KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Southern Utah University saw a late lead slip away as UMKC rallied
in the final minutes to hand the Thunderbirds a 73-66 defeat in Kansas City on
Saturday afternoon.
Southern Utah (9-7, 3-2 Summit League) had
senior forward Challis Pascucci post a game-high 27 points, freshman Andrea
Jones come off the bench to score a career-high 16 points and senior guard
Caitlyn Sears chip win with nine points, becoming the ninth player in SUU history
to reach the 1,000 career point milestone. Sears joins Pascucci as the first
pair of Thunderbirds to each reach the 1,000 career mark in the same season
since Denis Muir and Darla Hunt accomplished the feat in the 1986-87 season.
The Thunderbirds saw their three-game
conference winning streak come to an end after UMKC (6-10, 1-4 Summit League) posted
a 43-30 rebound advantage, outscored SUU 18-2 in second chance points and
received 44 from their bench. Southern Utah finished the game shooting 40%
while being held to just 26% in the second half.
SUU scored the game's first eight points and
eventually built up a 17-3 lead at the 12:53 mark of the first half after a
three from Jones and a jumper by Sears.
UMKC would slowly chip away and by taking
advantage of SUU's 12 first-half turnovers. The Kangaroos scored 17 points off
of the Thunderbirds miscues to own a 39-35 lead at the break. Jones and
Pascucci each scored 10-first half points as the Thunderbirds shot over 58% but
trailed at the break after being out-rebounded 20-14 in addition to the
turnovers.
UMKC quickly opened the second half with a
10-3 spurt to build an 11-point lead, their largest of the game. Jones answered with a three and Pascucci
followed with a layup to cut the Kangaroo lead to five with14:00 minutes to
play.
Minutes later, six straight points from
Pascucci made it a one-point game before another three by Jones gave the
Thunderbirds their first lead of the second half, 62-61 at the 5:35 mark.
Senior point guard Kaila Goff later made a
steal and went coast-to-coast for the layin and give SUU a three-point
advantage.
UMKC quickly answered with a layup that
sparked a 10-0 run for the Kangaroos, a run that allowed them to pull away from
the Thunderbirds. SUU missed their final eight field goal attempts during the
UMKC run in the final 4:29.
Jones knocked down SUU's four 3-pointers
while Goff led the team with six rebound from her point guard position.
Pascucci registered her fifth 25-plus scoring effort in the last eight games, knocking
down 11-of-15 free throws and grabbing five rebounds. Sears led SUU with five
assists.
The Kangaroos were led by LeAndrea Thomas'
team-high 18 points off the bench.
Southern Utah continues its road swing with
trips to face Centenary College next Saturday and first-place Oral Roberts
University next Monday.
