Next Up For the Jennies
The Central Missouri Jennies open the 2013-14 season ranked eighth overall and begin their quest towards a third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. UCM opens the season at home against the #23 Minnesota State Mavericks at the Multipurpose Building. This matchup marks the first time the Jennies basketball program will host a top-25 matchup to open a season.
The Jennies return four starters from a season ago, including 2012-13 All-American Honorable Mention Keuna Flax, who led the MIAA in scoring with 19.7 points per contest.
Last Time Out
The Jennies lost a heartbreaker, 73-71 in the first round of the Central Regional first round against Southwestern Oklahoma State.to end the 2012-13 campaign.
Flax led the Jennies with 22 points and Nicole Caddell closed out her UCM career with a 12-point, 17-rebound performance. UCM fell behind by 15, but cut the deficit to three on a pair of three-pointers by BreAnna Lewis. However, a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds pushed SWOSU's lead back to five before Lewis hit her third straight three with 10 seconds to play.
Coach Slifer Honored
Jennies head coach Dave Slifer was named the WBCA Central Region Coach of the Year, guiding the team to a 24-6 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. UCM recorded its first undefeated season at home for the first time since 1988-89. The 24 victories were the most in a single season for the program since 1989-90. The team's second-place finish in the MIAA regular season standings was their best since 1999-00.
Slifer By The Numbers
Entering the 2013-14 season, Slifer is 34th on the all-time wins list for all division coaches with 553. Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 553 wins and is eighth among all Division II coaches with a .738 winning percentage.
Flax Is Back
Keuna Flax, a 2012-13 All American Honorable Mention returns for her senior season with the Jennies. The 5-11 Haltom, City, Texas native led the Jennies to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament, and finished first in the MIAA in scoring at 19.7 points per game in 23 contests.
Last season, she finished tied for second on the team with 22 double-figure scoring performances (one behind BreAnna Lewis). She earned MIAA Athlete of the Week a team-high three times during the 2012-13 campaign.
Jennies Basketball In The Multi
The Jens are 418-92 all-time in the Multipurpose Building, and 90-29 during the Slifer era ... Central Missouri finished the 2012-13 season with a 14-0 record in the Multi ... UCM has won at least nine home games every year since 2004-05 ... the Jennies have gone undefeated at home four times: (15-0, finished 3rd in the nation), 1985-86 (14-0, regional champions), 1988-89 (15-0, finished 4th in the nation), and 2012-13 ... from 1988 to 1990, the Jennies won a school-record 34 consecutive games at the Multi ... Currently, UCM is riding a 14-game winning streak at the Multi.
BreAnna Lewis From Deep
Senior guard BreAnna Lewis registered 88 three-pointers during the 2012-13 season. The 88 shots made from beyond the three-point arc placed her second on the Jennies' single-season list (four behind Jessica Burkholder in 1996-97 season).
The Return Of Winkelmann
After leading the Jennies offense during the first eight games of the 2012-13 season, freshman Shelby Winkelmann suffered a season-ending injury during the win over Dixie State on Dec. 18, 2013. Winkelmann was averaging 17.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, the Jennies' leading scorer at the time. Winkelmann will come off the bench to start the 2013-14 campaign.
Last season, Winkelmann recorded the third-highest scoring output in a game in Jennies history with 42 against Emporia State on Dec. 8.
Wattley's Ball Control
Last season, guard Brielle Wattley held the team's highest assist-turnover ratio at 1.5 (57 assists to 37 turnovers).
Big Shoes To Fill
Junior transfer Revonnia Howard will begin the season at forward as the team moves on from the graduated Nicole Caddell, the program's eighth all-time leading rebounder (704).
Howard, a 6-3 forward from Rock Valley College, won two national titles during her junior college career. The Chicago, Ill. native was named Team MVP her freshman season for her performance in the conference and national tournaments.
In last season's national championship game, Howard scored 21 points and grabbed 22 rebounds and was named to the All-Tournament team.
New Faces
In addition to Howard, the Jennies welcome three other junior college transfers to this year's squad. Justina Prairie Chief is a 5-8 junior guard from Cochise Community College in Douglas, Arizona.
The El Reno, Okla. native averaged over 13 points per game her freshman year before suffering a season-ending injury. As a sophomore, she averaged 7.4 points per game and over four assists.
Latrice McMullen, a 6-2 junior forward from Marshalltown Community College in Marshalltown, Iowa, averaged 8.0 points and 6.3 rebounds during her sophomore season in 21 games. She is a native of Waterloo, Iowa.
Amanda Rodenberg, a 6-0 junior forward was a two-year All-Region selection at North Central Missouri College and participated in two regional tournaments in 2012 and 2013.
