The UMKC Kangaroos fell for the second time in three days on their home turf to the IUPUI Jaguars on Monday evening inside Swinney Recreation Center.
The squad could not hold a nine point lead over the Jags as they watched IUPUI pass them by and win 56-51. It was the Roos second consecutive home loss and kept them winless in the Summit League on the season.
"We've just got to learn to stick to our game plan and put teams away," said UMKC head coach Candace White-Whitaker. "We have to find an intensity level that can be sustained over the course of an entire game. It's that simple."
UMKC senior center Alysa Klein scored 20 points and picked up nine rebounds in the defeat. She seemed to echo her coach's sentiments.
"We just can't seem to maintain any type of intensity," Klein said. "The coaches have been telling us all the time in practice to pick it up … it just hasn't been there."
The game went back and forth in the first half with both squads playing tough defense making it hard for their opponents to get good looks at the basket. UMKC shot at a 44 percent clip from the field in the first half, while the Jaguars could manage just nine field goals in 27 attempts for a 33.3 percent average.
Indicative of the kind of game it shaped up to be, both teams were tied at 23-23 at the intermission. The second half would not move much faster out of the gates.
Then as the teams reached the midway point of the second half, the Kangaroos began to pull away and seemed to be claiming their first league victory. A three-point shot by freshman guard Sarah Stewart gave UMKC a commanding 43-34 lead with 9:29 left to be played.
Then IUPUI senior guard and preseason All-Summit selection Jernisha Cann seemed to take her team's fate into her own hands. Cann seemed to be everywhere at once.
She picked up an assist on a field goal by IUPUI senior center Julia Whitted that pulled the Jags within seven. Next time down the court off a turnover by Picconi, Cann was at the basket to make the rebound and the eventual tip-in that made the Kangaroo advantage five.
A steal and an assist with 5:44 to play gave the Jaguars a 48-47 lead. They would not trail the Kangaroos again.
Cann finished the game with just six points and 11 rebounds, but those numbers predominately came from that late surge when her team needed them the most.
One other bright spot for the Roos, which one could argue might have shown several flaws in the team's game was the stellar play of senior guard Sierra Radke.
Her final totals would include just four points with eight assists, but those numbers do not tell the story of her night. Radke was so adept at finding her teammates in the paint, that had they converted but a portion of their open looks at the basket into points, the final score would have been in favor of the Roos.
"I just did the things that I'm supposed to do," Radke said. "I find my teammates when they're open and try to get them the ball."
dstroud@unews.com
