Jennies Conclude 2015 Calendar Year with Pair of MIAA Home Games

WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Central Missouri Jennies Basketball (2-6) looks to end the 2015 calendar year on a high note as they play host to No. 1 Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney this weekend in the team's final games before the New Year. UCM and the Tigers tip-off at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, and the Lopers visit The Multi Saturday, Dec. 19 with a 1:30 p.m. start. 




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 lost their only game last week, 71-55 to No. 3 Emporia State.
• Fort Hays State is the top-ranked team in the WBCA for the second straight week. They are yet to lose a game this season and are 9-0 this season, 3-0 in the MIAA.
• Nebraska-Kearney is 5-5 this season and 1-3 in the MIAA. They fell to Fort Hays State 82-75 in overtime in their last game. Their only MIAA win is over Southwest Baptist, 89-75.

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 and Assistant Director for Media Relations, Mike Knipper. Video is also available through Central Missouri's online internet portal through Stretch Internet, and can be found at UCMathletics.com

Story Lines
• Last year UCM went 13-6 in conference games, finishing fifth in the regular season standings. They are 1-2 to start this season.
• The Jennies and the Tigers have previously met 22 times in their history, including last year's MIAA semifinals. UCM had won three straight before falling in the playoffs last year. The Jens hold a 13-9 all-time lead over the Tigers
• The Lopers and Jennies have only met three other times before this weekend. Central Missouri is a perfect 3-0 against UNK having defeated the Lopers 68-49 last season in Kearney, Neb.
• Both of Central Missouri's wins this season have come at home. They are 2-1 in Warrensburg and 1-1 in MIAA home games with a win over Northwest Missouri and loss to Missouri Western.
• Under coach Slifer, Central Missouri is 11-8 against FHSU and 3-0 against UNK.
• Head Coach Dave Slifer won his 600th career game in the MIAA quarterfinal win over Missouri Southern. He is 602-216 lifetime as a coach and 217-116 at UCM. His 602 wins are the sixth most among active Division II Head Coaches.
• The Jennies went 21-9 last season and played in the MIAA semifinal game.

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
The Jennies were tied with No. 3 Emporia State, 43-43 through three periods, but the Lady Hornets outscored UCM 28-12 in the final frame to pull away with a 71-55 win. Central Missouri shot 33.3 % from the floor and were just 3-10 on three pointers. Ashley Jones and Shelby Winkelmann each had 15 points while Ashley Duffy added 10. Jones also pulled down a team-best nine rebounds.

Milestone Watch
With 15 points scored against Emporia State, senior Shelby Winkelmann is just 25 points away from reaching 1,000 for her career. She scored a career-high 404 points in 2014-15 and has 96 thus far in 2015-16. Winkelmann would become the 25th member of the Jennies 1,000 point club, and the first since Keuna Flax in 2014.

Coming Up After the Break
Central Missouri's top scoring period this season has been the third. Coming out of halftime, UCM has scored 148 points in third periods and are outscoring their opponents by 24, allowing 124 in third periods, their fewest of any period. Unfortunately, the Jennies have gotten off to slow starts. Their 118 points in the first period is their fewest of any of the four quarters. That trend continued Saturday, as UCM was slow out the gates scoring 10, but scored 17 in the third period as UCM was able to tie the Lady Hornets heading into the fourth quarter.

Conference Leaders
Jennies senior Ashley Jones is near the top of the conference in rebounding. With 9.3 per game, she sits third in the MIAA. She is also second in the MIAA with 30 offensive rebounds and her 4.3 offensive rebounds per game is 30th in the NCAA.

Fellow senior Tayler Weiks is also in the MIAA top-10 for her three point shooting prowess. Weiks is second in the MIAA shooting .412 from deep and is tied for third with 21 made three pointers.

Stat-Sheet Fillers
Junior Ashley Duffy does a little bit of everything for UCM this season. She averages 7.3 points and 3.3 rebounds/game. She also has a team-best 13 steals, a team third-best 16 assists and is playing 23.5 minutes per game. Duffy has scored 24 points in conference games and had 10 points Saturday against Emporia.

Ranked Opponents
With their loss to No. 3 Emporia State, Central Missouri is now 2-5 in their last seven 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. The Jennies are 0-3 this season after their loss to No. 3 Emporia State. This week they have another game against a ranked opponent, taking on No. 1 Fort Hays State. The last time UCM faced the No. 1 team in the country was Jan. 10 of last season, when they defeated Emporia State 62-61 in Warrensburg. Winkelmann's free throw with five seconds left was the deciding point in the game.

