Jennies Basketball Opens MIAA Play With a Pair of Home Games

WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Central Missouri Jennies Basketball (1-4) opens MIAA in Warrensburg at the UCM Multipurpose Building this week. The Jennies welcome No. 18 Missouri Western Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 5:30 before finishing the week with the Northwest Missouri Bearcats Saturday, Dec. 5 at 1:30 p.m. The Griffons are 5-0 to start the season and are ranked 18th in this week's WBCA Coaches Poll, while the Bearcats come to Warrensburg 2-4 and on a two game winning streak.



Tip Off
• 2015 marks the 46th year of UCM Jennies Basketball.
• UCM was picked to finish third in the MIAA pre-season coaches poll.
• The Jennies enter MIAA play with a 1-4 record, on a two-game losing streak.

On the Air
• Central Missouri basketball is broadcast live on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar, and online at
warrensburgradio.com. Games are broadcast by 1450 KOKO/98.5 The Bar Sports Director, Greg Hassler. Video is also available through Central Missouri's online internet portal through Stretch Internet and can be found at UCMathletics.com



Story Lines
• This will be the Jennies first MIAA battle of the season. Last year UCM went 13-6 in conference games, finishing fifth in the regular season standings.
• Last year, the Jennies split with Missouri Western, with the home team taking each game. The Jens defeated the Griffons in the penultimate game of the season, 82-78, getting 20+ point games from Shelby Winkelmann and Jasmine Thompson.
• The Jennies also split last year's series with the Bearcats, however it was the road team that was victorious on both occasions. The Jennies defeated NWMSU 74-64 in the final game of the regular season while the Bearcats took a 61-60 win in overtime in their game in Warrensburg.
• Jennies coach Dave Slifer has had success against both of these programs with winning records against each. The Jennies are 16-6 against MWSU under Slifer and 14-8 against the Bearcats during his tenure.
• The Jennies current two-game losing streak matches a season high. UCM also had two separate two-game losing streaks last year and never lost more than two in a row.
• Head Coach Dave Slifer won his 600th career game in the MIAA quarterfinal win over Missouri Southern. He is 601-214 lifetime as a coach and 217-115 at UCM.
• The Jennies went 21-9 last season and played in the MIAA semifinal game.

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
The Jennies dropped their second in a row, a 68-65 loss to Quincy. The Jennies struggled out of the gates, but turned it on to take their first lead in the third quarter. The Hawks were able to comeback though and broke a 63-all tie with a pair of free throws with 21 seconds to play. Shelby Winkelmann scored 17, Tayler Weiks 11 while Cierra Gaines scored eight points and grabbed eight boards.

Milestone Watch
With 17 points scored at Quincy, senior Shelby Winkelmann is just 57 points away from reaching 1,000 for her career. She scored a career-high 404 points in 2014-15. Winkelmann would become the 25th member of the Jennies 1,000 point club and the first since Keuna Flax in 2014.

Late and Close
UCM always plays an exciting brand of basketball, and often you can expect to see games going down to the wire. Last season, the Jennies were 6-5 in games decided by five points or less and 4-5 when tied or trailing with 5:00 left to play. Through five games UCM is 0-2 in both of those categories and 1-1 when leading at halftime. Last year, Central Missouri was 17-3 when taking a lead into halftime.

Conference Leaders
Jennies senior Ashley Jones is near the top of the conference in rebounding. With 9.8 per game she sits third in the MIAA. She does lead the conference in offensive rebounds with 25 and five offensive boards per game. Her offensive rebounds/game is also 13th in the NCAA.

Fellow Senior Tayler Weiks is also in the MIAA top-10 for her three point shooting prowess. Weiks is fifth in the conference with 2.4 made three pointers per game and is 10th with a .333 three-point field goal percentage.

Little Bit of Everything
Junior Ashley Duffy has been filling out the stat sheet for UCM this season. She averages 6.8 points and 3.4 rebounds/game. She also has a team-best nine steals, team second-best 24.2 minutes/game and a team third-best nine assists. Last weekend at Quincy, Duffy played 37 minutes, the most in a single-game by a Jennie this season.

Cierra Gaines also does a nice-job of helping out in all areas of the game. She's fourth on the team with 8.4 points per game and second with 4.4 boards. At Quincy, Gaines grabbed a career-best eight rebounds. She also leads the team with 28.8 minutes played and three assists/game.