The Lone Freshman
Incoming freshman guard Andee Wahlert enters this season as the only freshman on the Jennies' roster. The St. Joseph, Mo. native and Benton High School product was a four-year varsity letterwinner on the girls varsity team at Benton and served as a three-time captain.
Embray's Defense
Junior guard Breonna Embray was a defensive staple for the Jennies in tight games last season. In games decided by four points or less, the Jennies finished 9-1 with Embray on the floor.
Twine Shines in 2012-13
Senior guard Quinnecia Twine will retain her starting role at guard after filling in for an injured Shelby Winkelmann last season. The Atlanta, Ga. native started 22 games, averaging 7.7 points, including a 24-point, eight-rebound performance back on Feb. 7 against Central Oklahoma. Eight of her 31 steals came in the first four games of last season.
Excelling in the Classroom
The Jennies experienced plenty of success both on and off the court last season with seven MIAA Academic Honor Roll selections, for earning at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA.
Junior Kiersten Orton and freshman Shelby Winkelmann each won the the MIAA Academic Excellence Award, which recognizes student-athletes with a 4.0 GPA. The award was the third for Orton.
MIAA Preseason Polls
After a second-place regular season finish a year ago, the Jennies debuted at No. 1 in the 2013-14 MIAA Preseason Media Poll, and No. 2 in the Coaches Poll. The Jennies enter the season ahead of Fort Hays State in both polls, after finishing ahead of the Tigers in the final 2012-13 MIAA Standings and eliminating FHSU in the MIAA Tournament semifinals. UCM tallied fewer votes than Emporia State in the preseason coaches poll, but garnered more points than the Lady Hornets in the preseason media poll. Washburn, who finished in first place in last year's regular season standings, but were eliminated in the MIAA Tournament semifinals by Emporia State, were picked to finish third in both the preseason coaches and media poll. Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State placed fourth and fifth to round out the top five teams in both polls.
UCM in the Polls
The Jennies debut at No. 8 in the WBCA USA Today Sports Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll and are one of three MIAA schools to be mentioned. Bentley (Mass.), last year's preseason No. 2 ranking, starts the year at No. 1 after falling in the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship last season. Gannon University (Pa.) is second in the poll, reaching the Elite Eight before losing to Ashland University. The MIAA's Emporia State owns the No. 5 rank after losing to Augustana in the Central Regional championship game. Washburn (No. 17), who finished in first place in last year's MIAA regular season standings, rounds out the conference's representation in the poll.
After the team's 5-0 start last season, Central Missouri earned the No. 23 ranking, and was nationally ranked for the first time since December 13, 2011 (22nd). After falling out of the rankings for a short period, the Jennies reeled off four straight victories heading into the new year, skyrocketing them up to No. 15 - their highest ranking at the time since 2004-05 when they were No. 10. The Jennies continued to roll with two more victories, including one against a top-25 team in Pittsburg State to move up four spots to No. 11 in the middle of January. UCM dropped a game against Truman, its first loss in a six-week period, to fall five spots to No. 16 a week later. They would regain that No. 11 rank after a pair of home wins over Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri to close out the month of January. UCM opened February with a pair of conference road victories, earning them a spot in the top-10 for the first time since 2004-05. The Jennies swept a four-game road trip the next week to climb three more spots to No. 7, their highest ranking since the WBCA poll debuted in 1995-96. The Jennies defeated Lindenwood and Lincoln but closed out the week with a loss to Southwest Baptist, dropping them six spots to No. 13 before the team closed out their regular season home schedule.
UCM Program History
The UCM Jennies are 849-355 (.705) after 43 seasons, and 648-266 (.709) in the 31 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 Championship.
Series History with Minnesota State
Minnesota State leads the all-time series, 2-0 ... Saturday's game marks the third meeting between Minnesota State and Central Missouri ... The last time these two foes met was December 1, 2007, with the Mavericks winning, 87-61.
A Win for the Jennies Would...
... start the Jennies season with a perfect 1-0 ... be the sixth straight season-opening victory ... give UCM its 15th win in 16 games against non-conference opponents.
A Loss for the Jennies Would...
... be the first season-opening loss since 2007, a 70-59 loss to SIU-Edwardsville ... be just the second season-opening loss in the Dave Slifer era ... be the third-straight loss to Minnesota State.
Jennies Basketball in the Multi
The Jens are 418-92 all-time in the Multipurpose Building, and 90-29 during the Slifer era ... UCM has won at least nine home games every year since 2004-05 ... the Jennies have gone undefeated at home four times: 1982-83 (15-0, finished 3rd in the nation), 1985-86 (14-0, regional champions), 1988-89 (15-0, finished 4th in the nation) and 2012-13 (14-0, finished 16th in the nation) ... from 1988 to 1990, the Jennies won a school-record 34 consecutive games at the Multi.
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.
