach in the third quarter, but things began to slip away in the fourth. Denver notched 21 points in the final quarter and held the Roos to just nine. In the final five minutes, the Pioneers went on a 12-point run to secure the win. Contreras knocked down a bucket and a free through in the final seconds bringing Kansas within 15 points.

KEY MOMENTS | HIGHLIGHTS

1Q — 6:25 / 8-2 | Dominique Phillips dribbled through Pioneer traffic in the paint, spinning around a defender and firing off a left-handed shot. Phillips shot the administrative technical foul to open the game for the Roos, but this was her first basket to fall.
1Q — 0:01 / 19-14 | Contreras maintained control of the ball in the lane and put up a floater just before the end of the quarter. Her shot fell, making her the only Roo to score multiple baskets in the first quarter.
2Q — 5:21 / 24-22 | Zaire Harrell got a hand on a Denver pass at the top of the key. She poked the ball out of the Pios' possession and dribbled it to the basket for her first bucket of the day.
2Q — 0:03 / 28-30 | The Roos held on to the ball with time winding down in the second quarter. Contreras pulled up with just two seconds left on the shot clock and three seconds remaining in the quarter. She notched her tenth point of the game and reclaimed the lead for the Roos.
3Q — 5:55 / 39-37 | Simmons brought the ball up the court for the Roos and into the bottom right corner, from there, she drove the ball into traffic. Simmons did a spin move to drop her defender and knocked down a layup to keep Kansas City within three.
4Q — 6:17 / 53-45 | The Pioneers went on a seven-point scoring run, but a Bannerman basket broke the Kansas City draught. Contreras connected with Bannerman at the top of the key, Bannerman knocked down the shot easily and gave the Blue and Gold a bit of a momentum boost.

STATS TO NOTE

Five Roos knocked down buckets in the first quarter. Contreras led the team with six points and was the only Roo to notch more than one bucket from the field.
This was Contreras's third consecutive game leading the Roos in minutes. Tonight, both she and Emani Bennett both played for 37 minutes. Since joining the starting lineup on Jan. 6 Contreras has averaged 36.2 minutes per game.
The Roos were outrebounded by the Pioneers 32-26. Kansas City is now 1-9 when being outrebounded by their opponents.
Newcomers to the Kansas City squad this season accounted for 191 of the Roos' 200 minutes tonight.

UP NEXT
The Roos wrap up their road stint in St. Paul, Minn. facing St. Thomas (13-9, 5-3) Saturday at noon.