Western Courier

Issue date: 3/7/08 Section: Summit League Basketball Tournament

TULSA, Okla. - Simply put, Alysa Klein was too much for the Westerwinds in the first round of the Summit League women's basketball tournament Saturday afternoon in Tulsa, Okla.

No. 7 UMKC's 6-foot-3 senior center put Western's post defense to the test early and often, as Klein racked up 14 first-half points. The second-seeded 'Winds were unable to stop the bleeding after halftime, and the Kangaroos pulled the 62-55 first-round upset.

"When you get to this conference tournament, it's an even playing ground,
and it's everyone's game," said UMKC coach Candace White-Whitaker. "I think they really believed in each other, and they really believed they could come in here … and win this game. I think this showed from the tip."

In UMKC's first two meetings against Western this season, Klein scored a combined 20 points. The senior center exceeded that statistic by posting 25 points in the teams' third meeting Saturday afternoon.

"You're going to let Alysa Klein get 25 points; you're going to get beat," said coach Leslie Crane. "We knew that. We just didn't do a good job on her."

The two teams' shooting performances made Western ripe for the upset. UMKC, mainly on the back of Klein's points in the paint, connected on half of its shots.

"They were fronting me a lot tonight, so the lob was there," Klein said. "My teammates were able to see that, and we were able to score off that tonight.

"If the defense was looking for me, then my teammates were able to step up on the outside," she added. "It was a really good inside-outside game tonight."

On the other hand, the 'Winds could only muster 28 percent from the field. Of Western's 55 total points, 33 came from inside the paint or at the free-throw line after being fouled on a drive.

Continued...

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