The eighth-ranked Jennies (14-2, 8-1 MIAA) go for their third-straight victory when they travel to Lincoln on Wednesday, Jan. 22 for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off. The Jennies come into the contest a half-game behind Emporia State in the MIAA. UCM is averaging the second-most points in conference play with 76.0 per game. Senior forward
Keuna Flax is leading the conference in scoring with 19.7 points per game, while junior foward
Revonnia Howard is third in the MIAA with 8.6 rebounds per contest. Lincoln (3-12, 0-8 MIAA) comes into the matchup winless in their last eight games. Junior guard Jennifer Rosado leads the Blue Tigers with 12.6 points per game.
Last Time Out
The Jennies (14-2, 8-1 MIAA) earned their ninth win in 10 games, despite losing Flax to injury with 13:55 left in the game. UCM fell behind, 14-9 in the first 4:16, but scored the next seven points to take a 16-14 lead with under 14 minutes in the opening half.
UCM would go on a 10-5 spurt over the next 6:04, bumping their lead to seven with help from
BreAnna Lewis, who scored four of her team-high 21 points during the stretch.
Northwest Missouri (5-11, 2-7 MIAA) cut the Jennies' lead to one at 26-25 after a pair of triples from Ashleigh Nelson and Monique Stevens. The Jennies built their lead back to seven thanks to a pair of three-pointers from
Justina Prairie Chief and Lewis and four points from
Shelby Winkelmann. The Bearcats made it a 38-35 game at halftime after a jumper by Annie Mathews with 13 seconds remaining.
Central Missouri's defense held the Bearcats to two points in the first 7:26 of the second half, increasing their edge to seven points. However, Northwest Missouri went on a 10-3 run to knot the game at 47 apiece with 7:29 left.
Ariel Easton gave the Bearcats their first lead since 13:11 in the opening half, converting on a layup to give Northwest Missouri a 54-52 advantage with 5:09 remaining.
The game's final tie came at 4:56 when Winkelmann scored on a layup, evening the tally at 54-54.
Breonna Embray was fouled by Mathews and sank both free-throws to put the Jennies ahead for good, 56-54.
Slifer By The Numbers
Slifer is 34th on the all-time wins list for all division coaches with 567.
Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 567 wins and is eighth among all Division II coaches with a .741 winning percentage.
Slifer earned his 560th career win in UCM's last game on Dec. 5 against Fort Hays State.
A Streak Snapped For Flax
Senior
Keuna Flax had her consecutive double-digit points streak snapped in the Jennies' 67-62 win at Northwest Missouri on Saturday. She scored two points before leaving the game with 13:55 remaining in the second half. She had scored in double-figures in all 15 games to start the season.
Starting Out Fast
In the first half of games, the Jennies are outscoring their opponents, 621-508. UCM is 13-0 when leading at halftime.
First Half Free Throw Success
In the first half of the past 11 games, UCM is knocking down at least 61% of their free throws. In only two of those games (at Arkansas Tech, vs. Missouri Western) the Jens have shot below 50% from the charity stripe in the game's second half (44.4% against Arkansas Tech, 46.7% against Missouri Western).
Moving The Ball Around
In the Jennies last game at Northwest Missouri, the team totaled a season-low six assists. In the seven games prior, UCM recorded at least 11 assists per game. For the first time since Dec. 1 at Arkansas Tech, Flax did not record an assist.
Shooting Percentage Down
UCM shot just 37.3% (22-of-59) from the floor in their win over Northwest Missouri. It was the first game the Jennies have won this season when shooting under 40%. Central Missouri is now 1-2 in games where they shoot under 40% from the floor.
Bench Numbers
UCM's bench outscored the Bearcats' bench, 33-5 last Saturday - second-most in a game this season. In the previous four games, the Jennies' bench had been outscored 128-58, for an average of 32-14.5 points per game.
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).
