Central Missouri Jennies (9-3, 3-1 MIAA) at No. 8 Washburn Ichabods (11-2, 3-2 MIAA)

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Next up for the Jennies
    The Jennies (9-3, 3-1 MIAA), winners of their past three conference games, conclude a brief, two-game road stint when they travel to Topeka, Kansas to battle No. 8 Washburn (11-2, 3-2 MIAA). UCM won its only matchup against the Ichabods last season in Warrensburg, 68-57. The Jennies will go for their second win in their last three tries against Washburn in Topeka. 
    Washburn is coming off a 78-71 win against Missouri Western on Saturday. Three Icabods scored in double-figures, led by senior guard Taylor Ignoto, who finished with a season-high of 24 points. 
    The Jennies yielded just 49 points in their win at Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday, the second-lowest total this season (47 - vs. Newman). UCM has four players (Shelby Winkelmann, Jasmine Thompson, Justina Prairie Chief, Revonnia Howard) who are averaging double-figure points this season. The offense had three players (Winkelmann, Tayler Weiks, Prairie Chief) register in double-figure scoring in the 68-49 win against the Lopers. 

Last Time Out
    The Jennies basketball team had three players score in double-figure points, downing host Nebraska-Kearney, 68-49 on Saturday night at the Health and Sports Center.
    The Jennies (9-3, 3-1 MIAA) grabbed an early 5-2 lead over the Lopers, with all of UCM's points belonging to junior Shelby Winkelmann. The following two possessions for the Jennies resulted in three-pointers by senior Justina Prairie Chief and junior Tayler Weiks, pushing their lead to 11-4 with 13:10 left in the half.
    The Jennies lead stretched to 15-7, but Nebraska-Kearney came back to score seven unanswered points to make it a 15-14 game with 8:54 remaining in the opening half.
    UCM broke the game open, stringing together 11 straight points, seven courtesy of Weiks, who would go on to score 12 of her career-high 17 points in the first half.  
    The Lopers' Amarah Williams drained a jumper to cut the Jennies' lead to 26-16, but a 9-3 run by the UCM offense in the final 4:30 made it a 35-19 game at halftime. Winkelmann scored the final four points for the Jennies and was one of three players (Weiks, Prairie Chief) to register double-digit points in the opening 20 minutes.
    Coming out of halftime, the Jennies kept their foot on the gas, maintaining a commanding, 18-point edge in the first 5:57. The offense received five points from senior Jasmine Thompson and four points apiece from Winkelmann and senior Revonnia Howard.
    The lead reached 20 points with 12:20 remaining, following a layup by Thompson, who scored all seven of her points in the game's second half.
    A 9-4 run by the Lopers shrunk the Jennies' advantage to 54-39 with 8:35 left, but a pair of layups by Winkelmann bumped the lead back to 19 with 7:16 on the clock.
    The Jennies and Lopers ended the game both scoring 10 points, as UCM picked up its third-consecutive conference win to remain undefeated (3-0) against Nebraska-Kearney.

Slifer By The Numbers
     Slifer is 32nd on the all-time wins list for all NCAA coaches with 588. 
    Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 588 wins and is ninth among all Division II coaches with a .742 winning percentage. Slifer needs 12 wins to reach 600 in his 25-year coaching career.

Weiks Off The Bench
    Junior guard Tayler Weiks turned in another solid performance against Nebraska-Kearney, scoring a career-high 17 points. She shot 5-of-9 from the floor (55.6%) and knocked down four treys, accounting for 17 of the team's 18 bench points. The four three-pointers are a single-game high for a Jennie in 2014-15. 
    She has averaged 14.0 points over the past two games, making 9-of-16 shots (56.2%) and is  averaging 5.8 points this season, best among reserves. 

Winning The Battle Of The Boards
    The Jennies outrebounded the Lopers, 37-31, improving to 7-3 this season when they outrebound their opponent. 

Controlling The First Half
    Central Missouri held a 35-19 lead at halftime against Nebraska-Kearney. The 19 points was the lowest total for a Jennies' opponent this season at the intermission. 

49-Point Defensive Performance
    The Jennies held Nebraska-Kearney to just 49 points on Saturday, the first time they had limited an opponent to under 50 points since November 26, 2013 against Evangel (47 points allowed). 

Winkelmann Paces The Offense
    For the third time in the past five games, junior guard Shelby Winkelmann finished as the Jennies' leading scorer, dropping 23 points at Nebraska-Kearney. This season, she has led the Jennies in scoring four times, in addition to scoring a team-high 12 points off the bench in her first game against Quincy on Nov. 24. 
    Her 17.8 points per game is currently fifth-best in the MIAA entering the week. 

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. Forty-one of her 112 rebounds have been on the offensive end, both team highs. She is one of four MIAA players (Vanessa Zallo - Lindenwood, Kate Lehman - Fort Hays State, Amarah Williams - Nebraska-Kearney).     
    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 has led the Jennies in rebounding in five of the past six games and has led or been tied for the team-lead in rebounds in nine games in 2014-15. 

Triple-Threat
    During the Jennies' current three-game win streak, three players have contributed double-digit points in each win. UCM is 9-2 this season when they have three players register at least 10 points or more in the same game. 

Embray's Defensive Peformance
    For the third time this season, senior guard Breonna Embray came up with three steals in a single game in the win against the Lopers. The Jennies are 2-1 in games when Embray records three steals this season. 

Point Of Emphasis
    Dating back to last season, Central Missouri has allowed under 80 points to opponents in 28 of its past 29 games. The Jennies are 23-6 during that span and are 33-6 since the
beginning of last season.

From Beyond The Arc
    The Jennies hit a season-high eight three-pointers in the 68-49 win at Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday, and have made 15 triples in the past two games. 

Double-Digit Helpers
    For the first time since a 78-64 win over William Jewell on December 7, UCM recorded double-digit assists in a game against UNK, finishing with 13. 
    This season when dishing out double-digit dimes, the Jens are 4-1. 

Strong Game From Prairie Chief
    Senior guard Justina Prairie Chief turned in a solid peformance against Nebraska-Kearney, finishing with 12 points on 2-of-5 shooting from three. The 12 points snapped a four-game streak of single-digit points for the El Reno, Oklahoma native. 
    In her last three games, Prairie Chief has splashed 5-of-9 three-pointers (55.5%). 

Finishing Games Strong
    During the team's three-game win streak, the Jennies have outscored their opponents, 98-85. In two of those three games, the Jennies were leading at halftime, and overcame a 10-point halftime deficit against Central Oklahoma in Warrensburg. 

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 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. 

UCM Program History
    The UCM Jennies are 884-363 (.708) after 44 seasons, and 681-274 (.713) 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 Washburn
    The Ichabods lead the all-time series, 38-15. The Jennies won the most recent meeting with Washburn, 68-57 in Warrensburg last season on January 6, 2014. 

 A Win for the Jennies Would...
... improve the Jennies record to 10-3 this season and 4-1 in MIAA play ... extend the team's winning streak to four games ... be the fourth conference win for the Jens in as many games ... be the first road win at Washburn since Feb. 8, 2012 ... be the first win against a ranked team this season. 

A Loss for the Jennies Would...
... drop the Jennies' record to 9-4 on the season ... drop the Jennies conference record to 3-2 ... snap the team's three game win streak overall and in conference play. 

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.