LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball couldn’t overcome a slow start and cold shooting, as UMKC defeated the Jayhawks, 47-44, inside Allen Fieldhouse Thursday night.
After trailing 9-2 after the opening quarter of the game, the Jayhawks (4-4) wasn’t able to establish a rhythm, finishing the contest shooting 28 percent from the field and netting a season-low 44 points. UMKC (2-7) shot only 35 percent, but converted 9-of-15 free throws, which proved to be the difference at the end of the night.
Freshman guard Kylee Kopatich led the team in scoring for the second time this season with 14 points, and tacked on a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge was the only other Jayhawk to score in double-figures with 10 points, marking her seventh game this season recording 10 or more points. Junior forward Jada Brown led the team in rebounds with seven, paired with four points.
Kiana Law led the way for UMKC, scoring 20 of the Roos’ 47 points. She posted a double-double with 10 rebounds along her 20 points. Samantha Waldron tallied 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting, including two three-pointers for the Roos.
Thursday’s action got off to a slow start, with neither team scoring until under the seven-minute mark. UMKC scored the first points of the evening, and the Jayhawks answered two possessions later. The two teams remained tied at two each until a UMKC trey with less than five minutes left in the quarter, which sparked a 7-0 run to finish the opening period.
While Kansas forced four turnovers in the first ten minutes, it still faced a 9-2 deficit heading into the second quarter after shooting 1-18 to start the game.
Exactly one minute into the second quarter, Aldridge hit a three from the top of the arc, injecting some much needed energy into the cold-shooting Jayhawks. Kansas proceeded to take off on a 10-0 run over nearly five minutes of game time, turning an eight-point deficit into a two-point advantage. After UMKC ended the Jayhawks’ run with a layup to tie the game, both teams shot 1-7 from the field to finish the half. The Roos’ six-point second quarter was the lowest-scoring quarter for any Kansas opponent this season.
The Jayhawks emerged from the locker room leading 17-15 over the visitors, looking to improve on their shooting after a 20 percent performance in the first half. Baskets from the three-point line began to fall for Kansas in the third quarter, making three of its first six attempts.
Aldridge’s second three of the night at the 3:51 mark gave the Jayhawks a five-point lead, their largest of the night. The Roos responded with a 9-0 run to close out the quarter, taking a four-point lead into the final ten minutes of action. All three of Kansas’ third-quarter baskets came from beyond the three-point line, marking the first time all season that the Jayhawks did not record a two-point field goal in a quarter. Kansas did remain perfect from the free throw line, draining all five of its attempts.
Shooting struggles persisted for both teams in the fourth quarter, with both squads enduring scoring droughts of more than three minutes.
With 4:41 remaining in the game, the Jayhawks cut the UMKC lead to just two points with layups from Kopatich and Brown. Out of the timeout, freshman forward Tyler Johnson and UMKC’s Kiana Law traded baskets for the next four possessions, as the Roos held onto their narrow lead.
Kansas missed the mark on its next four attempts, and a three from UMKC’s Waldron extended the Roos’ lead to five with under a minute to play.
After forcing the Roos to protect their lead from the free throw line, Kopatich popped a three to bring the Jayhawks within one point with 10 seconds the play. UMKC beat the full court pressure to put in a layup in the final moments of the game, and Aldridge’s potential game-tying three fell short as the buzzer sounded, giving UMKC the victory, 47-44.
— KU Athletics —