Next up for the Jennies The Jennies (6-2) will conclude their 2014-15 non-conference schedule on Monday, December 15 against the No. 16 Drury Panthers (5-2). Central Missouri bounced back from an MIAA-opening loss at Fort Hays State with a 14-point win against William Jewell last Sunday afternoon in Warrensburg. Monday's showdown will be the fifth meeting in the series history between the two schools, both coming out victorious twice. The most recent meeting occurred on November 27, 2009, with UCM winning, 75-73.
Junior guard
Shelby Winkelmann has provided an offensive spark for the offense, starting the last two games while averaging 19.5 points per contest, highest on the team. She is currently leading the Jennies in scoring with 16.8 points, shooting 52.4% from the floor.
Last Time Out The Jennies picked up a non-conference win against William Jewell College, 78-64 on Sunday afternoon at the Multipurpose Building.
William Jewell scored the first four points of the game in the early going, and eight of the first 12 points through the first three-plus minutes. UCM responded with five-consecutive points thanks to a layup by
Revonnia Howard and a trey from
Jasmine Thompson to take a 9-8 lead.
A 10-2 run by the Cardinals ensued over the next 3:48, as the Jennies fell behind, 18-11.
Four points from Winkelmann, a trey by Weiks and a layup from Howard catapulted Central Missouri back into the game with 8:58 remaining in the opening half, knotting the tally at 20-20.
Five lead changes later with the game tied at 28-28, a pair of layups by Winkelmann and
Danielle Barry helped the Jennies gain some separation with 4:08 on the clock.
William Jewell kept it to within a point on their next two possessions, but the Jennies finished off the half on a 6-1 spurt to take a 41-35 lead into halftime. The Jennies outscored the Cardinals, 24-12 in the paint in the first 20 minutes of action.
The two teams opened the second half exchanging baskets for the first five possessions, but UCM caught a break after Weiks was fouled on a three-point attempt. She buried all three free throws to put the Jennies up seven points, 48-41 with just over 15 minutes remaining.
Winklemann converted a layup two possessions later, giving UCM its biggest lead of the game at 9, but a 13-7 run from William Jewell cut the lead to 57-54 with 8:06 left in the game.
The Central Missouri lead ballooned back up to nine following four points by Winkelmann and four from Howard and Thompson combined, to put the score at 65-56 with 5 1/2 minutes to go. A three-point play by Thompson on the Jennies' next possession gave Central Misouri a double-digit lead at 68-56.
UCM put the game in doubt following a missed jumper by Kelsey Nickerson, when Howard dropped in a layup with just under three minutes left, giving the Jennies a 14-point cushion.
The lead never dipped below 12 for the rest of the game, as the Jennies maintained an undefeated record (8-0) in the all-time series with the Cardinals.
Slifer By The Numbers Slifer is 32nd on the all-time wins list for all NCAA coaches with 585.
Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 585 wins and is ninth among all Division II coaches with a .742 winning percentage. Slifer needs 15 wins to reach 600 in his 25-year coaching career.
Jennies Basketball In The Multi The Jens are 431-93 all-time in the Multipurpose Building, and 103-30 during the Slifer era ... Central Missouri finished the 2013-14 season with an 11-1 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 seven-game win streak at the Multi.
MIAA Opener The Jennies' MIAA opening loss at Fort Hays State on December 4 was just the second loss in the past six seasons. Both losses in the MIAA openers came against Fort Hays State (2012, 2014). It was also the first overtime loss for the Jennies since Feb. 25, 2012 (75-80 to Truman).
Balanced Scoring Attack Entering the week, the Jennies have three players ranked in the MIAA's Top 28 in points per game. Senior
Jasmine Thompson is 10th at 14.6, senior
Justina Prairie Chief is 11th at 14.5 and senior
Revonnia Howard is 28th at 11.6. All players on this list have played in at least 75% of their team's games so far this season.
Winklemann Heating Up Since returning to the Jennies on November 24, junior guard
Shelby Winkelmann has been on a force on the offensive end. Through five games, including two starts, she leads the Jennies in scoring with 16.8 points per game, knocking down 52.4% of her shots (33-of-63). She is first in steals (15) and tied for second in assists (15). She has scored in double-figure points all five games, including a season-high of 20 against Fort Hays State.
Hail to [Prairie] Chief! Looking to replace the defending MIAA Player of the Year and two-time All-American,
Keuna Flax this season, senior
Justina Prairie Chief has stepped up to take a pivotal role in the team's offense this season.
The El Reno, Oklahoma native has recorded double-digit points in seven of eight games, including a career-high of 21 points in a 76-75 overtime loss at Fort Hays State. She scored a season-low of five points on 2-of-8 shooting in 29 minutes in the Jennies' 78-64 win against William Jewell last Sunday. Prairie Chief has scored at least 20 points in three games this season, after recording none a season ago.
