Next up for the Jennies The fifth-seeded Jennies (19-8, 13-6 MIAA), pegged at No. 9 in the Central Regional Rankings for the second straight week, host the 12th-seeded Lindenwood Lady Lions in the opening round of the MIAA Tournament in Warrensburg on Tuesday night.
The two teams split the regular season series, both teams winning on their home floor. The Lady Lions prevailed in a 92-85 overtime decision in St. Charles on Jan. 24, while the Jennies returned the favor, winning, 72-55 on Feb. 14.
Lindenwood (11-15, 4-15 MIAA) enter the MIAA Tournament having lost its last two games. Junior guard Kassidy Gengenbacher leads the offense with 18.5 points per game. Junior forward Vanessa Zailo is first in rebounds with 13.1 per contest.
The Jennies closed the regular season with seven-straight victories and will begin their quest to win their first conference tournament since the 1989-90 season. The winner will play fourth-seeded Missouri Southern on Friday, March 6 at 2:15 p.m. at the Municipal Auditorium.
Last Time Out 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, 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.
Slifer By The Numbers Slifer is 32nd on the all-time wins list for all NCAA coaches with 598.
Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 598 wins and is ninth among all Division II coaches with a .741 winning percentage.
Slifer needs two wins to reach 600 in his 25-year coaching career.
Jennies Basketball In The Multi The Jens are 439-96 all-time in the Multipurpose Building, and 111-33 during the Slifer era ... With 10 home wins this season, the Jennies have won at least 10 games at the Multi for the fourth-straight season ... 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.
Jennies In MIAA Tourney Play The Jennies have won seven MIAA Tournament titles, the last coming in 1990. The Jennies have reached the MIAA Championship round twice in the last five seasons (09-10, 13-14) and have finished tied for third or lower in six of the past eight seasons. The Jens are 36-24 all-time in MIAA Tournament play.
Winkelmann Earns MIAA Athlete Of The Week Jennies junior guard
Shelby Winkelmann was named the MIAA Athlete of the Week on Monday. the Rhineland, Missouri native averaged 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in a pair of victories for the Jennies.
Winkelmann is the first Jennie to earn the award this season.
Season Numbers vs. Lindenwood In the 2014-15 regular season series, the Jennies had five players average double-digit points. Senior guard
Jasmine Thompson led all UCM scorers with 19.0 points in 28.5 minutes per game.
Revonnia Howard (13.5),
Justina Prairie Chief (12.0),
Shelby Winkelmann (11.0) and
Tayler Weiks (10.5) were the other four with double-digit points.
The Jennies averaged 78.5 points on 38.7% shooting from the floor, including 37.5% from three-point. They outscored the Lady Lions, 73-58 in the first half, but were just plus-2 in the second half, not including overtime (76-74).
18-Points Down, No Problem The Jennies' 18-point deficit was the second-highest total they have overcome, three shy of the 21-point hole erased against Quincy on Nov. 24.
Inside The Winning Streak The Jennies' seven game win streak is the team's longest since Feb. 1-March 1 of last season (eight games). During the current streak, the offense is averaging 74.0 points while surrending just 61.4 points per game (plus-12.6 point differential).
Three Jennies,
Revonnia Howard (16.4),
Shelby Winkelmann (14.0),
Jasmine Thompson (13.4) are averaging double-digit points. Howard is also pulling down a team-best 9.3 rebounds per game and has 11 blocks and 11 steals, both team highs.
Junior
Tayler Weiks leads all bench players with 8.3 points per contest and is shooting 37.1% (13-of-35) from behind the three-point arc.
The Jennies are shooting 76.5% (114-of-149) from the free throw line.
Season-High In Helpers After setting a then-season high with 17 assists in the Feb. 21 win against Southwest Baptist, the Jennies set the bar even higher with 19 helpers in the 82-78 victory against Missouri Western last Wednesday. In all seven games during the win streak, the Jens have finished with at least 10 assists, totaling 96 over that span (13.7 per game).
Second Chance Opportunities In their last five games, the Jennies pulled down double-digit offensive rebounds. The Jennies have recorded 12, 16, 14, 11 and 15 offensive boards in the past five contests.
Rebound Machine Senior forward
Revonnia Howard has been an asset on the boards this season for the Jennies. Her 9.0 rebounds per game is currently third in the MIAA entering this week. Seventy-nine of her 242 rebounds have been on the offensive end, both team highs.
She is one of three Jennies (
Justina Prairie Chief,
Jasmine Thompson) to pull down triple-digit rebounds this season. She is one of two Jennies (Prairie Chief) to have 100 defensive rebounds this season as well.
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 pulled down at least eight rebounds in five of the past seven games.
Block Party Howard has blocked 45 shots this season, bumping her career total to 88. Her 45 blocks passed her total of 43 from a season ago.
She is three blocks shy of tying Kamala Sherman for sixth-place on UCM's all-time list.
Lock Down Defense In five of the past six games, the Jennies defense has held opponents to under 40% shooting, including a 27.6% showing against Missouri Southern. They have come up with 48 steals in those five games and have forced 86 turnovers.
Hot At The Charity Stripe In the last two games, the Jennies have deposited 40 of 48 free throws (83.3%). They finished the regular season shooting 75.8% from the free throw line. They finished last season with a 71.8% mark from the charity stripe.
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 were ranked in the Top 25 for 33 consecutive weeks from January of 2013-December of 2014. This season, the Jennies faced four opponents (Fort Hays State, Emporia State, Pittsburg State and Drury) that currently sit in the Top 25, finishing with a record of 1-3.
UCM Program History The UCM Jennies are 894-368 (.708) after 44 seasons, and 691-279 (.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 Lindenwood The Jennies lead the all-time series with the Lady Lions, 8-2. They are 4-1 against Lindenwood at home. It marks the first postseason meeting between the two schools.
A Win for the Jennies Would...... advance the Jennies to the MIAA Tournament quarterfinals in Kansas City on Friday, March 6 against fourth-seeded Missouri Southern ... extend the Jennies' win streak to eight games ... improve the Jennies record to 20-8 this season ... be the third MIAA Tournament win in the past four tries.
A Loss for the Jennies Would...... drop the Jennies' record to 19-9 on the season ... eliminate the Jennies from the MIAA Tournament.
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.
Central Region Rankings For the second straight week, the Jennies were ranked No. 9 in the initial Central Region rankings that were released by the NCAA last Wednesday afternoon. The top eight teams in the final rankings on Sunday, March 8 qualify for the Central Regional tournament March 13, 14 and 16 at a campus site to be determined. The NCAA-II Women's Selection Show is set for 9 p.m. on Sunday, March 8 on NCAA.com.
