Kats take winning streak to Kansas City
11/28/2013 9:37:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The red hot Sam Houston women's basketball team looks to continue its four-game winning streak Friday and Saturday at the Plaza Lights Classic in Kansas City.
The event is being hosted by the University of Missour-Kansas City at the Swinney Recration Center.
The Bearkats open the tournament against the host Kangaroos at 1 p.m. Friday. Alabama-Birmingham and Eastern Illinois face off at 3:30 p.m. to complete the doubleheader.
On Saturday Sam Houston meets UAB at 1 p.m. and UMKC takes on Eastern Illinois at 3:30 p.m.
Since opening the 2013-14 schedule with road losses at Arkansas and Arkansas-Little Rock, the Bearkat women have been on a roll.
Sam Houston defeated Louisiana-Lafayette 83-73, Houston Baptist 85-68 and A&M-Commerce 85-64 on its home floor at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum then knocked off Rice in Houston Tuesday 79-74 in overtime.
Junior post player Angela Beadle and senior guard Jasmine Johnson give the Bearkats a double offensive punch that has been hard to stop. Beadle is averaging 17.2 points and 11.0 rebounds a game. She posted a career high 30 points at Rice and pulled down another personal best 19 boards against the Ragin' Cajuns.
Johnson adds 15.7 points per game and has assisted on 40 other scores. She also set a career best against Louisiana Lafayette with 31 points.
Senior Jazmin Wiley and freshman guard Taylor Dorsey added 9.8 and 9.7 points, respectively, to the Kats' effort each contest.
The UMKC Kangaroos are looking for their first victory of the season after five losses. Kansas City is averaging 70 points per game. The team's top scorer, Eilise O'Connor ranks as UMKC's only player ever to score more than 1,200 points and total 400 rebounds.
Alabama-Birmingham, Sam Houston's Saturday foe, enters the Classic with a 2-3 record overall, picking up wins over Loyola (Ill.) and Western Illinois. Sabina Oroszova leads the team in scoring at 15.0, while Katlyn Payne (14.4) and Jordyne Crunk (12.6) are also averaging double figures. On the glass, Oroszova is also the team's top rebounder at 9.8 per game.
Following this weekend's tournament in Kansas City, the Bearkat women will return to Johnson Coliseum to play host to Wichita State on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 6:30 p.m.
