No. 8 Central Missouri Jennies (10-1, 4-0 MIAA) vs. Washburn Ichabods (7-4, 3-2 MIAA)
Next up for the Jennies
The eighth-ranked Jennies (10-1, 4-0 MIAA) will go for their first 5-0 conference start since the 1995-96 season. Central Missouri is fresh off a 73-66 victory over the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers on Saturday, January 4 in Warrensburg.
Dave Slifer will go for his 180th career win as head coach of the Jennies program. The Ichabods have won two straight games against UCM and are 14-8 against the Jennies in Warrensburg. Washburn is coming off a 67-49 win against Missouri Western in St. Joseph on Jan. 4.Â
Last Time Out
Central Missouri (10-1, 4-0 MIAA) faced an eight-point deficit with just under 10 minutes remaining in the opening half, 28-20.
Keuna Flax (4) and
Shelby Winkelmann (7) engineered an 11-0 run over the next 7:04, providing the Jennies with a 31-28 lead with 2:53 to go until intermission.
Over the first 8:42 of the second half, the two foes battled to two lead changes and four ties, the final tie coming at 55-55 with 11:18 left in the game after Fitzgerald hit a jumper, her ninth and tenth points on the afternoon. UNK's Amarah Williams drew a foul and split two free throws to put the Lopers ahead, 56-55 with 10:46 on the clock.
Flax sank a three-pointer 23 seconds later to put the Jennies ahead for good, 58-56. UCM ran its lead to eight with 5:46 remaining courtesy of layups by
Revonnia Howard, Winkelmann and
Brielle Wattley.Â
Nebraska-Kearney chipped away at the Jennies' lead, closing to within three at 66-63 with 4:01 left, but UCM finished the game on a 7-3 run to secure its second-consecutive 10-1 start.
Slifer By The Numbers
 Slifer is 34th on the all-time wins list for all division coaches with 563.Â
Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 563 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 423-92 all-time in the Multipurpose Building, and 95-29 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: 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 ... Currently, UCM is riding a 19-game winning streak at the Multi.
Convincing Wins
All 10 of the Jennies' victories this season have been by seven points or more. At this time last season, the Jennies had three wins decided by five points or less (St. Mary's, Arkansas Tech, Southwest Baptist).
Offensive Output
This season, the Jennies are averaging 80.1 points per game through 11 games
Last season, the team averaged 71.5 points per contest.
Starting Out Fast
In the first half of games, the Jennies are outscoring their opponents, 437-345. UCM is 9-0 when leading at halftime.
Flax Leading The Charge
Through the first 11 games this season,
Keuna Flax is leading the Jennies with 20.9 points and has 7.7 rebounds per contest. She is shooting .643 from the field (83-of-129) and is shooting 73.7% from the free-throw line (56-of-76). She has led the team in scoring in nine of 11 games this season, reaching double-figures in points in each contest. She has two double-doubles this season, (10 in her career) while tying her season-high with 12 rebounds against Nebraska-Kearney in the 73-66 win on Jan. 4.
Last season, the 5-11 Haltom City, Texas native led the Jennies to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament, finishing first in the MIAA in scoring at 19.7 points per game in 23 contests, earning All-America honors.
She finished tied for second on the team with 22 double-figure scoring performances (one behind
BreAnna Lewis).Â
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).Â
Through 11 games this season, Lewis has sank 21 three-pointers, including a season-high of five against Harding. She has recorded at least one three-pointer in 10 of 11 games (none against FHSU on Dec. 5). The 21 three-pointers bumps her three-point career total to 109 – eighth on the Jennies' all-time list and 19 behind Ashley Millham.Â
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.Â
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 11.8 points (48-of-118 from field) through 11 games this season. She has reached double-figures in scoring in nine of 11 Â 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 57 (20 offensive). She set a new career-high with nine rebounds in a 94-76 win at Central Oklahoma on Dec. 19, logging 19 minutes.Â
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 9.9 points and 7.9 rebounds through 11 games this season (including a season-high 13 against Evangel). She has a team-leading 34 offensive boards. She recorded her first double-double of the season on Nov. 26 against Evangel with a 16-point, 13-rebound performance. Howard blocked a season-best four shots at Northeastern State on Dec. 21.Â
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 2.4 points and 0.5 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per game this season. She also has seven steals and 20 assists (season-high of 4 against Evangel on Nov. 26) while shooting 50% from three-point range (5-of-10).Â
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 16.3 minutes this season, making three of 11 field goals. The Jennies have yet to play in a game decided by four points or less this season.
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 nine games, averaging 8.8 points, shooting 26-of-62 from the field (41.9%) and has six steals and nine assists.
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.Â
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.Â
UCM in the Polls
The Jennies remain in No. 8 spot in the WBCA/USA Today Sports Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll, garnering 459 points. The basketball program has appeared in the Top 25 for 21st-consecutive weeks dating back to January 8 of last season. UCM was idle last week after sweeping a brief two-game road trip at Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State on Dec. 19 and 21. The Jennies currently own 459 points in the poll, down seven points after opening the season with 466 points. The Jennies are one of two MIAA schools in the Top 25 for six straight weeks (Emporia State at No. 3). Three teams the Jennies have faced this year are also ranked in the Top 25 (Harding University, Rollins College and Minnesota State). The Jennies are 2-1 in those games, defeating Minnesota State and Rollins College, while falling to Harding University.
UCM Program History
The UCM Jennies are 859-356 (.706) after 43 seasons, and 658-267 (.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.Â
Series History with Washburn
Washburn leads the all-time series, 38-14 and has won the past two matchups ... The Ichabods are 14-8 all time in Warrensburg ... The last time these two teams met was on March 2, 2013, with the Jennies coming up short, 59-53.
 A Win for the Jennies Would...
... extend the Jennies' win streak to six games... mark the program's second-consecutive 11-1 start ... give the Jennies their first 5-0 conference start since the 1995-96 season ... snap a two-game losing streak to Washburn ... give head coach
Dave Slifer his 180th victory at UCM ... extend the Jennies' home win streak to 20 games.
A Loss for the Jennies Would...
... be the second loss of the 2013-14 season ... drop the Jennies conference record to 4-1 for the second-straight year ... extend the Jennies' losing streak to Washburn to three games ... snap the Jennies' 19-game win streak at home.
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.
