The top-seeded Jennies (24-3, 17-2 MIAA) will match up with the fifth-seeded Fort Hays State Tigers, who topped Missouri Southern, 78-57 in their quarterfinal matchup on Thursday. The Jennies will try and make their third MIAA Tournament championship appearance in the last five years. Last season, the Jennies defeated Fort Hays State in the conference tournament semifinals, 87-78. UCM has eliminated Fort Hays State from the conference tournament the past two seasons. Junior Kate Lehman leads the Tigers with 16.5 points and 11.2 rebounds per contest this season. She scored 13 points and pulled down five rebounds in Fort Hays State's conference quarterfinal victory on Thursday.
Last Time Out
The No. 8 Jennies (24-3, 17-2 MIAA) advanced to the MIAA semifinals after defeating ninth-seeded Northeastern State, 79-65 on Thursday afternoon. Senior
BreAnna Lewis was one of four Jennies who scored in double figures, leading with 21 points, 20 coming in the game's second half. Lewis shot 9-of-18 from the floor, and 2-of-7 from three in 34 minutes. Fellow senior
Keuna Flax added 17 points,
Shelby Winklemann chipped in 16 and
Quinnecia Twine contributed a dozen. Winkelmann got the Jennies going early, scoring five points in the first 2:08, helping UCM to a 7-3 lead.
Northeastern State knotted the game at 9-9 after a 6-2 spurt that was capped by a three-pointer from Chelsey Beathard, who finished with 15 points in the contest.
An 11-2 run by UCM put Northeastern State in a 20-11 hole over the next 6:49, but the RiverHawks answered with three treys over the final 7:26 of the opening half, making it a two-point game at 31-29 at halftime.
Winkelmann jumpstarted the Jennies in the first minute-plus in the second half as well, knocking down a three-pointer on an assist from Flax to put UCM ahead by five, 34-29.
Following personal and technical fouls on
Revonnia Howard, the RiverHawks pulled to within three at 38-35, following four free throws from Beathard and Che'Ron Lewis.
Lewis and Twine combined for the next six UCM points to bump the lead back to seven at 48-41, but Northeastern responded with five-straight points to keep it a two-point game.
Central Missouri put the game out of reach, scoring nine unanswered points to take a commanding 57-46 advantage. The run was led by a triple from
Brielle Wattley and four points from Flax.
Northeastern State answered on the next possession following a layup from Jamie Jackson to cut the deficit to nine, but couldn't pull any closer. The Jennies ended the game on a 22-17 run to secure its third win in their last four MIAA Tournament games.
Regional Rankings
For the third straight week, the Jennies hold the third spot in the Central Region rankings, trailing No. 1 Harding and No. 2 Emporia, who swapped spots in this week's poll. The Jennies lost to both teams this season.
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.
National Leaders
Flax finished the 2013-14 regular season ranked 18th in points per game with 20.5. She shot 56.5% from the field, which was good for 19th in Division II. The Jennies finished 39th in offensive scoring, averaging 76.4 points per game. UCM finished the regular season ranked 31st with a +10.2 scoring margin.
Slifer By The Numbers
Slifer is 34th on the all-time wins list for all division coaches with 577.
Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 577 wins and is eighth among all Division II coaches with a .743 winning percentage.
Slifer earned his 570th career win in UCM's 67-64 win against Southwest Baptist on Feb. 6.
Jennies In MIAA Tourney Play
The Jennies have won seven MIAA Tournament titles, the last coming in 1990.
The Jennies reached the MIAA championship game in 2012-13 and have finished tied for third or lower in six of the past seven seasons. The Jens are 35-23 all-time in MIAA Tournament play. UCM is 3-1 in its last four conference tournament games.
Jennies By The Numbers
UCM is currently in the midst of a nine-game win streak, tying the program's longest string of consecutive victories since the 2005-06 season.
The Jennies' 79-65 win over Northeastern State on Thursday marked the team's largest margin of victory in a conference tournament game since March 1, 2012 in the first round against Fort Hays State (73-61 win).
