KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In the final game of 2022, the Mavericks closed out their road trip with a 75-64 win over Kansas City Saturday afternoon.
Omaha improves to 6-7 overall as the Mavericks pick up their first Summit League win of the season to move to 1-1 in conference play. The Roos are still looking for their for conference win as they fall to 0-4 in league play and 4-11 overall.
Leaders For Omaha
It was all
Aaliyah Stanley today as she put on one of the greatest performances in Mavericks history. It only took her 12 minutes to reach double-digit points and by the end of the first half had already reached 21. Stanley would end the day with 34 after shooting 12-for-17 (70.5%), slotting her in at 11th in program history in single game points and field goals.
Elena Pilakouta and
Katie Keitges each had 10 points today. Pilakouta went 8-for-9 (88.9%) from the stripe and now has 10 double-digit scoring games on the season, while Keitges reached double-digits for the first time this year thanks in part to a pair of three-pointers.
Grace Cave was Omaha's top rebounder today with eight, as well as scoring nine points. She also picked up an early steal, giving her 29 on the year and just one less than her 2021-22 total.
Leaders for Kansas City
E'Lease Stafford led the way for the Roos, dropping 19 points today after shooting 7-for-17 (41.2%) with three 3-PT FGs. Manna Mensha also had double-digit points with 13, while Machia Mullens pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds.
Team Stats
Across the board, the Mavericks outshot the Roos in every category, going 24-for-50 (48.0%) on field goals vs. 25-for-63 (39.7%). Omaha also had the superior 3-PT FG numbers (6-for-15, 40.0% vs. 6-for-18, 33.3%) and free throw numbers (21-for-26, 80.8% vs. 8-for-13, 61.5%).
In addition to this, Omaha bested Kansas City with 32 points in the paint vs. 26, and held a slight edge in rebounds at 35 to 33.
Inside the First Quarter
The Mavericks took an early 6-0 lead to start the day after a couple of quick layups from Cave and Stanley. Cave would score her second layup in as many minutes as she ripped the ball away from Kansas City's Ravon Nero and drove it in for the easy basket.
The Roos would bounce back from their early hole and take a 10-8 lead by 4:56. From there, both teams traded blows as Stanley scored four more points to briefly give the lead back to Omaha, before Sam Mitchel had her first bucket of the day to make it 14-12 with just under three minutes remaining. E'Lease Stafford would make a 3-PT buzzer beater to give the Roos a 19-16 lead to close out the first period.
Inside the Second Quarter
Stanley remained hot in the second period as she gave Omaha a 21-19 lead with back-to-back layups at 7:52 and 7:13. Though the Roos rallied to retake the lead with an 8-0 scoring run, Stanley again got Omaha back on the board with two from the charity stripe with just over three minutes remaining.
After Pilakouta scored her first points of the day with three from the foul line, Stanley went on another incredible tear as she had a leaping steal and an easy bucket at 2:06 to get Omaha within one, before sinking two floaters in a row to give the Mavericks a 32-31 lead as time expired. Overall, Stanley scored 12 of Omaha's 15 second-quarter points.
Inside the Third Quarter
Keitges got things started for Omaha with her first three-pointer of the day at 8:36. Thursday's top scorer
Polina Nikulochkina would later get her first three of the day on a wide open shot from the corner.
As for Stanley, she had another explosive period as she went 6-for-8 on free throws and 3-for-4 on field goals, crossing the 30-point threshold for the first time in her career on a three-pointer at 4:07.
Jaylen Townsend and Keitges each added another three-pointer in the final three minutes as the Mavericks went 5-for-6 from deep during the period, going up 59-48 by the end of the quarter.
Inside the Fourth Quarter
Pilakouta and Keitges were Omaha's only offense through the first half of the fourth, combining for five points, as the Roos cut the deficit down to eight points by the final media timeout. Fortunately, a layup from Cave and two more free throws from Pilakouta would put Omaha up by 12 points following the timeout.
Kansas City had one last comeback attempt in the second half, scoring seven unanswered to get within four at 68-63 with two minutes to go, but it was not enough as the Mavericks held on to close out 2022 with a win.
Next Up
The Mavericks will start the new year at home when they host Western Illinois at Baxter Arena next Thursday at 7 p.m.
