No. 12 Central Missouri Jennies (15-3, 9-2 MIAA) vs. Missouri Southern Lions (14-4, 8-3 MIAA)
Next up for the Jennies
The 12th-ranked Jennies will host the Missouri Southern Lions on Saturday, Feb. 1 for a 1:30 p.m. tip-off at the Multipurpose Building. UCM will look to begin a new win streak at home after losing to Lindenwood last Saturday, 65-64, ending a run of 21-consecutive victories in Warrensburg. Senior forward
Keuna Flax, a four-time MIAA Player of the Week honoree this season, is leading the conference in scoring at 20.6 points per game. The Lions (14-4, 8-3 MIAA) are led by senior forward Dominique Mosley, who is scoring 14.9 points per contest and grabbing 6.9 rebounds a game. Her 14.9 points lead the Lions, while her 6.9 rebounds per contest is tied for first with Sharese Jones.
The Jennies will wear pink uniforms to raise breast cancer awareness for the Play 4Kay initiative. Since its inception in 2007, the Play 4Kay initiative has raised over $2.5 million to support women's cancer research.
Last Time Out
The Jennies lost for the first time at home since Feb. 25, 2012 against Truman. They jumped out to a 16-8 lead but Lindenwood came back to take an 18-16 lead with 8:06 on the clock when Marissa Lehnig made a layup. Dru Haertling drilled a three-pointer and Lehnig made a pair of free throws after drawing a foul from
Keuna Flax, putting Lindenwood in front by seven, 23-16.
Breonna Embray cut the deficit to four with a three-pointer on the following possession, but the Lady Lions came back with three layups to take a 29-21 lead with 4:27 remaining in the first half.
The Jennies and Lady Lions closed the first half scoring four points each to keep the UCM deficit at eight, 33-25. The Jennies' leading scorers at half were
Shelby Winkelmann and Embray each with five points. Flax made just 1-of-3 shots for two points.
UCM started the second half scoring the first three points courtesy of
Revonnia Howard who made a layup and split a pair of free throws. However, an 8-3 spurt by Lindenwood over the next 2:24 put the Jennies in a 10-point hole.
The gap closed to four points at 41-37 as
BreAnna Lewis and Winklemann eached scored three with 15:51 left in the game.
Lehnig, Caroline Bourlioux and Kassidy Gengenbacher combined to help Lindenwood increase their lead to 47-40 with 12:11 remaining. They maintained a two-possession lead for the next 6:15 before Flax scored on a layup and Winkelmann splashed a triple with just over four minutes left to climb within a basket.
On the Lady Lions' next possession, Morgan Johnson tripled to bump Lindenwood's lead to five at 61-56 with 3:34 to go.
Flax drew a foul on the next Jennies' possession and hit both free throws to make it a three-point game. UCM forced a Lindenwood turnover on the next possession and Flax hit a jumper to make the score, 61-60 with 2:34 left in the game.
UCM took its first lead since early in the first half when
Brielle Wattley drove to the basket and scored to put the Jennies ahead, 62-61 with 1:51 left.
The Jennies took their last lead of the game when Lewis was fouled and hit two free-throws on the ensuing possession.
Lindenwood scored the eventual game-winning basket with 1:03 left following a layup by Lehnig, putting Lindenwood back in front, 65-64.
Slifer By The Numbers
Slifer is 34th on the all-time wins list for all division coaches with 568.
Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 568 wins and is eighth among all Division II coaches with a .740 winning percentage.
Slifer earned his 560th career win in UCM's last game on Dec. 5 against Fort Hays State.
Jennies Basketball In The Multi
The Jens are 425-93 all-time in the Multipurpose Building, and 96-30 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: 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 ... from 1988 to 1990, the Jennies won a school-record 34 consecutive games at the Multi ... The Jennies had their 21-home game win streak snapped on Jan. 25, 2014 against LIndenwood, 65-64.
