The Jennies rank among the top teams in Division II in a number of statistical categories. The Jens are currently 10th in total offense, averaging 77.2 points per game. They're also one of the deadliest deep-shooting teams in the country; the Jens 40.5% three-point shooting percentage is the fifth-highest in Division II. Finally, the Jennies are one of just 25 undefeated or one-loss teams in the country, with a .917 winning percentage that ranks 12th nationally.

Great Start

The Jennies' are enjoying one of their best starts in recent history, winning 11 of their first 12 games. The Jens' 11-1 record in the first 12 games is the best ever during the Dave Slifer era, and is the best since 1995-96, when the Jennies started the year 15-0.

Instant Impact

Junior forward Keuna Flax joined the team after end of the fall semester, and has immediately become one of the top players in the MIAA. Flax is averaging a team-high 24.0 points per game, and is shooting 51.4% from the field. Because she missed the first seven games of the year Flax doesn't qualify for any MIAA or NCAA leaderboards, but if she did, she would lead the conference in scoring with 5.9 points per game more than the second-highest average, and would rank second nationally in Division II. The Haltom City, Tex. native has scored 20 or more points in four of her five games for UCM this season; her lowest point total in a game this year came when she scored 19 in the win over Arkansas Tech.

Hot Shooter

Junior BreAnna Lewis has been one of the league's best three-point shooters at this point in the season. Lewis ranks third in the MIAA in scoring, with 17.5 points per game, and is shooting at a 42.7% clip from beyond the arc, ranking 14th in the MIAA. She leads the league with 3.4 treys hit per game, which places her 12th on the national leaderboard. In the win over Academy of Art, Lewis knocked down seven three-pointers, tying her for the third-most in a single game in Jennies program history; she nearly matched that total again, with six treys against Northeastern State.

Lewis, along with Keuna Flax, were former teammates at Trinity Valley CC, where they won the NJCAA national championship a year ago. With the Jennies, the pair account for 41.5 points per game, over half of the team's scoring average.

Senior Leader

Senior forward Nicole Caddell has been dominant in the post this season, averaging a double-double with 11.7 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, one of just two players to do so in the MIAA. Caddell has matched her career high of 16 rebounds three times this season (St. Mary's, Lewis, Arkansas Tech), and leads the league in total rebounding as well as offensive rebounds (4.3 per game). The Tuscaloosa, Ala. native ranks 16th in the nation in rebounds, and 33rd in the country with four double-doubles this season.

Disappointing Departure

After leading the Jennies offense during the first eight games of the season, freshman Shelby Winkelmann suffered a season-ending injury during the win over Dixie State. Winkelmann was averaging 17.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, leading the team in scoring at the time. The current team leader, Keuna Flax, played together with Winkelmann for one game (Dixie State) before the freshman's injury.

Starting Roles

A pair of Jennies worked their way into the starting lineups beginning with the trip to Las Vegas, in junior Quinnecia Twine and sophomore Brielle Wattley.

Twine is averaging 10.3 points in her three games as a starter, up from her season average of 7.8 points per game. She has scored in double figures in three of her last four games, including 13 points along with six rebounds in her first start against Academy of Art.

Wattley took over the point guard spot in the pair of games in Las Vegas, and is averaging 2.0 assists as a starter. She leads the team with a 1.73 assist-to-turnover ratio this season, and has played three straight games, for a total of 69 minutes, without committing a single turnover.

Bench Notes

Junior Symore Murray leads the bench with 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game this season ... She scored a career-high 13 points at Fort Hays State, and has reached double-figures four times this season ... Erin Redmond ranks third on the team with 21 assists on the year, to go along with 3.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game ... Redmond dealt out three assists without a turnover in 19 minutes of action against Northeastern State ... Junior Kiersten Orton has been one of the best rebounders off the bench for the Jens, averaging 3.2 boards per game ... Freshman Danielle Barry has seen action in all 12 games this season, averaging 1.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game ... Breonna Embray is one of the team's best free-throw shooters, going 8-for-9 (.889) from the charity stripe this year.

Milestone Victory

After defeating Northeastern State earlier this week, Slifer moved into a tie for third place on the Jennies all-time wins list, with Mildred Barnes (1971-80). Slifer has a 156-92 record on the UCM sideline, and a 539-191 record during his 24-year coaching career. He currently ranks seventh among active coaches at the Division II level in total wins, and is one of just seven active coaches to reach the 500 wins mark.

In the Classroom

As much success as the Jennies saw on the court in 2011-12, they achieved just as much in the classroom. Nine players on last year's roster earned the MIAA Academic Honor Roll award, for earning at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA. Two players from a year ago, Alyssa Rhodes and Taylor Hanson, were honored with the MIAA Scholar-Athlete award, as the two seniors were recognized for earning All-MIAA Team honors while maintaining a 3.5 GPA or higher.

Junior forward Kiersten Orton was one of just 18 athletes across all sports at Central Missouri to earn the MIAA Academic Excellence Award. Orton has recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA during her time at UCM, while studying Accounting.

MIAA Preseason Polls

After a fourth place regular season finish a year ago, the Jennies debuted at No. 6 in the MIAA Preseason Coaches and Media Polls. The Jens finished behind Fort Hays State in both polls, after finishing ahed of the Tigers in the MIAA standings in 2011-12, and knocking Fort Hays State out of the MIAA Tournament in the first round. UCM also tallied fewer votes than MIAA newcomers Northeastern State (Okla.); the Riverhawks earned an NCAA Tournament at-large bid after competing as an independent last year, and reached the second round before falling to the eventual regional champs, Pittsburg State.