Rebound Machine Senior forward
Revonnia Howard pulled down a career-high 21 rebounds in the 73-65 overtime win against Quincy on Nov. 24. Howard's 21 rebounds in a single-game are tied for fourth-most in UCM history.
Her 9.5 rebounds per game is currently third in the MIAA. 27 of her 76 rebounds have been on the offensive end, both team highs. Howard was the first Jennie to record at least 20 rebounds since Jojuana Jones hauled in 21 boards on March 6, 2008 in the first round of the MIAA Tournament against SBU (89-80 loss).
Over her last two games, Howard has hauled in 15 and 13 rebounds, respectively, and owns three games of double-digit boards.
Free Throw Improvement In the Jennies' two games in Pensacola, Florida two weeks ago, the team shot just 62.7% (27-of-43) from the free throw line.
Against Fort Hays State and William Jewell last week, UCM knocked down 30-of-36 free throw tosses (83.3%), including 17-of-20 for a season-best 85% against William Jewell on Dec. 7.
Block Party In the team's loss at Fort Hays State, the Jennies defense blocked a season-high five shots against the Tigers. The five blocks were the most in a single game since March 8 of last season, when they denied Fort Hays State of nine shots in the MIAA Tournament semifinals.
Point Of Emphasis Dating back to last season, Central Missouri has allowed under 80 points to opponents in 24 of its past 25 games. The Jennies are 20-5 during that span and are 30-5 since the beginning of last season.
New Faces Central Missouri welcomes seven new players to this season's group - one senior, four juniors and two freshman. Thompson, a senior, is the lone newcomer starting.
The juniors include
Stacey Mgbike, a transfer from Missouri Western,
Danielle Randle, a Neosho CC transfer,
Makaila Jordan, formerly of Arkansas Baptist,
Tayler Weiks from Blinn College. The two freshmen are a pair of Iowa natives, Ana Schmidt from Wahlert High School and
Olivia Godfrey, a Panarama High School graduate.
Thompson is second on the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game, while Weiks has buried 11 triples and is second among UCM reserves with 5.1 points per game.
2014-15 Non-Conference Opponents The non-conference schedule features three teams that posted winning records a season ago and one that qualified for the NCAA Tournament (Drury University). (Last season, the seven non-conference opponents the Jennies will face went a combined 98-81).
Through the first eight games, the combined record of the opponents they've faced is 27-22 this season.
Excelling In The Classroom The Jennies experienced plenty of success both on and off the court last season with eight MIAA Academic Honor Roll selections, for earning at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA.
MIAA Preseason Polls After a first-place regular season finish a year ago and the program's first outright MIAA title since the 1990-91 season, the Jennies debuted at No. 5 in the Preseason Coaches Poll. The Jennies enter the season behind Emporia State, Pittsburg State, Washburn and Fort Hays State in the Coaches Poll. UCM garnered 127 total points, 11 fewer than Fort Hays State, whom the Jennies eliminated in the MIAA Tournament semifinals last season. The Jennies also earned 15 fewer points than Washburn, whom the Jennies defeated in the regular season last year and 26 fewer points than Pittsburg State, whom the Jennies topped on the road back in January.
UCM in the Polls The Jennies dropped out of the Top 25 in this week's WBCA Poll following a 1-1 week against Fort Hays State and WIlliam Jewell College. It ends a 33-week streak of being ranked in the Top 25 for the Jennies, dating back to January of 2013. Through last week, UCM and Emporia State had appeared in the Top-25 for 18-consecutive weeks. This season, the Jennies face four opponents (Emporia State, Washburn, Pittsburg State and Drury University) that currently sit in the Top 25.
UCM Program History The UCM Jennies are 881-362 (.708) after 44 seasons, and 678-273 (.712) in the 32 seasons since joining NCAA Division II ... the Jennies have won 10 MIAA regular season championships with last year's title, 7 MIAA Tournament titles, 6 NCAA regional titles, and the 1984 NCAA Division II Championship.
Series History With Drury University The all-time series between the Jennies and the Panthers is tied at 2-2. UCM won the most recent meeting back on November 27, 2009, 75-73.
A Win for the Jennies Would...... improve the Jennies record to 7-2 this season ... be the first win against Drury since the 2000-01 season, snapping a two-game losing streak to the Panthers ... be the Jennies' 29th win their last 32 games against non-conference opponents ... give the Jennies seven wins through the first nine games of the season for the fourth straight year.
A Loss for the Jennies Would...... drop the Jennies' record to 6-3 on the season ... extend UCM's losing streak to Drury to three games ... give the Jens their first 6-3 start since 2009-10 ... be just the fourth loss in the last 32 games against non-conference opponents.
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.
