Jennies Basketball Hosts William Jewell in 2015-16 Home Opener

Tip Off
• 2015 marks the 46th year of UCM Jennies Basketball.
• UCM was picked to finish third in the MIAA pre-season coaches poll.
• In the WBCA preseason coaches poll, Central Missouri is receiving 17 votes.
• The Jennies went 0-2 last weekend in Las Vegas. They dropped a pair of matches to Northwest Nazarene and Minnesota-St. Moorhead.

On the Air
• Games this week will be webcast online through Central Missouri's Stretch Internet portal at UCMathletics.com/gamecentral. It is a pay-per-view broadcast. Live stats can be found at UCMathletics.com.

Story Lines
• UCM is undefeated in their history against William Jewell. The Jennies are a perfect 8-0 all-time against their in-state foe. In 11 years with UCM, Head Coach Dave Slifer has won all five showdowns with the Cardinals, including a 78-64 win in Warrensburg in 2014-15.
• William Jewell will be the Jennies home opener for the 2015-16 season. UCM is 41-4 all-time in home openers and 10-1 in the Coach Slifer era. Their lost home opener loss came in the 2007-08 season to SIU-Edwardsville. That is their only loss in a home opener in the last 21 years.
• The last time William Jewell was the home opener for UCM was the 2008-09 season. The Jennies picked up a 67-58 win.
• Central Missouri brings back only five letter-winners from last year and one returning starter in senior Shelby Winkelmann.
• The Jennies lost their first two games of the season for the first time since 2002-03. The last time they dropped their first three was the 1978-79 season.
• Head Coach Dave Slifer won his 600th career game in the MIAA quarterfinal win over Missouri Southern. He is 600-211 lifetime as a coach and 216-112 at UCM.
• The Jennies went 21-9 last season and played in the MIAA semifinal game.

Quick Hits
Brand New Faces
The Jennies are bringing back only five letterwinners from last years team. By comparison, UCM brought back eight student-athletes last year from the 2013-14 team. The last time the Jennies had this few returning letterwinners was the 2007-08 season which saw only four letterwinners return from the 2006-07 season. Central Missouri welcomes 11 new student-athletes into the mix for 2015-16.

Three newcomers have already started for the Jennies: Ashley Duffy (2), Cierra Gaines (2) and Paige Redmond (1). Others such as Sydney Crockett and Ashley Jones have come off the bench to play significant minutes.

Comeback Artists
Six times last season of their 21 wins did the Jennies come back to win a game in which they trailed or were tied at halftime. This included coming back at home from a seven-point deficit in the MIAA Play-In Game against Lindenwood. The largest halftime deficit UCM overcame was 17 against Quincy.

The Jennies almost pulled off the feat against Minnesota-State Moorhead. UCM trailed by seven at the half before eventually taking the lead in the fourth period. The Jens couldn't hang on this time, and lost a nailbiter, 63-58.

Getting Defensive
For 2014-15, UCM held opponents to 39% shooting from the field. During their nine game winning streak throughout the month of February and into March, the Jennies held opponents to a 35% shooting percentage as they stepped up their defensive efforts. So far in 2015, opponents are shooting 40% against the Jennies, connecting on 48-of-120 shot from the floor. The 40% field-goal defense is seventh in the MIAA.

Good Hands Team
Part of the reason UCM had such a strong turnover margin, was their penchant to create turnovers on the defensive end. UCM led the MIAA in steals per game with 8.5. Shelby Winkelmann was a large part of that, coming up with 48 steals and 1.8 steals per game. Though Winkelmann is still with the UCM volleyball team to start the season, the Jennies are still being opportunistic. The Jens are fourth in the MIAA with 10.5 steals per game. Ashley Duffy and Paige Redmond each have four.

Three-Point Specialist
In her first season with the Jennies, then-junior Tayler Weiks proved to be a sniper off of the bench. In only 17.2 minutes per game, Weiks hit a team-high 49 three point shots and connected on 39% of her attempts. Her three-point percentage ranked her fifth in the MIAA and her 1.6 made three ranked ninth in the conference.

Weiks has started both games so far in 2015 and is again finding a home behind the arc. She leads the team scoring 15 points per game and has already connected on six three-pointers.

20-20 Vision
With their 21 wins in 2014-15, UCM has now won at least 20 games in four straight seasons. It is their longest such stretch since the Jens went 11 straight years with at least 20 wins from 1981-82 - 1991-92.

On the Glass
For the last two seasons the Jennies have had Revonnia Howard patrolling around the basket. This year they turn to Ashley Jones to fill the roll. Jones is fifth in the MIAA through two games with 8.5 rebounds per game. She secured 11 in 26 minutes against Minnesota-St. Moorhead.

One Year Turnaround
In just one game of the 2015 season, senior Danielle Randle nearly tripled her career-high in points. Randle scored 11 points in the season opener against Northwest Nazarene on 5-of-6 shooting. She also had three rebounds, three steals and two assists in a career-high 22 minutes of action.

Scouting the Opposition
William Jewell
Overall Record: 1-4
Conference Record: 0-0 (GLAC)
Series History: UCM leads 8-0
Last Meeting: Dec. 7, 2014 - UCM 78-64
Head Coach: Jill Slominski (382-239, 20th season)

• Wednesday will already mark William Jewell's sixth game of the season. The Cardinals have played in the CCA Division II Tip-Off in Anaheim, Calif. where they went 1-2. They're only win coming against New York Institute of Technology, 68-59.
• The Cardinals also played in the Wayne State Tournament last weekend, losing to a pair of Northern Sun teams in Wayne State (Neb.) and Northern State.
• Blair Klostermann is the Cardinal Leader with 9.4 points per game. She's made four three-point shots and is 15-of-21 from the free throw line. Klosterman scored 19 points against California-State Dominguez Hills, but was then held scoreless on 0-of-14 shooting at the Wayne State Tournament.
• Maddie Nelson is one of two Cardinals averaging more than five rebounds per game. She leads the team at 6.0 boards, including nine in their win against NYIT.
• William Jewell is shooting just .294 as a team through five games. Logan Antenen has been a sign of hope though shooting 11-for-27 for a .407 field goal percentage. She is also 4-of-12 from three and is averaging 7.6 points per game. She scored 15 against California-State Dominguez Hills.
• The Cardinals are a better shooting team from three-point land in the early going. WJC is connecting on 31% of three point attempts compared to 29% of all field goal attempts. Maddie Nelson has hit a team-high nine three point buckets.
• William Jewell has also done well at the charity stripe. As a team, WJC is shooting 74.5% from the line while opponents have made just 66.7%. Chris Keys leads the team with 21 FTM while Antenen has hit 12-of-14.