Next up for the Jennies   The Jennies (8-3, 2-1 MIAA) ring in the new year with a visit to Nebraska-Kearney (6-6, 1-3 MIAA) on Saturday, January 3 at 5:30 p.m. UCM has won its past two games, the most recent victory coming in the form of a 56-53 win against Northeastern State in Warrensburg back on December 20. Entering Saturday's game, the Jennies sit just one game out of first place in the MIAA standings, trailing Emporia State and Fort Hays State, who are both 3-0 in conference action.Â
   Central Missouri is 2-0 all-time against the Lopers of Nebraska-Kearney, winning the only matchup last season at home, 73-66.Â
   Junior guard
Shelby Winkelmann currently leads the UCM offense averaging 17.1 points. The Rhineland, Mo. native has reached double-digit points in all eight games she has played in this season. Â She is also second in steals with 19, recording at least one per game with a season-high of five.
Last Time Out   In a 56-53 win over Northeastern State on December 20, the Jennies (8-3, 2-1 MIAA) shot 50% (13-of-26) from the floor in the game's first half, with a team-high nine points coming from Winkelmann before halftime. After falling behind early, 10-6, the UCM offense scored seven straight points to take a 13-10 lead with 11:19 left.
   After Northeastern State's Fontana Tate came back with a three to tie the game at 13-13, the Jennies scored 10 of the game's next 12 points, capped off by a triple from senior
Justina Prairie Chief with just under seven minutes remaining in the half.
   The two foes finished the half scoring seven points each, giving the Jennies a 30-22 edge at intermission. UCM outscored the RiverHawks, 20-12 in the paint and scored nine points off turnovers.Â
   Just 25 seconds into the game's final 20 minutes, senior
Jasmine Thompson buried a three to put UCM ahead, 33-22.Â
 Northeastern State sliced the Jennies' lead to seven following a pair of layups, but Winkelmann and senior
Revonnia Howard combined for the next five UCM points, inceasing the advantage to 38-28 with 15:50 left in the game.Â
   Two more baskets from Northeastern State's Tate and Bria Pierce narrowed the gap to six, but a free throw from Thompson and a trey by junior
Tayler Weiks helped the Jennies sustain a double-digit point lead. Weiks came back three possessions later to bury another three following a mini 4-0 run by the RiverHawks, helping UCM go back up, 45-36.
   Central Missouri's lead reached 12 after junior
Danielle Barry split a pair of free throws and Prairie Chief dropped in a layup. NSU's Mya Walker answered with a three, but Weiks again came through with her third three-pointer to bump UCM ahead by a dozen points with 5:59 to go.
   Northeastern State jumped back into the game, scoring seven unanswered points with 3:22 left, but senior
Breonna Embray hit a triple on the next Jennies' possession, making it a 54-49 game with just under three minutes left.Â
   Following a pair of free throw makes by Walker and a jumper by Chelsey Beathard, cutting the Jennies' lead to a point with 38 seconds left, Winkelmann drew a foul from Walker and deposited both free throws with 21 seconds left, putting the Jens ahead, 56-53, while UCM came through with a defensive stop on the game's final possession to preserve the three-point win.
Slifer By The Numbers    Slifer is 32nd on the all-time wins list for all NCAA coaches with 587.Â
   Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 587 wins and is ninth among all Division II coaches with a .742 winning percentage. Slifer needs 13 wins to reach 600 in his 25-year coaching career.
1-2 Offensive Punch   In the Jennies' back-to-back victories over Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State, junior
Shelby Winkelmann (14.5) and senior
Jasmine Thompson (14.0) have combined for 28.5 points and on 22-of-48 shooting (45.8%).
   The 28.5 points have accounted for 47.8% of the team's offensive output. The Jennies are averaging 59.5 points over the past two contests.Â
   No other Jennie has averaged double-digit points over the past two games.Â
Weiks' Big Game   Junior guard
Tayler Weiks played an integral role in the Jennies' 56-53 win over Northeastern State. The native of Seattle, Washington led all bench players with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc. Her 11 points and three treys were new career highs.Â
Second Unit Success   The bench contributed 15 points in the win over the RiverHawks on December 20. Ten of those 15 points came in the game's second half.  In the previous two games, the Jennies' bench produced just four total points.Â
Shot Denied!   For the third time this season against Northeastern State, senior forward
Revonnia Howard blocked three shots in a single game. She owns five straight games with multiple blocked shots. She also has seven multi-block peformances in her last eight games overall.Â
Rebound Machine   Senior forward
Revonnia Howard has been an asset on the boards this season for the Jennies. Her 9.3 rebounds per game is currently third in the MIAA entering this week. Thirty-eight of her 102 rebounds have been on the offensive end, both team highs. She is just one of three-players (Vanessa Zallo - Lindenwood, Kate Lehman - Fort Hays State) with at least 100 rebounds this season.Â
   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.Â
   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).Â
   She has led the Jennies in rebounding in four of the past five games and has led or been tied for the team-lead in rebounds in eight games in 2014-15.Â
Thompson's Numbers   After being held to single-digit points against Fort Hays State and Drury, senior
Jasmine Thompson has rebounded with back-to-back double-digit performances against Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State.Â
   Her 13.8 points per game is currently second-most among Jennies.Â
Dishing Out The Dimes   In four of the past five games, the Jennies have been held to single-digit assists. Central Missouri is 5-2 in games this season when they do not register double-digit helpers.Â
   A season ago, they had just four games where they were held to less than 10 assists and were 3-1 in those situations.Â
Point Of Emphasis   Dating back to last season, Central Missouri has allowed under 80 points to opponents in 27 of its past 28 games. The Jennies are 22-6 during that span and are 32-6 since the beginning of last season.
Raining Three's   The Jennies' offense knocked down a season-high of seven three-point shots in the win over Northeastern State. Their previous season high was six, done twice against Minnesota State and South Carolina-Aiken.Â
Numbers Against The Lopers   In the two matchups in the all-time series, the Jennies have shot at least 40% from the floor in both games, (48.1% in 2013, 41.2% in 2014). They have also collected 29 assists, 10 blocks and 18 steals in the two victories. In the first matchup during the 2012-13 season, UCM scored 40 points in the first half, en route to a 68-63 victory.Â
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.Â
UCM in the Polls   The Jennies earned 22 points in the most recent Top 25 poll, released on December 16. The Jennies had been ranked for 33 consecutive weeks, dating back to January of 2013. This season, the Jennies face five opponents (Emporia State, Washburn, Pittsburg State, Missouri Southern State and Drury University) that currently sit in the Top 25.Â
UCM Program History   The UCM Jennies are 883-363 (.708) after 44 seasons, and 680-274 (.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.Â
Series History With Nebraska-Kearney   The Jennies lead the all-time series, 2-0. UCM is 1-0 all-time in Kearney, winning, 68-63 on January 16, 2013.Â
 A Win for the Jennies Would...... improve the Jennies record to 9-3 this season and 3-1 in MIAA play ... keep the Jens undefeated against Nebraska-Kearney ... extend their winning streak to three games.Â
A Loss for the Jennies Would...... drop the Jennies' record to 8-4 on the season ... be the first in the all-time series against the Lopers ... drop the Jennies conference record to 2-2.Â
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.