Seeing Double
Senior
Keuna Flax and sophomore
Shelby Winkelmann were the only Jennies to reach double-digits in scoring against Lindenwood. It was the third time this season that UCM had two players score 10 points or more. The Jennies are 1-2 in those games (WU, ESU, LU).
Struggling From Long Range
Over the last three games, Central Missouri has made 13-of-68 three-pointers (19.1%).
Jennies By The Numbers
In two of the past three games, the Jennies have shot under 40% from the floor and have finished with under 10 assists (six at NWMSU, eight against Lindenwood). UCM has also shot under 70% from the free throw line in three of the past four games.
Another Streak Snapped
The Jennies lost their first game against an unranked opponent since Feb. 23, 2013. Prior to the loss on Saturday vs. Lindenwood, UCM had won the past 10 matchups with opponents outside of the Top 25 (lost to unranked Harding
on Nov. 29).
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 18 games this season, Lewis has sank 35 three-pointers, reaching five twice this season. She has recorded at least one three-pointer in 14 of 18 games (none against FHSU,
WU, MWSU and LU). The 35 three-pointers puts her three-point career total to 123 – eighth on
the Jennies' all-time list and 5 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. Winkelmann is third on the team with an average of 11.5 points (75-of-175 from the floor) through 18 games this season. She has reached double-figures in scoring in 14 of 18 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 77 (26 offensive). She has recorded just one rebound in each of the past three games, logging a total of 32 minutes.
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 10.3 points and 8.7 rebounds through 18 games this season. She has a team-leading 49 offensive boards. She set a new career-high in rebounds on Jan. 18 at Northwest Missouri with 17 (four offensive) to go along with 12 points. She scored just five points against Lindenwood, snapping a three-game streak of at least 10 points. Her seven rebounds were her lowest total since Jan. 15 at home against Missouri Western.
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 1.8 points and 0.6 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per game this season. She also has eight steals and 31 assists (season-high of 4 against Evangel on Nov. 26) while shooting 31.6% from three-point range (6-of-19).
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 15.9 minutes this season, making 7-of-21 field goals. Embray has been on the floor in two of the Jennies games decided by four points or less this season (88-86 overtime win at Pittsburg State, 71-70 win at LIncoln).
Twine Continues To Shine
This season, Twine has played in 16 games, starting two, averaging 6.4 points, shooting 33-of-95 from the floor (34.7%) and has 11 steals and 15 assists. Her 6.4 points leads all bench players this 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 both won 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 fell to No. 12 in this week's WBCA/USA Today Sports Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll, garnering 399 points - a 172-point dropoff from last week's rankings. The basketball program has appeared in the Top 25 for 25-consecutive weeks dating back to January 8 of last season. UCM split two games last week, winning at Lincoln and losing at home to Lindenwood. The Jennies are one of two MIAA schools in the Top 25 (Emporia State at No. 3). Fort Hays State fell out of this week's rankings after securing the No. 24 spot last week. UCM and Emporia State appear in the Top-25 for the 10th-straight week. The Jennies are 2-2 against teams currently in the Top 25 (wins against Minnesota State and Rollins College; losses against Harding and Emporia State).
UCM Program History
The UCM Jennies are 864-358 (.707) after 43 seasons, and 663-269 (.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 Missouri Southern
Central Missouri leads the all-time series, 33-20 and is 18-6 against the Lions in Warrensburg ... The Jennies won the only matchup with Missouri Southern last season, 74-63 in Joplin. Overall the Jennies have won four in a row and five of the past six meetings.
A Win for the Jennies Would...
...give UCM its sixth win in the last seven games with Missouri Southern ... give the Jennies their 10th conference win of the season ... be the 11th win in the last 12 games against unranked opponents ... extend the Jennies' win streak against Missouri Southern to five games ... be the 22nd win in the last 23 games at the Multi.
A Loss for the Jennies Would...
... be the fourth loss of the 2013-14 season ... drop the Jennies conference record to 9-3 ... be the first time since Dec. 18, 2010 that the Jennies lost back-to-back home games ... mark the 200th loss for
Dave Slifer in his head coaching career.
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.