Quick Hands
The Jennies 69 steals this season have them ranked sixth in the MIAA. They've taken the ball away six more times than opponents. Ashley Duffy has been the leader of the thievery with 13 steals and at least two in five of eight games and in only five games, Shelby Winkelmann has nine takeaways.

Free Throw Frenzy
Central Missouri's free throw shooting has been getting better as the year has gone on. After starting out shooting just 59% (16-27), UCM has increased that to 72% for the season. The Jens have shot at least 71% in each of their last five games and are connecting on 78% (60-77) during that stretch. Shelby Winkelmann has had a lot to do with that as she has hit 20-21 free throws this season (95%)

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
Fort Hays State
Overall Record: 9-0
Conference Record: 3-0 (MIAA)
Series History: UCM leads 13-9
Last Meeting: Mar. 7, 2015 - FHSU 59, UCM 53, MIAA Semifinals
Head Coach: Tony Hobson (554-127, 24th season)
• Fort Hays State remains unbeaten this season after surviving in overtime against Nebraska-Kearney, 82-75.
• At 9-0 the Tigers are ranked first in the WBCA Poll for the second straight week. They're last two games have been decided by a total of eight points with Saturday's overtime win and a one-point victory over Emporia State.
• The Tigers don't score a lot, but what they do better than anyone is control the ball. With just 8.4 turnovers per game, the Tigers lead the nation in fewest turnovers. They're also first in turnover margin (+15) and assist to turnover ratio (1.57:1).
• The Tigers do have four players averaging more than 10 points per game. Chelsea Mason leads the team with 13.4 and Beth Bohuslavsky follows at 12.7. Jill Faxon (11.9) and Paige Lunsford (10.2) are also in double-digits.
• Though just 83rd in scoring offense, the Tigers are seventh in the country in scoring defense and 22nd in scoring margin. Fort Hays gives up just 52.6 points per game, with a scoring margin of +18.7. That margin has decreased with the start of MIAA though, as FHSU is outscoring opponents by just 5.3 points in conference games.
• Fort Hays is also among the leaders in the MIAA in steals per game. With 11.67 they're second in the conference. Nikola Kacperska leads the team with 19 and is one of six Tigers with at least 10 steals.
• On the glass, it's Lunsford who leads the team with 4.9 rebounds per game. Mason (4.6) and Faxon (4.2) are also above four caroms per game. The Tigers are being outrebounded this season 337-324, however their 14.4 offensive rebounds per game are second in the MIAA.
• FHSU likes to shoot the long ball, in fact they're fourth in the MIAA with 188 three pointers attempted. However, they're made only 56 of those attempts for a 29.8%. Bouhuslavsky though is shooting 46.7% from three (7-15) to lead the team.

Nebraska-Kearney
Overall Record: 5-5
Conference Record: 1-3 (MIAA)
Series History: UCM leads 3-0
Last Meeting: Jan. 3, 2015 - UCM 69, UNK 49, Kearney, Neb.
Head Coach: Carrie Hofstetter (73-36, 4th season)
• Nebraska-Kearney comes to Warrensburg after an 82-75 overtime loss to Fort Hays State last Saturday. They are 5-5 this season and 1-3 in the MIAA. FHSU hit two free throws with three seconds left to tie the game in regulation and UNK missed a layup at the buzzer with a chance for the upset.
• Of the Lopers five wins, three have come on the road. They are 3-2 away from home including an MIAA win at SBU.
• UNK is averaging 71.6 points per game this season, sixth-best in the MIAA. They have been having trouble stopping teams though, as they are 12th in the conference allowing 68.5 points per game and 73.3 points per game in conference.
• Loper guard Laramey Becker was named the MIAA Co-Player of the week this week. Becker scored 29 points and had seven boards in the win at SBU last week while also notching a double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds) in the loss to FHSU.
• Becker has started all 10 games for UNK and is their leading scorer averaging 15.1 points per game. She's also grabbing a team-best six rebounds per game while shooting 44% from the field and 38% from three.
• Aside from Becker, McKenzie Brown is also averaging over 10 points per game at 10.1. Of her 99 shot attempts, 69 have been from deep and she's hit 21 of those.
• Nebraska-Kearney is 20th in the country and first in the MIAA in total assists with 155 helpers. Alex Hogberg leads the team with 45. The Lopers have seven players with 10+ assists. Hogberg's 45 assists are 31st in the NCAA. She also has a 1.61 assist to turnover ratio, having committed 28 turnovers.
• Through 10 games, only SBU has allowed more free throw attempts than Nebrakaa-Kearney. Opponents have attempted 204 free throws. Fortunately for UNK, opponents are also hitting just .696 on their attempts from the charity stripe, the third lowest opponent free throw percentage in the MIAA.