Through 16 games this season, Lewis has sank 33 three-pointers, reaching five twice this season. She has recorded at least one three-pointer in 13 of 16 games (none against FHSU, WU and MWSU). The 33 three-pointers bumps her three-point career total to 121 – eighth on the Jennies' all-time list and 7 behind Ashley Millham.
Winkelmann Playing Strong
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, 2012. Winkelmann was averaging 17.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, the Jennies' leading scorer at the time.
Last season, Winkelmann recorded the third-highest scoring output in a game in Jennies history with 42 against Emporia State on Dec. 8.
Winkelmann is third on the team with an average of 12.1 points (70-of-164 from the floor) through 16 games this season. She has reached double-figures in scoring in 13 of 16 contests.
Defensive Spark Off The Bench
Junior
Justina Prairie Chief has made her presence felt on the team's second unit, leading all bench players in rebounds with 75 (25 offensive). For the first time this season against NWMSU, Prairie Chief had one rebound, failing to record multiple rebounds in a game.
Holding Down The Frontcourt
Junior
Revonnia Howard has started this season at forward, taking the place of the graduated
Nicole Caddell, the program's eighth all-time leading rebounder (704).
Howard is averaging 10.4 points and 8.6 rebounds through 16 games this season. She has a team-leading 45 offensive boards. She set a new career-high in rebounds last Saturday with 17 (four offensive) to go along with 12 points. It was Howard's second double-double on the season.
The Lone Freshman
Freshman guard
Andee Wahlert is 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. Wahlert is averaging 1.9 points and 0.6 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per game this season. She also has eight steals and 29 assists (season-high of 4 against Evangel on Nov. 26) while shooting 42.9% from three-point range (6-of-14).
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. Embray is averaging 15.5 minutes this season, making 5-of-17 field goals. Embray has been on the floor in the Jennies' only game decided by four points or less this season (88-86 overtime win at Pittsburg State).
Twine Continues To Shine
Senior guard
Quinnecia Twine has been coming off the bench with Winkelmann back in the starting five. 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 last season.
This season, Twine has played in 14 games, averaging 6.9 points, shooting 32-of-85 from the floor (37.6%) and has nine steals and 15 assists. Her 6.9 points per game is the highest among Jennies bench players. She got her first start against Northwest Missouri last Saturday.
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 remain at No. 8 in this week's WBCA/USA Today Sports Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll, garnering 571 points - a 24-point improvement from last week's rankings. The basketball program has appeared in the Top 25 for 24-consecutive weeks dating back to January 8 of last season. UCM went 2-0 last week, defeating Missouri Western at home and Northwest Missouri on the road. The Jennies are one of three MIAA schools in the Top 25 (Emporia State at No. 2, Fort Hays State at No. 24). UCM and Emporia State appear in the Top-25 for the ninth-straight week. The Jennies are 3-2 against teams currently in the Top 25 (wins against Minnesota State, Rollins College and Fort Hays State; losses against Harding and Emporia State).
UCM Program History
The UCM Jennies are 863-357 (.707) after 43 seasons, and 662-268 (.711) 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 Lincoln
Central Missouri leads the all-time series, 47-2 and has won 17 of the last 18 meetings with the Blue Tigers ... The Jennies are 22-1 all-time against Lincoln in Jefferson City ... The Jennies won both matchups with Lincoln last season.
A Win for the Jennies Would...
... improve the Jennies' conference record to 9-1 ... extend the Jennies' win streak against Lincoln to four games ... bump the Jennies' road record to 7-2 ... give the Jennies their 18th win in the last 19 meetings with Lincoln.
A Loss for the Jennies Would...
... be the third loss of the 2013-14 season ... drop the Jennies conference record to 8-2 ... snap the Jennies' three-game win streak against the Blue Tigers ... be just the second loss all time against Lincoln in Jefferson City (first loss occurred on Jan. 19, 1998 - 51-47 loss) ... give
Dave Slifer his 100th loss as head coach of the UCM program.
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.
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. 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.
