Courtesy: UMKC Athletics Headed into the game with South Dakota State, the Kangaroos are 11-10 overall and 8-2 in The Summit League.

Kansas City, Mo. -- The UMKC women’s basketball team has a tough road weekend ahead of them, taking on South Dakota State and North Dakota State. The Kangaroos will face the Jackrabbits on Sat., Feb. 6 at 5 p.m. in Brookings, S.D., and then head to Fargo, N.D., to take on the Bison on Mon., Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. Headed into the game with South Dakota State, the Kangaroos are 11-10 overall and 8-2 in The Summit League.

The Kangaroos are coming off of a 74-64 win at Southern Utah. Jade Tinner led UMKC past the Thunderbirds with a double-double, recording 12 points and 10 rebounds. The `Roos had five players finish in double figures, with Dayon Hall-Jones recording 13 points, Sam Sikkink finishing with 12, Chazny Morris added 11 and Kim Nezianya finished with 10 points.

UMKC Ranked Second in The Summit League
It’s a tight race for the top spot in The Summit League standings and they are constantly changing. UMKC is currently ranked second in league standings with an 8-2 record. Oral Roberts is the league leader with a 9-2 Summit League record. Right behind the Kangaroos in third place is South Dakota State and Oakland with an 8-3 league record.

This Saturday around The Summit League, Centenary plays at IPFW (1:30 p.m.), Southern Utah plays at North Dakota State (2 p.m.), Oral Roberts plays at Oakland (3:30 p.m.) and IUPUI is at Western Illinois (4:30 p.m.).

Season of Firsts
The 2009-10 Kangaroos have been making headlines ever since the season began back on Nov. 13 with the program’s first win over Drake (70-68) to start the season off 1-0. Since then under head coach Candace Whitaker, UMKC has compiled a few other firsts. Earlier on in the season, the Kangaroos recorded another program first win over South Dakota State and just last weekend at Southern Utah the Kangaroos notched their first win in Centrum Arena since the 2006 season.

`Roos Tough on College GameDay
UMKC has been playing opponents tough on Saturday’s so far this season. The Kangaroos are 5-1 in Saturday contests, with their most recent weekend win taking place at Southern Utah.

UMKC Records Good Night From the Line
The Kangaroos had their best night from the free throw line this season against the Thunderbirds. UMKC shot 88 percent, going 21-of-24, in the 74-64 road win. Kim Nezianya (six-of-six), Dayon Hall-Jones (four-of-four), Sam Sikkink (four-of-four) and Chazny Morris (one-of-one) all were perfect from the free throw line. Jade Tinner also did well, finishing six-of-seven.

Kangaroos Making History
Not only are the Kangaroos under their best league start under head coach Candace Whitaker, but UMKC is also off to the best start in conference play. The `Roos haven’t been this consistent in the opening half of league play since the 2003-04 season. Back then under head coach Dana Eikenberg, the Kangaroos got off to a 8-1 start in the then Mid-Continent Conference.

Opponent Preview
South Dakota State... The Jackrabbits are 12-9 overall and 8-3 in The Summit League and are coming off of a 92-50 win at Centenary. South Dakota State has three players averaging double figures with Maria Boever leading the squad with 13.4 points and seven rebounds per contest. Ketty Cornemann and Kristin Rotert are also averaging 11.5 points per game a piece.

Last time the pair met was on Jan. 4 and the `Roos recorded their first program win over the Jacks, 67-64. Chazny Morris led all players with 24 points and Jade Tinner finished with 17 points and five rebounds. All-time against South Dakota State, UMKC is 1-5.

Home Bodies
The Kangaroos are now 7-0 at home following a 54-46 win over Western Illinois. UMKC is 6-0 inside Swinney Recreation Center and 1-0 at Municipal in the 2009-10 season. The `Roos haven’t played this well at home since the 1986-87 season, when UMKC was on a 10-0 home consecutive winning streak. The last time the Kangaroos went 6-0 at home was in the 2003-04 season. The most consecutive home wins in a single season for the Kangaroos was in the 1984-85 seasons, when the `Roos went 14-0.

Lucky Charm
Head coach Candace Whitaker and her husband Matt had their first child, Westin Patrick, on Dec. 24 and he seems to be the `Roos good luck charm. Since then, UMKC has only dropped two games (Dec. 30 vs. NCAT and Jan. 18 at Oakland) and has compiled a 8-2 record since the 24th.

Kangaroos in The Summit League
The UMKC women’s basketball team has been picked to finish seventh in The Summit League Preseason Poll after receiving a total of 196 points in a vote of the league’s coaches, SIDs and members of the media. South Dakota State was picked as the favorite to win the 2009-10 Summit League Women’s Basketball Championship for the second straight season.

Last Time Out...
Kangaroos Improve To 8-2 In The Summit League With 74-64 Win At Southern Utah
The UMKC women’s basketball team played its way to a 74-64 victory over Southern Utah on Saturday afternoon at Centrum Arena. The win over the Thunderbirds puts UMKC at 11-10 overall and 8-2 in The Summit League, while Southern Utah falls to 6-15 overall and 4-6 in league play. The Kangaroos had five players finish in double figures, with Jade Tinner recording a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

UMKC got off to a slow start in the opening minutes of the game, as Southern Utah quickly jumped out to a 6-0 lead. The Kangaroos finally got on the scoreboard at the 16 minute mark and tied things on the following possession (6-6) with a three from LeAndrea Thomas. Another bucket by Thomas then gave the Kangaroos their first lead of the night, 8-6.

The two teams would spend the majority of the first half fighting over the lead, with neither team able to pull ahead for longer than a few possessions. With 4:43 left in the half, Simone Bridges finished back-to-back lay-ups for the `Roos to put UMKC up by five points, 26-21. Southern Utah was able to get a few points in before the buzzer and headed into the locker room down by three, 31-28.

The Thunderbirds were able to keep within striking distance in the opening minutes of the second half, but UMKC would turn up the pressure and begin to pull away from Southern Utah with 10 minutes left in the game. Sam Sikkink ignited a 9-0 run for the Kangaroos to give them their biggest lead of the night, 62-46, with 6:35 remaining.

The `Roos lead gave Southern Utah no other choice but to foul and send the Kangaroos to the line. UMKC was able to go 12-of-12 from the line in the last 10 minutes and easily coasted to a victory. Dayon Hall-Jones finished with 13 points, Sikkink contributed 12, Morris finished with 11 and Kim Nezianya added 10 points.

The Kangaroos shot a season-high .875 from the free throw line, finishing 21-of-24.