Purdue Fort Wayne
UMKC
Second Half Rally Falls Short Against Kangaroos
12/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2008
Kansas City, MO – The IPFW Mastodons out-scored UMKC 41-29 in the second half, nearly erasing an 11-0 start and a 35-19 halftime deficit, falling to the Kangaroos 64-60 in each team’s Summit League opening game, despite a career-high 23 points from junior Courtney Reed.
Reed converted on 7-of-12 shots from the field and 6-of-8 from long range en route to her 23 tallies. Jordan Zuppe added 14 points, the majority of which came from 4-of-5 shooting from long range, with Eva Ivanova adding 10 in the losing effort. Tina Moen pulled down six rebounds before fouling out, as IPFW was out-rebounded 39-25 in the contest.
Five players, Sarah Haluska, Zuppe, Nanyamka Moore, Moen, and Anne Boese each dished out a pair of assists, while Moen had a game-high two blocked shots. Four others, Haluska, Zuppe, Moen, and Boese picked up a pair of steals to tie for the team high.
One game after starting the St. Bonaventure contest with a 10-0 deficit, the Mastodons found themselves trailing 11-0 before their first basket, which came after just one attempt and six turnovers over the first six possessions of the game before Ivanova hit a jumper in the lane to provide the first tallies for the ‘Dons in the game, with 15:09 remaining in the first half.
The Mastodon deficit reached as many as 20 at 34-14 with exactly two minutes left in the period, before IPFW ended the half with a Reed three-point basket, cutting the deficit to 16 heading into the locker room at halftime.
With as much as IPFW struggled to start the game, they dominated to open the second half, as the ‘Dons ran off 10 consecutive points to open the second half on three-pointers by Zuppe and Reed, and a pair of baskets by Moen, cutting the deficit to six at 35-29.
The visitors closed to within three at 40-37 following a backdoor lay-in by Zuppe via Ivanova before the host ‘Roos scored five consecutive points to increase their lead back to eight.
The Mastodon deficit reached double figures at 56-45 with 5:39 remaining in the game before three-pointers on back-to-back possession by Reed sandwiched a UMKC free throw, cutting the deficit to five at 57-52. A pair of free throws by Ivanova with 4:10 on the clock closed IPFW to within three at 57-54, before the Bulgaria native hit a jumper off of a Zuppe assist to close to within one.
UMKC used a quick 3-0 run, on a lay-in by Chazny Morris before the junior hit one-of-two free throws on the next possession to give the hosts a four-point, 60-56 lead.
IPFW responded by scoring four straight points, two on a pair of Reed free throws, and a jumper in the paint by Ivanova to knot the game at 60 apiece, the first tie of the ballgame, with 1:37 to play in regulation.
IPFW had three chances to take a lead or tie the game over the final minute and a half of the contest; however, a missed jumper and a turnover was countered by a pair of free throws by Simone Bridges, giving the hosts a 62-60 lead with 22 seconds remaining on the clock.
The ‘Dons’ second turnover in the final minute sealed the ‘Dons fate, as Heather Wimberly calmly nailed a pair of charity stripe attempts with :00.1 remaining on the clock to give UMKC their first-ever victory over IPFW.
IPFW shot a season-high 47.7 percent (21-of-44) from the field and a blistering 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from long range, which is tied for the eighth highest single-game total in school history. Where IPFW struggled was a season-low percentage at the free throw line (7-of-17; 41.2 percent), and a season-high turnover total (20). The free throw percentage is the lowest by IPFW since the ‘Dons hit just 2-of-5 free throws at Iowa State on November 29, 2004, while the 20 turnovers was the most since February 4, 2008 against South Dakota State. UMKC hit just 36 percent (18-of-50) of their shots, and 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) from long range.
The difference in the game was at the free throw line, where the ‘Roos hit 21-of-29 charity stripe attempts, as the 14-point differential from the gratis shots increased to 55 over the last four games (86-to-31).
The Kangaroos put three players into double figures in the scoring column, led by Morris and LeAndrea Thomas who each scored 11, and Kalei Nance added 10 with Morris pulling down a game-high nine rebounds.
The ‘Dons continue on their road swing on Monday afternoon as they travel to Cedar City, Utah to face off against the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah University, with tip-off set for 9:00 PM Eastern.
~Dons~
