The ‘Roos opened the second half with a 8-0 run before Taelor Ross (Vancouver, Wash.) scored the Redhawks’ first points of the half on a layup seven minutes in and Kaylee Best (Seattle, Wash.) put SU back up by nine, 40-31, on a layup at 12:39.
Renee Dillard-Brown (Seattle, Wash.) put the Redhawks back up by 11, 48-37, with 7:13 remaining and Ross would give SU another 11-point lead, 50-39, with five minutes left.
UMKC’s Calli White and Kiana Law would combine for seven straight points for the ‘Roos as they came within five, 50-45, with three minutes left but Ross would cut off the run with a layup before Kristin Stoffel (Mill Creek, Wash.) hit a pair of free throws to put Seattle U back up by nine with a minute left.
Seattle U would go a perfect 6-for-6 from the line over the final 41 seconds to clinch the 14-point victory, 60-46.
“I’m really proud of our team,” said head coach Joan Bonvicini. “At times, this was not a really pretty game but we rebounded really well and we were perfect from the free-throw line. We did a really good job defensively, we forced a lot of turnovers, and we were able to capitalize on them by going both inside and outside.”
Claire Metoyer (Desoto, Texas) scored the first points of the game before Samantha Waldron tied the game with a jumper a minute and a half into the game. Grace Mitchell hit back-to-back layups to put the ‘Roos up by four, 6-2, but SU would take a one point lead, 9-8, on contributions from three different Redhawks by the opening media timeout.
UMKC would regain a four point lead at 13:26 on jumpers by Waldron and Taylor Leathers and again two minutes later before a Best three-pointer would regain the Redhawk lead for the remainder of the half.
Seattle U would extend their lead to seven two different times in the final five minutes before half on layups by Jazmine Johnson (Lakewood, Calif.) and Afunugo and would lead by double digits for the first time with 1:26 in the first half, 34-23, on a layup by Johnson. Makenna Clark (Lake Tapps, Wash.) would extend the Redhawk lead to 13, 36-23, their largest lead to that point, at half on a layup.
The Redhawks had their first perfect free throw shooting night of the season, hitting 12-for-12 at the line. SU also outrebounded UMKC, 43-26. Afunugo dished out a career high four assists as she and Ross led the Redhawks with 10 points apiece. Dillard-Brown also set a new career high with eight rebounds.
Seattle U remains home and hosts Bakersfield in a single game at 4pm on Saturday, Jan. 31.