Next up for the Jennies The Jennies (12-7, 6-5 MIAA) look to rebound after falling in overtime at Lindenwood last Saturday, as they pay a visit to Missouri Southern on Saturday, January 31 at 1 p.m. The Jennies have won the past six meetings against the Lions, including three in a row in Joplin. The Jennies are currently tied for fifth place with Central Oklahoma in the MIAA standings.
Senior forward
Revonnia Howard picked up her seventh double-double of the season against Lindenwood, collecting 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Last season, Central Missouri won 70-61 over Missouri Southern in Warrensburg and took a 75-67 decision in Joplin.
Missouri Southern's junior guard Sharese Jones paces the Lion's offense with 14.9 points per game on 55.3% shooting. Senior guard Nicole Hartzog is first in steals with 38 and is averaging 12.5 points per contest.
Last Time Out The first half of the game was highlighted with offensive runs, including four lead changes and streaky shooting by both teams.
The Jennies scored the game's first eight points in just under 1 ½ minutes of action.
Lindenwood closed UCM's lead to 10-6, but
Justina Prairie Chief hit a three-pointer, giving the Jens a seven-point lead.
The teams traded buckets over the next four possessions. UCM's lead expanded to 10 points at 20-10, capped off with a steal by Howard who found
Jasmine Thompson for a layup.
After a three-pointer by Lindenwood closed the gap to seven points, the Jennies received a three-pointer from junior
Tayler Weiks and a layup from Howard to go back up by 10, 25-15 with 10:47 on the clock.
The Lady Lions went on a 13-0 offensive spurt over the next 3:27, taking a 28-25 lead with 6:43 remaining in the half.
Shelby Winkelmann ended the Jennies' scoring drought, dropping in a layup with 6:24 left in the half, making it a 28-27 game in favor of Lindenwood.
Thompson gave the Jennies a 29-28 lead, but Lindenwood's Kassidy Gengenbacher drained a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to put the Lady Lions back up, 31-29 with 5:32 in the first half.
Thompson answered with a trey of her own to put the Jens back in front, 32-31.
The Jennies ended the half on an 8-6 run to take a 40-37 lead into the locker room. Thompson led all players with 15 points in the opening 20 minutes.
Prairie Chief scored five quick points to start the second half for the Jennies, who built a 47-42 lead in less than three minutes.
The teams exchanged buckets on the next two possessions, but a defensive stop and a three-point play by Winkelmann gave the Jennies a 52-44 lead with 16:13 left to play.
The Jennies' lead grew to 12 points at 61-49 with 13:36 left in the game, which was capped by a steal and a layup by senior
Breonna Embray.
A 7-0 run by Lindenwood sliced the lead to five, but Prairie Chief came through with a three-pointer to bump UCM ahead, 64-56 with 11:10 left.
After seeing their eight point lead dwindle down to four with just under nine minutes to play, the two teams combined for just eight points over the next three minutes. Lindenwood's Vanessa Zollo scored on a layup and was fouled but could not finish the three-point play, leaving the score at 71-69.
The Lady Lions made it a one-point game at 72-71 following a pair of free throw tosses by Jenny Rocha, but Winkelmann answered with a jumper to bump the lead back to three points.
Rocha responded with a jumper on the ensuing Lady Lions' possession to close the gap to 74-73 with 4:31 to play. She then put Lindenwood in front, 75-74 on a layup with 3:20 on the clock.
UCM quickly came back on the ensuing possession to re-gain the lead after Embray knocked down a three-pointer.
Zallo hit a jumper to knot the game at 77-77 with 2:12 to play in the game.
Neither team scored for the remainder of regulation, forcing the game into overtime.
Lindenwood grabbed the first lead of the overtime period. On the ensuing possession, Prairie Chief drew a foul and split a pair of free throws to make it a 79-78 tally.
The Lady Lions scored five straight points to bump their lead to 84-78 with 3:21 left in the extra session.
Thompson deposited a pair of free throws to close to within 84-80, but the Lady Lions scored four straight points to go up 88-80 with 53 seconds left to secure the win.
Slifer By The Numbers Slifer is 32nd on the all-time wins list for all NCAA coaches with 591.
Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 590 wins and is ninth among all Division II coaches with a .739 winning percentage.
Slifer needs nine wins to reach 600 in his 25-year coaching career.
Thompson Steps Up Senior guard
Jasmine Thompson led the Jennies in scoring with 25 points in 33 minutes of action against Lindenwood. It was the second 20-plus point game for the Chicago, Illinois native this season. She scored 27 points in the season opener at Minnesota State, when they scored 82.
Scoring Outburst The Jennies set a season-high with 85 points scored against the Lady Lions last Saturday. It was the highest total for the Jens since March 14, 2014 in the Central Regional quarterfinals against Northern State.
Free Throw Struggles In three of the last four games, UCM has missed eight free throws or more, shooting 70.4% (69-of-98) during that span.
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. Sixty-two of her 172 rebounds have been on the offensive end, both team highs. She is one of only two Jennies (
Justina Prairie Chief) to pull down 100 rebounds this season. She is the only Jennie to have 100 defensive rebounds this season as well.
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).
Howard has recorded back-to-back double-digit rebound games.
Block Watch Howard has blocked 33 shots this season, bumping her career total to 76. The 76 blocks are the 10th most on the Jennies' all-time list, just two short of moving into eighth in UCM history.
Point Of Emphasis The Jennies allowed 80-plus points to an opponent for the first time since March 15, 2014, snapping an 18-game streak of holding opponents to under 80 points.
Central Missouri has held its opponents to under 80 points in 34 of its past 36 games. The Jennies are 26-10 during that span and are 36-10 since the beginning of last season.
Prairie Chief From Outside Senior
Justina Prairie Chief set a new career-high with four 3-pointers made against Lindenwood. Her 18 points were also the most since Dec. 4 at Fort Hays State when she scored 21.
The El Reno, Oklahoma native has shot 70% (7-of-10) from long distance in the past three games.
Fantastic Four For the third time this season, the Jennies had four of their five starters score in double-figure points at Lindenwood. The Jennies are 2-1 this season when four of their five starting players score at least 10 points or more.
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 one point in the most recent Top 25 poll, released on January 27. The Jennies were ranked in the Top 25 for 33 consecutive weeks from January of 2013-December of 2014. This season, the Jennies faced four opponents (Emporia State, Fort Hays State, Pittsburg State and Drury) that currently sit in the Top 25, finishing with a record of 1-3.
UCM Program History The UCM Jennies are 887-367 (.707) after 44 seasons, and 684-278 (.711) 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 Missouri Southern The Jennies lead the all-time series with the Lions, 35-12. UCM has won six meetings in a row and three straight in Joplin. The Jennies are 12-15 all time against Missouri Southern on the road.
A Win for the Jennies Would...... improve the Jennies record to 13-7 this season and 7-5 in MIAA play ... extend the Jennies win streak against Missouri Southern to seven games ... be the fourth straight win for the Jennies in Joplin.
A Loss for the Jennies Would...... drop the Jennies' record to 12-8 on the season ... drop the Jennies conference record to 6-6 ... snap the Jennies' six game win streak against Missouri Southern ... mark the first loss for the Jennies in Joplin since December 4, 2010.
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.