Ranked Opponents
With their loss to No. 8 Drury, Central Missouri is now 2-3 in their last five meetings with teams ranked in the WBCA top-25, dating back to last season. Three of those games came back-to-back-to-back, in which UCM went 2-1 defeating No. 8 Washburn and No. 1 ranked Emporia State. Quincy had also been receiving votes and Missouri Western is currently ranked () and 5-0 to start the season.

Iron Woman
Senior Shelby Winkelmann is a rare two-sport athlete for Central Missouri. Over her career at UCM, Winkelmann has played in 69 basketball games and 65 volleyball matches. In 2014, Winkelmann averaged 34 minutes on the basketball court while playing in all 109 sets of Jennies Volleyball and was named All-MIAA in both sports.

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.

Scouting the Opposition
Missouri Western
Overall Record: 5-0
Conference Record: 0-0 (MIAA)
Series History: UCM leads 34-27
Last Meeting: Feb. 25, 2015 - UCM 82-78, Warrensburg, Mo.
Head Coach: Rob Edmisson (435-148, 20th season)
• Missouri Western has gotten off to a perfect 5-0 start in nonconference play. They've defeated three teams from the Northern Sun before winning over two NAIA schools last weekend.
• The Griffons enter MIAA play with the No. 1 offense in the nation, averaging 96.6 points per game. Their lowest single-game point total has been 89, twice, against Upper Iowa and Minnesota St. Mankato.
• Just as impressive, MWSU is also 33rd in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 55.4 ppg. The Griffons are in the top-5 in field goal percentage (55%), steals per game (16), assists per game (21.2), and turnover margin (13.2).
• The Griffons have a small roster of only 10, but five of them are scoring in double-figures five games into the season. Though she's played in only three games, LaQuinta Jefferson, an All-MIAA First Teamer last year, is leading the team scoring 24 points per game. She's shooting .633 (31-49) from the  field and 8-16 from three.
• Sarafina Handy (17.4), Milakere Koyamainvure (13.8), Julia Torres (11.4), and Chelsea Dewey (10.6) are also in double digit points per game. Torres (6.6), Koyamainvure (6.2), and Jefferson (6.0) are also the team rebounding leaders.
• One reason for the successful Griffon defense, has been their ability to create turnovers. Western has four student-athletes in the MIAA top-10 in steals led by Koyamainvure who is fourth with 2.8 steals per game. MWSU has 80 steals to their opponents 27. Western opponents have 147 turnovers (29.4 per game) to MWSU's 81.
• In their last game against Graceland, Jefferson was 12-14 from the floor for 27 points. She was also 3-3 from beyond the arc and had five rebounds and five assists.
• Despite having played in fewer games than nine other MIAA schools, the Griffons lead the league with 191 made field goals. They are the only team with a FG% greater than 50%.

Northwest Missouri
Overall Record: 2-4
Conference Record: 0-0 (MIAA)
Series History: UCM leads 63-26
Last Meeting: Feb. 28, 2015 - UCM 74-64, Maryville, Mo.
Head Coach: Michael Smith (190-143, 12th season)
• After starting the year 0-4, the Bearcats have won their last two games, defeating Missouri Valley and the University of Saint Mary (Kan.).
• The Bearcats finished 4-15 in the MIAA last season and 8-20 overall.
• Northwest has a pair of student-athletes scoring double figures led by Tanya Meyer with 11.3. Jasmin Howe is right behind her with 10.7 points per game.
• Howe is one of the better three-point shooters in the league. She's sixth in the MIAA at 42.9%, having hit 12 of 28 from behind the arc.
• Meyer is shooting nearly 90% from the free throw line. She's 16-18 this season, good for 88.9%. She hit a season-high six free throws against Missouri Valley last weekend.
• Tember Schechinger has been the Bearcats best rebounder this season. She's grabbed 46 caroms, 7.7 per game, which has her sixth in the MIAA. With 6.0 defensive rebounds, she's fourth in the MIAA. Meyer is second on the team with 4.8 boards and has a team-high 11 on the offensive glass.
• Northwest has turned the ball over more times than any other in the MIAA. The Bearcats have 108 giveaways and 18 turnovers per game. Defensively, the team has just 40 steals.
• The Bearcats do have one of the better shot-blockers in the conference in Shelby Mustain. Through six games, Mustain has nine blocked shots, 1.5 per game. She had three blocks in games at Rockhurst and against vs. Saint Mary (Kan.).