The third-seeded Jennies will face seventh-seeded Concordia St. Paul in the Central Regional quarterfinals on Saturday night for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. The Jennies are coming off their first NCAA Tournament win since March 10, 2006 against St. Angelo in the regional quarterfinals, following their 82-69 win over sixth-seeded Northern State on Friday. Jennies senior
Keuna Flax led UCM with 21 points and added nine rebounds. Her 1,056 career points bumps her into 23rd place on the Jennies' all-time scoring list. Junior forward
Revonnia Howard is three blocks shy of tying Rosie Jones and Kaneesha Lee for sixth-most in a single season (46). Senior
BreAnna Lewis is one three-point field goal away from tying Maegan Fromm for sixth on UCM's all-time 3-point field goals made list with 145. Concordia St. Paul comes into the matchup having won their last seven games, all by at least nine points. Junior forward Anika Whiting leads the Golden Bears with 17.1 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per outing.
Last Time Out
The Jennies earned their first NCAA Tournament win since the 2005-06 season, routing Northern State, 82-69 on Friday night against sixth-seeded Northern State.
Four players scored in double-figures for UCM (26-4), led by senior
Keuna Flax, who tallied 21. Junior
Justina Prairie Chief scored a season-best 14 points off the bench, shooting 4-of-5 from the floor and splashing two triples.
The first 6:17 featured four ties and Northern State's only leads of the game at 2-0 and 7-5. The Jennies pulled away over the next 6:01, scoring 12 of the next 17 points to take a 22-15 lead.
The lead ballooned to 10 following a triple from Flax and a pair of free throws from
Revonnia Howard. Northern State pulled to within six at 32-26, but UCM answered by outscoring the Wolves, 9-2 to close out the half and preserve a 41-28 lead. The Jennies held the upper hand in points in the paint (12-10), points off turnovers (7-3), second chance points (8-3) and bench points (9-5).
After Northern State's Sadie Stotesbery opened the second half with a layup, the Jennies rattled off three-straight triples, two from Lewis and one from Flax, to take their largest lead of the game at 50-30.
The Wolves chipped away, cutting the deficit in half at 10 over a span of nearly 4 1/2 minutes. Central Missouri's lead shrunk to five after Alison Kusler hit a three and a layup with 11:01 left in the game.
However, the Jennies would not allow Northern State to come any closer, getting four points from Flax and a three-pointer from Prairie Chief, holding an eight-point lead with 7:59 to go.
After Rachel Krogman pulled the Wolves to within six with 6:09 left, Flax and Howard combined to score the next 10 UCM points to keep the lead at 10.
The teams exchanged baskets over the next four possessions, but the Jennies were able to put the game on ice following a layup by
Shelby Winkelmann and a pair of free throws from Prairie Chief to go up by a dozen with 1:01 remaining in the game.
Slifer By The Numbers
Slifer is 34th on the all-time wins list for all division coaches with 579.
Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 579 wins and is eighth among all Division II coaches with a .744 winning percentage.
Slifer earned his 570th career win in UCM's 67-64 win against Southwest Baptist on Feb. 6.
NCAA Central Regional
The Jennies earn their 19th entry to the NCAA Tournament after a successful 25-4 campaign. Central Missouri holds a 20-18 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament and have won six NCAA regional championships, the last coming in 1990. With the Jennies quarterfinals win over Northern State on Friday, UCM is 3-10 in the big dance since their last regional title.
Beat The Best
The Jennies defeated a ranked opponent (Northern State) for the third time this season, and the first time since November 16 against Rollins College (73-45 win).
MIAA Tournament All-Tournament Team
Senior
Keuna Flax and sophomore
Shelby Winkelmann were named to the MIAA Tournament All-Tournament team this season. Flax led the Jennies in scoring with 18.7 point and added 6.3 rebounds. She averaged a team-high 32.7 minutes in three games. Winkelmann averaged 14.3 points per game, shooting 63% from the floor and 70% from three-point range (7-of-10). It's the second-straight All-MIAA Tourney team honor for Flax and first for Winkelmann.
Regular Season Milestone
With 23 wins in the 2013-14 regular season, the Jennies program passed its total from a season ago when the team finished with 22 wins prior to the conference tournament. It's the first time the Jennies have won 23 regular season games in the
Dave Slifer era.
Wins Are Piling Up
The Jennies have won 26 games this season, the most since the 1989-90 season when the team finished 29-3 under head coach Jon Pye. That team went on to win the Central Regional title.
Another Record For Flax
In the Jennies' 82-69 win over Northern State, forward
Keuna Flax moved into 23rd place on the Jennies' all-time scoring list with 1,056 points, passing Ashley Millham. She stands 10 points shy of passing Tammy Noah, which would move her into 22nd all-time on UCM's scoring list.
Jennies By The Numbers
The Jennies are 23-0 when leading at halftime and are 24-0 when leading with five minutes remaining. They are 5-1 in games decided by five points or less.