With 24 victories, Central Missouri matches its win total from a season ago. A win against Fort Hays State in the conference semifinals on Saturday would give the Jennies their highest win total since the 1989-90 season when they finished 29-3 under head coach Jon Pye.
Shooting High
In the quarterfinal round against Northeastern State, the Jennies shot a season-best 56.6% from the floor, making 30-of-53 baskets. It's just the fifth time this season the Jens have shot at least 50% from the floor and first since Feb. 15 against Lindenwood. The last time UCM shot at least 50% from the floor in a postseason game was March 10, 2006 against Angelo State in the South Central Regionals.
In addition, the Jennies deposited 11 three-pointers, the third time this season the team has made at least 11 treys.
Bench Boost
In six of the team's last eight games, the Jennies' bench scored at least 20 points for a total of 153 (an average of 19.1 points). The second unit contributed 19 points against Northeastern State in the quarterfinal round.
Streaking
UCM is currently in the midst of a nine-game win streak, tying the program's longest string of consecutive victories since the 2005-06 season.
Strong Defense
Over the final 10 games of the regular season, the Jennies forced the opposition into at least 12 turnovers. In only four games have the Jennies not forced double-digit turnovers (vs. Rollins, at Harding, at NWMSU, vs. Northeastern St.). UCM also recorded four games of double-digit steals, including a season-high of 14 against William Jewell on Nov. 13.
Big Second Half
In the quarterfinal matchup with Northeastern St., the Jennies took scored 48 second half points, the most since Nov. 26 of this season in a 93-47 win against Evangel.
New Starting Point Guard
Junior
Breonna Embray has started the past nine games for the Jennies, logging 199 minutes and recording 16 assists and nine rebounds. Against Lindenwood on Feb. 15, she set new career-highs in points (15), three-point field goals (5) and three-point field goal attempts (7). The Jennies are 9-0 when Embray starts at point guard during the regular season.
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 49 three-pointers, reaching five twice this season. She has recorded at least one three-pointer in 20 of 26 games (none against FHSU, WU, LU, SBU and MWSU twice). The 49 three-pointers puts her three-point career total to 137 – seventh on the Jennies' all-time three-point field goals made list. She is eight three-pointers from tying Maegan Fromm for sixth on UCM's all-time leaderboard.
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 99 (31 offensive). She pulled down 19 rebounds in her last six games, logging a total of 83 minutes.
Holding Down The Frontcourt
Junior transfer
Revonnia Howard is averaging 9.7 points and 8.9 rebounds and 36 blocked shots in 27 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 11 games of at least 10 rebounds this season, which is first among Jennies. She is four blocked shots away from tying Christie Brown for 10th-most in a single season. She needs just six blocks to move into eighth-place on the Jennies' single-season list to pass Barb Sorensen and Shelly Metzger.
Twine Continues To Shine
This season, senior
Quinnecia Twine has played in 25 games, starting two, and is averaging 7.8 points, shooting 59-of-146 from the floor (40.4%). She has added 24 steals and 28 assists. Her 7.8 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 873-358 (.709) after 43 seasons, and 672-269 (.714) 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 Fort Hays State
Central Missouri leads the all-time series, 12-7 ... The Jennies won the only regular season matchup with the Tigers, a 72-51 victory on December 5 in Warrensburg ... The last time these two teams met in the postseason was March 9, 2013 in the semifnals of the 2013 MIAA Tournament, with the Jennies winning, 87-78 ... The Jennies are 2-0 all-time against Fort Hays State in the postseason (won 73-61 on March 1, 2012 in MIAA Tourney opening round).
A Win for the Jennies Would...
... be the fourth win in the last five MIAA tournament games for UCM ... advance them to their second-straight MIAA championship game ... extend the Jennies' win streak to 10 games, the longest since the 1995-96 season (started 15-0 under Scott Ballard ... improve the Jennies' record to 25-3 overall, most wins since the 1989-90 season when they finished 29-3 under Jon Pye.
A Loss for the Jennies Would...
... be the fourth loss of the 2013-14 season ... mark the first postseason loss to Fort Hays State ... be the second MIAA semifinals loss in the past three seasons ... 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.
