PITTSBURG, Kan. (Nov. 18, 2016) – It was a tale of two halves for Jennies Basketball in their nonconference bout with Arkansas-Fort Smith. Central Missouri outscored the Lions by 11 in the second half, after trailing by six at the break, to comeback for a 78-73 win in Pittsburg, Kan. The win moves UCM to 2-1 this season, ahead of their match tomorrow afternoon against Ferris State.
The win is Jennies Head Coach
Dave Slifers 229th at Central Missouri. He passes Jon Pye for the most in Jennies Basketball history.
For the second straight game, UCM reached double-figures in three-point field goals made. They collected 10 with six coming in the second half. The Jennies also performed well at the charity stripe, knocking in 12 of 14 attempts. The Jennies won the turnover battle for the third straight game and dished out 18 assists on 28 field goals.
Eight different Jennies scored led by
Paige Redmond's 19 points.
Morgan Fleming (14 points) and
Ashley Duffy (12) were also in double figures. Duffy scored all her points from beyond the arc, connecting on 4-of-6 three-point attempts.
Sydney Crockett followed up her 21-point performance by scoring eight and grabbing a career-high eight rebounds to lead the game.
Helped out by an 11-0 run in the third, Central Missouri outscored the Lions by 15, 27-12 in the third period, taking a lead they never gave up. Trailing by five early in the second half, Fleming buried a three and Lee knocked in a pair of free throws to tie the score at 44. Another three from Fleming and a fastbreak layup by Redmond after a steal from Duffy put the Jens up five. Central Missouri continued to pour it on, and a three from Crockett in the final seconds of the period put UCM ahead nine, 62-53 with one quarter left to play.
Free throws from
Kelsey Williams gave the Jennies a game-high 14 point lead. The held a double-digit lead for much of the remainder of the game, but two Lion three-points in the final minute gave us our closer final 78-73.
Ashley Duffy got the Jens started in the first half, hitting a triple on UCM's opening possession following a Fleming steal. The teams worked back and forth in the first without either gaining a sizeable advantage.
Paige Redmond knocked in a layup with five seconds to play to even the score at 21-all.
Still tied at 26 in the second, the Lions went on a 5-0, opening up a 31-26 and carried that lead into the half. Layups from
Megan Skaggs and Fleming got UCM within three, but an Olivia Hanson three-pointer with under a minute remaining put Arkansas-Fort Smith on top, 41-35 at the half.
For the Lions, Micayla Haynes led the game with 20 points. She was 7-for-11 from the field and 5-for-6 from three. Olivia Hanson also scored 17 points with three triples.
Central Missouri remains in Pittsburg, Kan. but has a quick turnover with a 1 p.m. start against Ferris State.
