CEDAR CITY, Utah, Jan. 30 – Challis Pascucci notched her ninth double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds Saturday night but UMKC had five players in double figures as the Kangaroos claimed a 74-64 Summit League women's basketball win over the Thunderbirds.
The game was close throughout the first half, with both teams holding leads and going on runs, but the 'Roos took control with a 17-5 second half spurt.
The UMKC run began with a Chazny Morris 3-pointer at the 11:26 mark of the second period. The 'Roos extended a 45-41 lead to 62-46 over the next five minutes, and although SUU cut the deficit to 66-58 on a Kaila Goff lay-up with 1:22 to play, the Thunderbirds were able to get no closer.
“I think we got kind of pooped out there a little bit,” SUU Coach JR Payne said of the UMKC run. “Challis has played a ton of minutes over the past few games and Caitlyn [Sears] has played a lot. We rely on them to score and rebound for us and I think we got pretty tired there.
“Overall I'm really pleased with our effort though,” Payne added. “We played them much better this time than we did in Kansas City (where SUU lost a 71-58 decision on Jan. 4). I thought we defended well enough to keep ourselves in the game, we rebounded well enough to keep ourselves in the game, we just didn't hit the shots.”
Southern Utah held UMKC to 41.1 percent shooting (23-of-56) but was able to convert just 22-of-63 (.349) of its own shots. The 'Roos also held a 42-34 rebounding edge.
Pascucci led SUU in both scoring and rebounding, while blocking three shots. Goff finished with a game-high six assists. Sears had seven points and seven rebounds.
Dayon Hill-Jones scored 13 points to lead UMKC, while Jade Tinner had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Sam Sikkink had 12 points, Morris finished with 11 points and Kim Nezianya had 10 points and eight boards.
“We did a good job on Chazny, but they had a good team effort,” Payne pointed out, noting that Morris scored 24 in the earlier UMKC victory.
