The University News

Issue date: 1/28/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Heather Sprigler UMKC sophomore guard Chazny Morris scored a game-high 22 points against Centenary on Saturday evening.

Media Credit: Heather Sprigler Graceful indignation - UMKC senior center Alysa Klein uses any move she can to put the rock in the basket.

Cruising along with a 39-18 half time lead over the Centenary Ladies (3-15, 0-8 in the Summit League) on Saturday afternoon inside Kemper Arena, the UMKC Kangaroos (9-10, 2-6 in the Summit) survived a shooting drought in the second stanza and held on to a 57-46 Summit League victory.
The Roos shot a paltry 16.1 percent in the second half of action after dominating in the opening period, hitting their shots from the field at 50 percent. The game seemed to mirror many such performances by UMKC in the league this season.
"We talk about this all the time," said head coach Candace White-Whitaker. "We have to be able to put two halves together in order to compete in this league or any league for that matter."
White-Whitaker said she was pleased with the squad offensively and defensively but acknowledged that it all seemed to "go out the window" in the second stanza.
The Ladies opened the second period with a 16-5 run that shrank the Kangaroo lead to 10 points with 12:33 remaining in the game. After that early surge by Centenary, neither squad would score until the 8:59 mark when UMKC sophomore guard Chazny Morris knocked down three of her game-high 22 points.
"We slowed down … let our guard down a bit in the second half," Morris said. Concerned about her own defensive effort particularly, the junior guard acknowledged, "we could have done a lot better."
As bad as the second period was for the Kangaroos, the opening period was equally impressive. Senior guard Sierra Radke pushed through seven assists in the opening half, coming up just one shy of the team record of eight in a stanza held by Veda McNeal who achieved the standard during the 1991-92 season. Radke would pick up just one more dish in the second half of play.
The team also set a record for most blocked shots in the first half, swatting the ball away eight times, breaking the previous record of six.
UMKC senior center Alysa Klein had four of those blocks and finished with seven total. She added a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds to her effort.
"I really just take what the offense gives me out there," Klein said. "I just seemed to be in the right places at the right times. I'm still trying to work on my timing [going to the basket]."
The Roos face off next with the Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles on Monday night at 7 p.m. inside Swinney Recreation Center.
dstroud@unews.com

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