Spring Break
Mired in a first-half cold spell, the UMKC men, buoyed by team captain Quinton Day's 27-point performance, started a heat wave on the back side of the contest. The team blazed its way to a 91-58 exhibition win over Benedictine College Saturday night at Municipal Auditorium.
Junior guard Tim Blackwell is dreaming about a chance for the UMKC men's basketball team to play in the NCAA Division I basketball tournament at the end of the 2006-07 basketball season. "To see the campus and the city come alive like they did two years ago would be great," said Blackwell.
Junior Brittny Picconi knocked down 22 points and freshman Chazny Morris tacked on 18 more to lead the UMKC Kangaroos to a 103-61 plucking of the Rockhurst Hawks. Picconi, a guard, hit the first shot of the night for either team. The Kangaroos never shared the lead with Rockhurst, reaching the century mark for the first time since the 1994-95 season.
UMKC senior forward Leigh Mead is ready to step up and help her team any way that she can throughout the 2006-07 basketball season. The 6-foot senior says her shooting accuracy will be one key factor she can use in the team's pursuit of success. She developed into a strong three-point threat for the team last season, hitting more than 36 percent of her shots from beyond the arch.
Oral Roberts University Location: Tulsa, Okla. Mascot: Golden Eagle Men: The Golden Eagles, the 2006-2007 Mid-Continent Conference favorites, will be led by senior Caleb Green, winner of the past two Mid-Con Player of the Year Awards. Green led the league in 2005-2006 in scoring, averaging 20.
After a thrilling 4-2 shootout victory over Oral Roberts University (ORU) in their opening game of the Mid-Continent (Mid-Con) Conference tournament, UMKC fell to the top seeded Leathernecks of Western Illinois University (WIU) 2-0 in the conference championship match last Sunday in Rochester, Mich.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City often suffers from negative stereotyping as an "urban university," a place suburbanites commute to get their education in the late afternoons and then abandon as soon as class is over. On empty Friday afternoons it can often seem that this stereotype is deserved.
