Roos Remain at Home, Hosting North Dakota State

THE STARTERS

Kansas City's 2-2 start to league play marks the best conference opening record under Coach Jackson-Durrett. It is also the best conference opening record since 2020-21 when the Roos went 2-2 across the first four games.
Alayna Contreras led the Roos to their first home victory of the conference season with a 73-66 overtime win against Denver. Contreras earned four new career-highs in the win, including her first 30-plus point game. She went 12-of-14 from the line and played 44 minutes in the win. Contreras becomes the first Roo to score 30-plus points in a game since Nariyah Simmons scored 34 against Kansas on Nov. 18, 2023.
The overtime win marked the first extra-time victory since Nov. 29, 2022, when the Roos defeated Bradley 71-68. The win also marked KC's first comeback of the season with the Blue and Gold trailing by two at the half.
KC's win improves the Roos to 2-0 when two or more players score 20 or more points. Emani Bennett knocked down 21 points in the win, 13 of which she scored across the fourth quarter and overtime. Kansas City defeated St. Thomas on Jan. 2 when both Emani Bennett and Tamia Ugass scored 26 points each.
Emani Bennett scored a career-high four three-pointers in the win. She becomes the only Roo besides Contreras to make four threes in a game this season. Em. Bennett also set a new team-high for three-point attempts this season with 12.

SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA STATE

North Dakota State enters the game on a hot streak, having picked up an 81-67 road win at Omaha on Thursday. The Bison hold a 4-0 record in Summit League play, ranking them first alongside an undefeated South Dakota State squad.
Avery Koenen and Marisa Frost lead NDSU on the offensive end averaging 11.6 and 10.7 points per game respectively. In conference play, the pair have had an additional spark with Koenen averaging 15.3 points per game and Frost just behind her averaging 14.3.
During the last two seasons, the Bison hold a 4-0 record over Kansas City in the regular season. KC's most recent victory came during the conference tournament when the Roos upset then No. 2 NDSU to advance to the Summit League Semifinals.
The Bison lead the conference in blocks per game (3.8), free throw attempts (21.41), free throws made (15.88) and three-point percentage defense (26.3%).

University of Missouri Kansas City Athletics