North Dakota State Athletics
9-6, 4-1Summit
UMKC
6-9, 3-1Summit
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota State | 30 | 34 | 64 |
| UMKC | 25 | 48 | 73 |
UMKC Heats Up in the Second Half to Defeat North Dakota State 73-64
1/9/2010 8:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
KANSAS CITY, Mo.--UMKC used an 11-2 run early in the second half and hit free throws down the stretch to post a 73-64 win over North Dakota State in a Summit League women's basketball game played before 226 fans in Swinney Recreation Center on Saturday, Jan. 9.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for North Dakota State (9-6, 4-1 Summit). With IPFW's 74-72 win over Oral Roberts, NDSU is a half-game out of first place in the league standings. The Bison are scheduled to play at Southern Utah (3-11, 1-2 Summit) at 8 p.m. (Central) Monday, Jan. 11, at Cedar City. The Thunderbirds hosted South Dakota State on Saturday.
North Dakota State, which led 30-25 at halftime, extended the lead to 37-31 when Katie Birkel found Abby Plucker inside for a layup with 15:51 left.
However, UMKC (6-9, 3-1 Summit) gradually whittled away the deficit. The Kangaroos scored eight straight points to take a 39-37 lead on Kim Nezianya's layup at the 13:32 mark.
Nezianya scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to spark the UMKC, which also received three-pointers from LeAndrea Thomas and Sam Sikkink, and a jumper from Chazny Morris. Sikkink netted a game-high 17 points and Thomas added 15 points, four assists and a pair of steals.
The Kangaroos hit only 26.5 percent from the field in the first half, but heated up to make 60 percent in the second including 5 of 6 from the three-point line. Sikkin, Thomas and Morris each made three-pointers to help widen the margin.
UMKC extended the lead to 66-54 with 2:01 remaining on a pair of Dayon Hall-Jones. The Kangaroos made 12 of 17 free throws in the final two minutes, 13 of 22 in the second half and 17 of 26 for the game. UMKC also held a 40-29 rebounding advantage and scored 13 second chance points.
North Dakota State was led by the 16-point nights from Ashley Samuelson and Inger Hodgson, while Birkel finished with 12.
