UMKC women split pair of games heading into the Roo Holiday Classic

Before the UMKC women’s basketball team hosts a two-day tournament in which they will debut new uniforms, the Roos dropped a road game then won at home convincingly.

The UMKC women’s basketball team (2-8) is typical among most D1 squads in that it has displayed a strong preference for playing at home. In its three games at Swinney Recreation center so far this year, the Roos are 2-1, with the one loss coming in overtime after they had a two-point lead with nine seconds left in regulation.

Both of those victories showed lopsided scores in UMKC’s favor. After setting a then-season high for scoring against Lincoln University, the Roos went on to shatter that by 16 points with a 114-59 drubbing of Harris-Stowe State University on Monday, Dec. 11.

Unfortunately for UMKC and head coach Jacie Hoyt, the Roos were unable to make that victory the second of two, as the team fell to Hoyt’s alma mater Wichita State on the Shockers’ home court on Saturday, Dec. 9, by a score of 72-63.

One factor that contributed to the losses at home to Oral Roberts and at Wichita State was those opponents’ ability to find openings in the UMKC defensive zone. That was vastly improved in the game against Harris-Stowe State, and Hoyt explained what enabled the Roos to hold the Hornets under 60 points.

"“That’s what film is for. We had a lot of breakdowns. Teams know now what we are trying to do and they are prepared for it, whereas at the beginning of the year they really didn’t know what to expect. Teams are coming in now prepared and challenging us to be better in our rotations so actually after the Wichita State game we really looked at how we could improve and the kids did a really good job of doing that.”"

Another boost to UMKC has been the healthy return of senior guard India Johnson. Johnson scored a combined 30 points at Wichita State and against Harris-Stowe State, along with grabbing six rebounds, four assists and six steals. Not only does she give the Roos another capable shooter, having shot almost 45 percent from the field in the past two games, but makes the team that much deeper overall as well. Johnson spoke about her pleasure in getting back on the court.

"I mean it’s been kind of tough, I had some injuries at the beginning [of the season] that kinda set me back, but my coaches and my teammates have been really comforting me, they have been confident that I could come out and perform.”"

With the Roo Classic upcoming, UMKC will need that depth and contributions from everyone. On Tuesday, Dec. 19 and Wednesday, Dec. 20, the Roos will face Northern Colorado (6-3) and Denver (6-5) in a time span of less than 24 hours. The team will be debuting new uniforms in the event, created in collaboration with Charlie Hustle to commemorate Kansas City Day.

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UMKC will have home-court advantage in its favor next week. If Johnson and the other Roos can continue to defend well while pouring on the offense as well, they will augment their reputation as extremely tough to beat at Swinney.