Next up for the Jennies The Jennies look to get back to their winning ways on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. against Northwest Missouri in Warrensburg. Central Missouri has won five straight meetings with the Bearcats, three of those wins coming at home.
Northwest Missouri picked up its first conference win of the season on Wednesday night against SBU, 66-64. Ariel Easton leads the offense with 14.2 points per game, while pulling down 5.4 rebounds per contest. She is the only player on the Bearcats averaging double-figure points.
The Jennies had four players finish with double-figure points in the loss against Missouri Western, led by
Shelby Winkelmann's 16.
Jasmine Thompson chipped in 13, while
Danielle Barry and
Tayler Weiks combined for all 16 bench points.
Last Time Out The Jennies fell to the Missouri Western Griffons, 77-69 at MWSU Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.
The Jennies (11-5, 5-3 MIAA) opened a 7-3 lead in the opening 2:13 of the game, and stretched it to a seven-point edge in the next two-plus minutes. All five Jennies starters scored within the first 5:04, led by senior
Jasmine Thompson with three points.
UCM went on an 18-7 run over the next 6:36, to take a commanding 25-10 lead. Junior
Tayler Weiks scored six of those 18 points, three via free throws and the other three via three-pointer.
Missouri Western closed the gap to six over the next 2:09, ignited by a pair of treys by Sarafina Handy.
A layup by senior
Revonnia Howard and a three-pointer from senior
Breonna Embray on the Jennies' next two possessions made it an eight-point game at 31-23 with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half.
Missouri Western scored the game's next nine points, grabbing its first lead since the 19:30 mark of the half.
Thompson and junior
Danielle Barry combined for six points on the next three possessions, putting UCM back in front, 37-32.
An eventual six-point lead for the Jennies was erased in less than two minutes by the Griffons, capped off by a pair of layups from Chuol Friday, knotting the game at 42-42 with 36 seconds left in the opening half.
Junior
Shelby Winkelmann closed the half out with a layup just before time expired, giving UCM a 44-42 lead at the intermission.
The first 4:28 of the game's second half involved three ties before the Griffons claimed a 56-49 lead with just under 12 minutes left.
The Jennies shaved three points off the deficit following
Justina Prairie Chief's layup and a free throw from Barry. However, back-to-back three-pointers by Missouri Western put the Jennies in a 62-52 hole with 9:43 remaining.
UCM closed the gap to 66-59 after Winkelmann converted on a layup, but the Griffons built and sustained a double-digit lead until 2:20 left in the game. UCM closed to within six with 1:13 to play after Winkelmann's layup, but a pair of free throws by Missouri Western's Miliakere Koyamainavure iced the game.
Slifer By The Numbers Slifer is 32nd on the all-time wins list for all NCAA coaches with 590.
Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 590 wins and is ninth among all Division II coaches with a .741 winning percentage.
Slifer needs 10 wins to reach 600 in his 25-year coaching career.
Jennies Basketball In The Multi The Jens are 434-95 all-time in the Multipurpose Building, and 106-32 during the Slifer era ... Central Missouri finished the 2013-14 season with an 11-1 record in the Multi and are 5-2 at home this season ... 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.
Embray's Big Game Senior
Breonna Embray matched her season-high of seven points in the loss at Missouri Western on Wednesday. She knocked down 3-of-4 shots, including a three-pointer.
It was the third time this season she has scored seven points in a game.
2013-14 Numbers vs. Bearcats The Jennies took both games against Northwest Missouri a season ago, including the MIAA regular season-clinching game on March 1, 2014.
In the two victories, junior
Shelby Winkelmann averaged 13.0 points and 3.0 rebounds, to go along with three assists and two steals. Senior
Revonnia Howard averaged a double-double with 12.0 points and 14.0 rebounds. She made a team-best 63.2% (12-of-19) of her shots. Howard also blocked three shots and came up with a steal and an assist.
Barry Off The Bench Junior
Danielle Barry gave the offense's second unit a boost, scoring 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting against Missouri Western. It was the first double-digit game for Barry since November 29 at West Florida. Barry has scored in double-figure points in three games this season.
Free Throw Struggles Against the Griffons, UCM converted on just 57.7% (15-of-26) of its free throws, a season-low. In the previous three games combined, the Jennies made 41-of-51 free throws (80.3%).
Eliminating Turnovers, Assists Up The Jennies committed just nine turnovers against Missouri Western, the second-lowest total of the season. Central Missouri also finished with 10 assists, the third time in the last five games they finished with double-digit helpers.
Follow The Leader Junior
Shelby Winkelmann has finished as the team's leading scorer in four of the past six games. During that six-game span, she has also dished out the most assists of any Jennie three times.
Rebound Machine Senior forward
Revonnia Howard has been an asset on the boards this season for the Jennies. Her 9.1 rebounds per game is currently third in the MIAA entering this week. Forty-nine of her 145 rebounds have been on the offensive end, both team highs.
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.
The Chicago, Illinois native 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).
She had her nine-game streak of being either tied for or leading the team in rebounding end against Missouri Western on Wednesday.
Point Of Emphasis Central Missouri has held its opponents to under 80 points in 32 of its past 33 games. The Jennies are 25-8 during that span and are 35-8 since the beginning of last season.
Seeing Double After a four-game streak of scoring in single-digit points, senior
Justina Prairie Chief has provided the offense with five-consecutive games of double-digit points. Over this five-game span, she has averaged 12.4 points per game.
3-Point Threat Junior
Tayler Weiks has provided the Jennies offense with an outside scoring weapon this season, knocking down 23 three-pointers. She has collected at least one trey in five of her last six games, the second time she has accomplished the feat this season.
Close Games Prior to Wednesday's loss against Missouri Western, the Jennies had lost four games by a combined eight points. The Jennies are 3-4 this season in games decided by three points or less.
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.
UCM in the Polls The Jennies earned 50 points in the most recent Top 25 poll, released on January 13. The Jennies were ranked in the Top 25 for 33 consecutive weeks from January of 2013-December of 2014. This season, the Jennies face four opponents (Pittsburg State, Emporia State, Drury and Washburn) that currently sit in the Top 25.
UCM Program History The UCM Jennies are 886-365 (.708) after 44 seasons, and 683-276 (.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 Northwest Missouri The Jennies lead the all-time series with the Bearcats, 62-25. UCM has won five games in a row against Northwest Missouri and hold a 9-3 record dating back to Feb. 9, 2008.
A Win for the Jennies Would...... improve the Jennies record to 12-5 this season and 6-3 in MIAA play ... extend the Jennies win streak against Northwest Missouri to six games ...be the fourth straight win for the Jennies against the Bearcats in Warrensburg.
A Loss for the Jennies Would...... drop the Jennies' record to 11-6 on the season ... drop the Jennies conference record to 5-4 ... snap the Jennies' five-game win streak against the Bearcats.
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.
