Final Stats
Kansas City, Mo. - The UNO women's basketball team rallied late but came up short at UMKC on Wednesday night, falling 74-64 at Swinney Recreation Center.
The Mavs (10-8) cut a 15-point deficit down to five in the closing minutes, but the Kangaroos held on for the win to improve to 12-5 overall. UMKC stands at 3-2 in the Summit League, which UNO will become a full-fledged member of next season.
Jamie Nash had a game-high 19 points, while
Amanda Woodring had 11 and
Cathleen Cox had 10.
With the Kangaroos holding their largest lead of the game at 65-50 with 5:20 left, the Mavs closed the gap quickly with a 10-0 run spanning 1:25. Cox hit a 3-pointer, and Nash and Cox each sank two free throws to cut the lead to 65-57. After a Kangaroo turnover,
Paige Frauendorfer knocked down a long-range bomb to make it 65-60 with 3:44 left.
But Emile Blakesley's 3-pointer with 2:44 left pushed the lead back to eight, 68-60, and ended the Mavs' comeback momentum.
The Mavs outshot the Kangaroos from the field (44.0 percent to 41.3 percent), from 3-point range (42.1 percent to 32.0 percent) and from the free throw line (75.0 percent to 66.7 percent). UNO also held an edge on the glass, 37-32. But UMKC made up the difference and then some in the turnover category, committing just 12 to the Mavs' 25. The 'Roos turned that into a 30-13 advantage in points off turnovers.
UNO led 13-8 early on after
Zenta Liepa scored four points and assisted on two other Maverick baskets, but UMKC responded with six straight points to take a 14-13 lead with 7:00 left. After the teams traded baskets, UMKC reclaimed a 21-17 advantage at the 4:59 mark. Pohl drained two free throws, then Woodring entered the game and took over. Woodring hit back-to-back 3-pointers in a span of 26 seconds for a 25-21 UNO lead to force a UMKC timeout.
The Kangaroos battled back to take a 26-25 lead, but Pohl nailed a 3, and after UMKC's Jade Tinner tied the game at 28-28 in the paint, Woodring hit another trey for a 31-28 lead with 1:53 remaining. The Kangaroos closed the half on a 6-0 run though to take a 34-31 lead into the break.
In the second half, UMKC extended the run to 11-0 before Nash finally snapped a 6:10 Maverick scoring drought, pulling UNO within 39-33. Woodring scored to cut the deficit to four, 39-35, but UMKC then went on a 16-6 run to extend the lead to 55-41 with 10:46 left.
Nash finished 7-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. The junior point guard played all 40 minutes and added six assists and five rebounds. Frauendorfer chipped in nine points to go with her team-high six rebounds.
The Mavericks are on the road again this weekend, as they play at Sioux Falls on Sunday at 2 p.m.
