Spring Break
Kangaroos heartbroken over loss to Oral Roberts University
David Cordill
Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: Sports
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UMKC, still smarting from sub-par performances down the stretch in back-to-back road losses to South Dakota State University and North Dakota State University, squandered a seven-point advantage early in the second frame and faded late. Head Coach Candace White-Whitaker attributed the loss to mental lapses by the Kangaroos in fundamental phases of the game.
"This team all year long has had that personality," White-Whitaker said. "I don't know if we're lax or just slip up, we kinda go brain dead for three or four minutes, and it hurts us. It lets teams back in. We're not doing the details that we continue to preach."
Sophomore guard Chazny Morris scored 21 points for UMKC while senior center Alysa Klein added 20 in the losing effort. Klein also tied the school record for blocked shots in a half, registering five swats in the first frame for the blue and gold.
"I guess I was in the right place at the right time," Klein said, nursing a fat upper lip she received from a stray elbow in the first half.
A crestfallen Morris, who fell victim to a late non-call tripping foul, assessed her team's performance after the game.
"I definitely thought we were going to win it," Morris said. "I think we worked our butts off to really do what we needed to do. Our turnovers and our offensive rebounding we gave up really set us back. … When it really counted, they were getting the little things."
Suffering their third loss in four games, the Roos dropped to 9-11 on the season and slipped to 2-7 in the Summit League standings. But for a moment, it looked as if UMKC would take control of its opponent.
Down by nine points midway through the first half, the Kangaroos opened up a 14-5 run. Klein got hot in the paint and from the line, senior guards Sierra Radke and Brittny Picconi both pumped in three-pointers, Morris hung in a layup, and senior forward Marta Waalen added a couple of free throws during the clip.
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