Box Score (HTML) | Season Statistics (HTML)MARYVILLE, Mo. -- The Jennies overcame a 14-point halftime deficit at Northwest Missouri, outscoring the Bearcats, 52-28 in the second half to close out the regular season with their seventh straight win, 74-64.
The Jennies (19-8, 13-6 MIAA) secured the fifth seed in the MIAA Tournament following Missouri Southern's victory over Lincoln.
Central Missouri shot a sizzling 65.2% (15-of-23) from the floor after halftime and received double-digit scoring from four players. Senior forward
Revonnia Howard led all UCM scorers wtih 24 points, while senior
Justina Prairie Chief tallied her fourth double-double of the season wtih 12 points and 11 boards.
In the first half, the Jennies fell behind by as many as 18 points with 3:05 on the clock. They went to the free throw line just six times and knocked down just 8-of-33 shots (24.2%).
The game was tied just once in the opening 20 minutes at 10-10. However, a 26-12 run by Northwest Missouri State put the Jennies in a 14-point hole at the intermission. Bearcats senior guard Ariel Easton scored 15 points in the opening half, while the Jennies leading scorer,
Revonnia Howard, had just seven.
To begin the second half of play, the Jennies scored 11 unanswered points, slicing the deficit to three at 36-33. Prairie Chief erased a three-point play by the Bearcats with a trey to keep the Jens to within one possession with 15:31 to go.
Trailing by only a point with just under 11 minutes to go, junior
Shelby Winkelmann intercepted a pass near midcourt and scored on a breakaway layup to give the Jennies their first lead at 45-44.
Following Easton's three-point play that gave Northwest Missouri a 48-47 lead, Prairie Chief buried her second three-pointer, putting the Jennies in front, 50-48 with 8:24 left.
Easton tied the score at 50-50 following a steal and a layup and the two foes traded baskets for the next seven possessions. The Jennies gained some breathing room after Howard came through on a three-point play with 3:13 left to give the Jennies a 62-57 advantage.
The Bearcats cut the deficit to three points on the next possession, but UCM closed the game on a 12-5 run to preserve its third straight road victory against Northwest Missouri.
It was the fifth straight game the Jennies' offense scored at least 70 points. They outrebounded the Bearcats, 44-31 and 21-12 in the second half.
Howard collected two more blocks giving her 45 and passing her 2013-14 total of 43.
The Jennies will next host an MIAA Tournament play-in game against an opponent to-be-determined at the Multipurpose Building on Tuesday, March 3 at 7 p.m.