UCM is also 2-1 in games decided by two points or less this season (defeated Pittsburg State and Lincoln, lost to Lindenwood).
Prairie Chief Comes Up Big
Junior
Justina Prairie Chief gave the Jennies an offensive spark off the bench in the win over Northern State, scoring 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor. The 14 points is the most by a Jennies bench player in an NCAA Tournament game since March 9, 2012, when Shaquanda Wiggins scored 15 in the quarterfinals against Pittsburg State.
What's The Point?
Central Missouri has allowed under 80 points to opponents in 16 consecutive games, dating back to Jan. 15. The Jennies are 14-2 in those games and are 24-2 overall when allowing less than 80 points in a game.
Turnover Numbers
For just the sixth time this season, the Jennies committed less than 10 turnovers in a game against Northern State in the regional quarterfinals.UCM is undefeated this season (6-0) when committing single-digit turnovers.
Free Throw Numbers
In Friday's win against Northern State, the Jennies made 25-of-35 free throws. It was the sixth time this season the Jennies have missed at least 10 free throws in a game. UCM is 5-1 in those games.
First Time's A Charm
This season, the Jennies are 2-0 against teams they are facing for the first time ever. They have defeated Florida Tech and Northern State during the 2013-14 season. The regional semifinals matchup will mark the first meeting with Concordia St. Paul.
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).
This season, Lewis has sank 55 three-pointers, reaching five twice this season. She has recorded at least one three-pointer in 24 of 30 games (none against FHSU, WU, LU, SBU and MWSU twice). The 55 three-pointers puts her three-point career total to 144 – seventh on the Jennies' all-time three-point field goals made list. She is one three-pointer from tying Maegan Fromm for sixth on UCM's all-time leaderboard.
She made 4-of-5 three-pointers in the regional quarterfinals win against Northern State, tying her career-high in an NCAA Tournament game.
Defensive Spark Off The Bench
Junior transfer
Justina Prairie Chief has made her presence felt on the team's second unit, leading all bench players in rebounds with 108 (34 offensive). Over her past eight games, Prairie Chief has pulled down 25 rebounds, seven offensive, in 117 minutes of action. She also recorded two steals in the Jennies win over Northern State, the sixth time she has picked up that many in a single game.
Holding Down The Frontcourt
Junior transfer
Revonnia Howard is averaging 9.8 points and 9.2 rebounds and has 43 blocked shots in 30 games. She averaged 9.1 boards in the regular season, third-most in the MIAA. 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 has 12 games of at least 10 rebounds this season, which is first among Jennies. She needs three blocks to tie Rosie Jones and Kaneesha Lee for sixth-most in a single season with 46.
Twine Continues To Shine
This season, senior
Quinnecia Twine has played in 28 games, starting two, and is averaging 7.4 points, shooting 62-of-157 from the floor (39.5%). She has added 24 steals and 31 assists. Her 7.4 points leads all bench players this season. Twine finished the regular season tied for third in the MIAA in 3-point field goal percentage at .385 with Emporia State's Laura Patrick. She scored in double-figure points in five of the Jennies' final seven regular season games. In the quarterfinals game against Northeastern State, Twine led all bench scorers with 12 points and drained 4-of-5 three-pointers.
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 moved up three spots to No. 8 in this week's WBCA/USA Today Sports Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. UCM garnered 544 points in this week's rankings, a 67-point improvement from last week's poll. UCM defeated Missouri Western on the road and closed out the regular season with a convincing victory at home against Northwest Missouri to clinch the No. 1 seed in the MIAA Tournament. The basketball program has appeared in the Top 25 for 30-consecutive weeks dating back to January 8 of last season. The Jennies are one of three MIAA schools in the Top 25 (Emporia State at No. 7, Pittsburg State at No. 22). Emporia State fell two spots to No. 7, while Pittsburg State climbed one spot to 22nd in the poll. UCM and Emporia State appear in the Top-25 for the 15th-straight week. The Jennies are 3-2 against teams currently in the Top 25 (wins against Minnesota State, Pittsburg State and Rollins College; losses against Harding and Emporia State).
UCM Program History
The UCM Jennies are 875-359 (.709) after 43 seasons, and 674-270 (.713) in the 31 seasons since joining NCAA Division II ... the Jennies have won 10 MIAA regular season championships with this year's title, 7 MIAA Tournament titles, 6 NCAA regional titles, and the 1984 NCAA Division II Championship.
Series History With Concordia St. Paul
This marks the first ever meeting in the history of the two schools.
A Win for the Jennies Would...
... advance the Jennies to their first regional finals since the 1989-90 season ... improve the Jennies' record to 27-4 ... be the fourth win in the last four games in the NCAA Tournament over a non-MIAA opponent ... improve the Jennies' record in the NCAA Tournament to 4-5 under head coach
Dave Slifer.
A Loss for the Jennies Would...
... end the Jennies season ... drop the Jennies record to 26-5 on the season, their best record since the 1989-90 season (29-3).
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.
