Women's Basketball Back on the Road at UST, WIU

at St. Thomas (WATCH | STATS)
at Western Illinois (WATCH | STATS)

Starting Five

Kansas City got back on the right track with its first Summit League win over Oral Roberts and looks to continue that trend at St. Thomas and Western Illinois, two teams that it swept the season series from last year.
In the win over ORU, Rain Green went for a team-high 20 points, coming within one of her career-high. She has surpassed the 20-point mark three times this year, with the Roos posting a 2-1 record in such games.
In her fifth game as a Roo, Manna Mensah went for 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, the first double-double of her career. It was also the first double-double by a Kansas City player since last season. She played all 40 minutes for the Roos, her fifth time surpassing the 30-minute mark in three seasons at the Division One leve.
ORU entered Saturday's game with the top scoring offense in the Summit League, averaging over 75 points per game. KC held the Golden Eagles to 54 points and a 28.2% clip from the field, the lowest by a Kansas City DI opponent since the Roos held Southern Illinois to 25% shooting on Nov. 14 of last season.
Now holding a 4-4 record in the Swinney Center, Kansas City will try to translate that success to the road. The Roos are currently 1-7 in road contests, with the lone win coming in overtime fashion at Bradley on Nov. 29.

St. Thomas Notes

Kansas City and St. Thomas kicked off their rivalry last season, with the Roos winning the first two matchups.
The Tommies are off to a 5-11 start this year and an 0-6 mark in Summit League play. Most recently, the team lost an overtime battle with Omaha.
In the first-ever game in St. Paul, the Roos claimed a 62-57 win behind a 30-point, seven rebound showing from Naomie Alnatas.
Maggie Negaard and Jade Hill average 10.7 points each for the Tommies, with Hill dishing out 3.6 assists per game.

Western Illinois Notes

Western Illinois holds a 29-22 advantage in the all-time series between the two teams, but the Roos have had the advantage recently, winning 3-of-5 meetings since returning to the Summit League.
The last meeting in Macomb came on Feb. 5 of last year, an 87-85 overtime win for the Roos. Naomie Alnatas posted a triple-double, while Kiara Bradley and Paige Bradford notched 20 and 17 points, respectively.
The series between these two teams dates back to the 1990-91 season, with WIU posting two five-game streaks from 1999-2001 and 2013-17, the longest winning streaks in the series history.
This year, the Leathernecks are 6-11 overall with a 1-5 mark in conference play. They will look to snap a two-game losing streak against ORU before Saturday's game.
Jada Thorpe leads WIU at 12.3 points per game. The redshirt junior has reached double-digits 10 times this year.

University of Missouri Kansas City Athletics