Washburn, who won the regular season and tournament titles last year, were picked to repeat by both the coaches and the media. Pittsburg State, who reached the first round of the NCAA Elite Eight, were picked second in both polls. Emporia State and Northeastern State placed third and fourth, while Fort Hays State rounds out the top five in both polls.

UCM in the Polls

With four straight victories since the last poll, the Jennies are back into the WBCA USA TODAY Sports Division II Coaches Poll. The Jens go from being unranked to No. 15 in the first poll of the new year, their highest ranking since the 1995-96 season, when UCM held the No. 14 ranking.

Central Missouri is the second-highest ranked MIAA team in this week's poll. Washburn, fell six spots from their last rank, slide to No. 12. Fort Hays State (No. 18) and Pittsburg State (No. 20) also slide down in the poll from their positions before the holiday break. Two other MIAA squads are receiving votes but are not in the top 25; Central Oklahoma collected five votes, while Truman earned one vote this week. The Jens were last ranked earlier this season, when they recieved the No. 23 spot on Dec. 4, 2012.

UCM Program History

The UCM Jennies are 836-350 (.705) after 41 seasons, and 633-261 (.708) in the 30 seasons since joining NCAA Division II ... the Jennies have won 9 MIAA regular season championships, 7 MIAA Tournament titles, 6 NCAA regional titles, and the 1984 NCAA Division II National Championship.

Series History with Pittsburg State

The Jennies hold a 26-20 lead in the all-time series over Pittsburg State ... at home, the Jens have gone 18-5 against the Gorillas ... Pittsburg State have dominated the series as of late, winning six of the last eight meetings ... PSU won all three matchups last season, including the meeting in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Opponent Preview

The Gorillas started the season as the No. 3 team in the nation, but have slid in the polls since suffering their first loss of the year to William Jewell. PSU currently holds a three-game winning streak heading into Thursday night's game at Lincoln, and hold a 3-1 mark in MIAA play. The Gorillas are led by the MIAA's leading scorer, Lizzy Jeronimus, who averages 18.5 points per game.

A Win for the Jennies Would...

... improve the Jennies record to 12-1 this season ... be the best start for the Jennies in the Dave Slifer era, and the best start overall since 1995-96 ... extend the team's home winning streak to nine straight games ... give the Jens their longest win streak of the season, at seven games ... be the first home win over the Gorillas since the 2009-10 season ... be the second win over a nationally-ranked team this season.

A Loss for the Jennies Would...

... drop the Jennies record to 11-2 on the year ... drop their record to 3-2 against the MIAA this season ... be the first home loss since last year's overtime defeat to Truman ... be the fourth straight loss to the Gorillas, extending the longest losing streak to PSU in program history ... be the 100th all-time loss in the Multipurpose Building.

Jennies Basketball in the Multi

The Jens are 451-99 all-time in the Multipurpose Building, and 82-29 during the Slifer era ... Currently, the Jennies hold a 8-0 record in the Multi this season ... UCM has won at least nine home games every year since 2004-05 ... the Jennies have gone undefeated at home three times: 1982-83 (15-0, finished 3rd in the nation), 1985-86 (14-0, regional champions), and 1988-89 (15-0, finished 4th in the nation) ... from 1988 to 1990, the Jennies won a school-record 34 consecutive games at the Multi.

UCM Athletics

The 2011-12 school year saw Central Missouri's 15 sports combine for seven MIAA regular season titles, and three MIAA tournament championships (women's soccer, baseball, men's golf). The Mules and Jennies have totaled 191 MIAA regular season championships across all sports, the most of any MIAA program. UCM has won five national championships since 1980 (men's and women's basketball in 1984, baseball in 1994 and 2003, and women's bowling in 2003), and seven national titles overall.

Jennies on the Air

Central Missouri women's basketball can be caught throughout the season on 98.5 “The BAR,” 1450 KOKO, and warrensburgradio.com as Greg Hassler provides play-by-play alongside Shawn Jones.

Fans can catch highlights each week on Central Missouri Sportspage, Thursday nights at 7 p.m., and Saturdays at 5 p.m. on KMOS-TV. Shawn Jones will sit down with Coach Slifer throughout the season to discuss the latest game, as various Jennies will be featured throughout the year.

Jennies fans can also tune in to 98.5 “The Bar” and 1450 KOKO each Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. for Central Missouri Sports Talk, with Greg Hassler and Bill Turnage. The pair will talk UCM athletics, as well as other hot topics in the sports world. Jennies coaches and players will drop in throughout the season as well.

Each MIAA contest througout the season will also be available online through AmericaOneSports.com. Every home game broadcast is produced by the student-run UCM Media Network. The cost for the webcasts is $8 for a single game, $30 for a 30-day pass, and $89.95 for a season pass, which includes both Mules and Jennies basketball.

MIAA Tournament

The 2013 MIAA Tournament is scheduled for March 8-10, at the Municipal Auditorium in downdown Kansas City, Mo. This year's edition of the conference tournament has a slightly different format, as four preliminary first-round matchups will take place on Tuesday, March 5 to round out the eight-team field. The top four seeds will earn a bye and automatically punch their tickets to Kansas City, while seeds 5-8 will host a first-round game against seeds 9-12.

The Jennies have claimed seven MIAA tournament titles, second only to Washburn's nine titles, but haven't cut the nets down since 1990. Last season, the Jennies knocked off Fort Hays State, 73-61 in the first round before falling to the eventual conference tournament champions Washburn, 64-62 in the semifinals.