Next up for the Jennies The Jennies (10-4, 4-2 MIAA) will look to rebound against the top-ranked team in Division II, Emporia State (13-0, 6-0 MIAA) on Saturday, January 10 for a 1:30 p.m. tip-off. The Jennies are 19-11 all-time against the Lady Hornets in Warrensburg and have won the past two meetings at home.
UCM had its four-game win streak snapped at the hands of No. 5 Pittsburg State on Thursday night, 54-52, despite limiting the Gorillas to a .345 shooting percentage (19-of-55), a season-low for an opponent. Emporia State comes into the game having scored 90 points or more in two of its last three contests, and are 5-0 on the road this season.
The Jennies look to avenge a 2014 MIAA Tournament finals loss to Emporia State last season in Kansas City. The Lady Hornets won both meetings with the Jennies during the 2013-14 campaign.
Last Time Out The Jennies fell in a narrow 54-52 contest to visiting No. 5 Pittsburg State at the Multipurpose Building on Thursday evening.
Central Missouri (10-4, 4-2 MIAA) was held to just 21 points on 30.4% shooting (7-of-23) in the second half after battling the Gorillas to a 31-31 halftime draw. Three Jennies scored in double-figures, including senior
Revonnia Howard, who picked up her fifth double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Pittsburg State came out of the gate scoring the game's first eight points, but senior
Jasmine Thompson cut the deficit in half using a pair of layups just four minutes in.
An 8-2 run by the Gorillas ensued over the next 3:51, but four straight points by junior
Shelby Winkelmann brought UCM to within 16-10. Pittsburg State's lead grew back to 12 points at 26-14, however the Jennies rattled off 13 unanswered points through Winkelmann and senior
Justina Prairie Chief, giving UCM its first lead of the game with 3:44 left in the first half.
The next seven points of the game came via free throws - five for Pittsburg State, two for Central Missouri. Prairie Chief ended the first half action dropping in a layup with five seconds on the clock, knotting the game a 31-31. The Jennies outscored Pittsburg State, 18-8 in the paint in the first half, with five Jennies scoring points.
Pittsburg State opened the second half scoring the first four points, but a layup from junior
Tayler Weiks and four straight points from Thompson gave UCM a 37-35 lead with 13:35 remaining in the game.
After PSU deposited two free throw tosses to tie the game at 37-37, Mikaela Burgess gave them a 40-37 lead with a trey with 9:55 remaining.
The two foes exchanged buckets for the next six possessions before Kylie Gafford stretched Pittsburg State's lead to 48-43 with 4:46 left.
Again, the two teams exchanged baskets for the next seven possessions, as the Jennies faced a 54-51 deficit going into the final minute of the game.
Senior
Breonna Embray forced and came up with a steal and drew a foul underneath the basket with 44 seconds left. After splitting the free throws, Pittsburg State's Lizzy Jeronimus misfired on a three-pointer with 17 seconds remaining, giving the Jennies one final chance to tie or win the game.
Winkelmann hit iron on the game-tying three-point attempt with three seconds left, snapping the Jennies' four-game win streak overall and two-game win streak against the Gorillas.
The Jennies came up with 10 steals, but also committed 11 turnovers. UCM outscored Pittsburg State, 32-24 in the paint and 14-10 off turnovers.
Slifer By The Numbers Slifer is 32nd on the all-time wins list for all NCAA coaches with 589.
Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 589 wins and is ninth among all Division II coaches with a .741 winning percentage.
Slifer needs 11 wins to reach 600 in his 25-year coaching career.
Jennies Basketball In The MultiThe Jens are 433-95 all-time in the Multipurpose Building, and 105-32 during the Slifer era ... Central Missouri finished the 2013-14 season with an 11-1 record in the Multi ... 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.
Playing The Best Under head coach
Dave Slifer, the Jennies have played the No. 1 team on four occasions. They are 1-3 in those games and last defeated the No. 1 team back on January 15, 2005 (Emporia State).
Their most recent matchup against the top-ranked school was March 11, 2006 (51-65 to Washburn.
Last Game Against Lady Hornets In the MIAA Tournament championship last March, four Jennies, led by
Shelby Winkelmann (16) scored double-figure points. Senior
Revonnia Howard tallied a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds, while blocking two shots.
Shooting Numbers For just the fourth time this season, the Jennies shot under 40% from the floor in the loss against Pittsburg State (35.2%).
UCM is 2-2 this season when shooting under 40% in a game.
Three-Lows The Jennies attempted just three 3-point shots in the first half against Pittsburg State on Thursday. It was just the second time this season UCM attempted that few three-pointers in a first half (Quincy on Nov. 24).
Winkelmann Perfect From The Line In the last game, junior guard
Shelby Winkelmann was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. It was her best performance from the charity stripe when attempting at least five shots this season, and tied her career-high for free throws made in a game.
During the 2014-15 season, she is making 79.6% (39-of-49) of her free throws.
Blocked Shots The Jennies did not record a block in the loss to Pittsburg State.
It was the first time since March 10, 2013 that UCM failed to record a block in a game, snapping a 45-game streak.
Rebound Machine Senior forward
Revonnia Howard has been an asset on the boards this season for the Jennies. Her 9.4 rebounds per game is currently third in the MIAA entering this week. Forty-six of her 131 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 has led the Jennies in rebounding in seven of the past eight games and has led or been tied for the team-lead in rebounds in nine games in 2014-15.
Prairie Chief 'Steals' The Show Through 13 games, senior guard
Justina Prairie Chief leads the MIAA in steals with 35 (2.5 per game). She has recorded at least one steal in 13 of the 14 games she has played in this year.
Point Of Emphasis Central Missouri has held its opponents to under 80 points in 30 of its past 31 games. The Jennies are 24-7 during that span and are 34-7 since the beginning of last season.
Disrupting The Opposing Offense The Jennies came up with 10 steals in the 54-52 loss to Pittsburg State, snapping a three-game streak of recording single-digit steals.
When the Jennies record 10 or more steals in a game, they are 4-3 this season.
Second Half Numbers In the second half against Pittsburg State, the Jennies offense was held to 21 points, a season-low. In the four games prior to Thursday night, the Jennies had scored 123 points in the second half, an average of 30.7 per game.
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 19 points in the most recent Top 25 poll, released on January 5. 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 (Emporia State, Pittsburg State, Washburn and Drury University) that currently sit in the Top 25.
UCM Program History The UCM Jennies are 885-364 (.708) after 44 seasons, and 682-275 (.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 Emporia State The Jennies trail in the all-time series, 39-31 The Jennies have lost the past three matchups and have won the last two meetings in Warrensburg.
A Win for the Jennies Would...... improve the Jennies record to 11-4 this season and 5-2 in MIAA play ... snap the team's three-game losing streak to Emporia State ... extend the Jennies' win streak against the Lady Hornets at home to three games ... be career win No. 590 for head coach
Dave Slifer.
A Loss for the Jennies Would...... drop the Jennies' record to 10-5 on the season ... drop the Jennies conference record to 4-3 ... extend the Jennies losing streak to Emporia State to four games ... snap the team's two-game win streak against Emporia State at home.
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.
