Roos Dominant in Victory Over Portland State

Wednesday, January 3

Kansas City, Mo.

7:00 PM

Kansas City

8-8,0-2Summit League

Portland State

5-8,0-2Big Sky

Portland St.

Kansas City

Photo by: Syd Siemens

Roos Dominant in Victory Over Portland State

1/3/2024 10:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Coach Jackson-Durrett, Lisa Thomas, Dominique Phillips Postgame Photo Gallery

A season-high field goal percentage gave Kansas City the upper hand

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —Kansas City Women's Basketball (8-8, 0-2) had an explosive start against Portland State (5-8, 0-2) and kept the energy up, winning 75-56. It was an all-around effort tonight from the Roos, who shot 62.7% from the field for a season high. No Roo played more than 23 minutes with eight players coming off the Kansas City bench to help in the effort. Both and Emani Bennett and Ifunanya Nwachukwu reached double-digits for the Roos scoring 11 and 10 respectively.

In the first half alone, the Roos forced eight turnovers and shot 66.7% from the field, allowing them to go into halftime up 37-24. Following the break, the Roos came out with the same energy, putting up a huge 28-point third quarter. KC ended the third quarter with their largest lead of the game at 30 points. The Roos' hot streak in the third quarter ended at the start of the fourth. Kansas City went scoreless for the first five minutes aside from two free throws, one from Kelby Bannerman and another from Raychel Jones. Even with a cold fourth quarter, the cushion the Roos built for themselves, along with strong shooting proved to be enough to clinch the win.

KEY MOMENTS | HIGHLIGHTS

1Q — 9:54 / 2-0 | Harrell knocked the ball from Portland State's hands just after tip-off. She ran the steal down the court for the layup to put the Roos on the board. On the next play, the Blue and Gold held the Vikings scoreless, bringing down the rebound and converting a Nwachukwu basket assisted by Phillips.
1Q — 1:37 / 18-9 | A Vikings' in-bound on the Roos end of the court was intercepted by Phillips. Phillips plowed through traffic and found Contreras. Contreras fired off the jump shot to extend the Roos lead and put them on a bit of a scoring streak.
2Q — 8:00 / 28-13 | On the defensive end, the Roos forced a shot clock violation from Portland State. Kansas City brought the ball up the court connecting a few passes along the way. Nwachukwu found Ugass who shot faked to the left before netting another two points for the Roos.
3Q — 9:23 / 39-26 | On their second drive of the half, Harrell was able to find Bennett, just inside the arc. Bennett quickly knocked down the jump shot to open up scoring for the Blue and Gold in the second half.
3Q — 6:17 / 49-28 | Kansas City linked a couple of passes to start the play but bobbled the ball momentarily. Bennett was able to gain control and pass the ball off to Nariyah, who set herself up for a clean three.
3Q — 1:36 / 59-35 | Harrell knocked down a floating jump shot to increase the Roos differential to 24. Kansas City had a couple of chances to knock the ball away from Portland State off the inbound, but the Vikings maintained control. Thomas got a solid hand on the ball and quickly found Phillips who went up for a layup and drew a foul on the way.
4Q — 3:33 / 73-50 | Tamia Ugass put up a good hook shot for her fourth bucket of the day. On the next Kansas City drive Jones brought the ball directly to the basket, picking up the two points and drawing a foul on the way. The Roos knocked down another basket and held the Vikings to two more baskets and a pair of free throws to close the game.

STATS TO NOTE

The Roos had a modified starting lineup, with Nwachukwu entering the mix. This was Kansas City's ninth starting lineup so far this season. In a team effort, the Roo bench combined for 31 points, and each of the starters put up at least seven points.
In her 16 minutes of playing time Jones led the team in fouls drawn with five. She also put up two big blocks for Kansas City to bring her to six blocks on the season.
The Blue and Gold combined for 21 assists, Thomas led the team with five and Harrell was just behind her with four. Tonight's 21 assists are just five short of the Roos season high of 26 assists earned on Dec. 18 against Kansas Christian.
Harrell put up a career-high eight points along with four assists, two steals and three rebounds. Harrell's previous career-high was seven points which she earned on Nov. 14, against Utah State.

POSTGAME INTERVIEWS
Coach Jackson-Durrett Postgame, Lisa Thomas and Dominique Phillips Postgame

UP NEXT
The Roos travel to Weber State (3-11, 0-2) for their last game in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. Kansas City and Weber State face Saturday at 1 p.m.