Regular Season For Jennies Basketball Tips Off Friday at the Multi

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 9, 2016) - The 2016-17 Jennies Basketball regular season gets underway this weekend as the Jennies host a pair of nonconference games at the Multi in Warrensburg.

Opponents: Concordia-St. Paul - Friday, Nov. 11, 1 p.m.
                    Minot State - Saturday, Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Warrensburg, Mo. - The UCM Multipurpose Building

How to Watch: 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 internet portal through Stretch Internet, found at UCMathletics.com

Tip Off
• 2016-17 marks the 47th year of Jennies Basketball
• Central Missouri finished 2015 at 11-18 and 9-13 in the MIAA. They were the number 10 seed in the MIAA Tournament, winning their opening round matchup, before falling in the quarterfinals to regional champions, Pittsburg State. 

Story Lines
• Head Coach Dave Slifer is just one win shy of tying Coach Jon Pye's 228 wins for the most in UCM history.
• The Jennies have never faced Minot State in their history, and their only game against Concordia-St. Paul was a loss in the second round of the NCAA Regional in 2014. 

Season Preview
The youth movement has begun for Jennies Basketball. Of the 13 on the roster, eight are in their freshman or sophomore seasons. The Jens return only four that saw the court last season, while adding six newcomers and retaining three of their redshirts from 2015-16.
    Despite returning only four that played last season, this year's team will bring back more starters than the 2015-16 team that only had one. Senior Ashley Duffy started 24 games last season, her first with the Jennies. Fellow senior Andee Wahlert and sophomore Paige Redmond split starts at point guard with Wahlert starting 10 games and Redmond 19. 
    Those two seniors will be heavily relied on for their leadership on and off the court. Of the Jennies three juniors, Kendra Gladbach, Kayonna Lee, and Kelsey Williams, only Gladbach was here a season ago, and she sat out, taking a redshirt-year after transferring from Moberly Community College.  
    That puts a big onus on Redmond and the returning sophomore class. In addition to Redmond, Sydney Crockett saw significant time, playing in 28 games and making three starts. Like Gladbach, Emilie Jobst and Peyton Taylor sat out their first year at Central Missouri and are eager to get out on the floor. The Jennies also brought in sophomore transfer Sydney Skaggs from Missouri-St. Louis. 
    Aside from the returning redshirt-freshman, UCM adds three true freshman from their 2016-17 recruiting class.  One thing this freshman class brings to the table is size. Megan Skaggs (younger sister of Sydney) and Morgan Fleming each check in at six feet tall while Divine Ndu measures 6'5. 
    Central Missouri finished 11-18 last season and 9-13 in the MIAA tying for 10th place. They once again made a trip to Kansas City, Mo. for the MIAA Tournament Championship, bowing out in the quarterfinal round. As a team, the Jens finished seventh in the league in scoring average with 67.5 points per game. They were also fourth in the conference in field goal percentage shooting 43% from the floor. UCM created opportunities for themselves with a plus 1.21 turnover margin, and Ashley Duffy lead the league in steals with 2.1 per game. 
    The Jennies only have 13 on the roster, down from the 16 they started with last season. Among this group of 13 though is a lot of versatility, with many able to play multiple positions. Starting in the back-court, the Jennies have five true guards starting with Wahlert and Redmond. Wahlert is known for her tenacity and defense, while Redmond flashed the ability to score, averaging 6.2 points per game last season while shooting 44% from three and 82% at the free throw line.
    Jobst and Gladbach both play the guard position as well, as does transfer Kelsey Williams. Williams comes to UCM after playing at MIAA foe Lincoln for two seasons. The junior redshirted in 2015-16, but was an All-MIAA Honorable Mention in 2014-15, leading the Blue Tigers with 12.3 points and 3.5 assists per game.
    The forward position sees a lot of new faces. Duffy and Crockett have the ability to play either guard or forward and are the only two who played forward for the Jennies last season. Duffy was third on the Jennies scoring 8.8 points per game and second with 4.7 boards. True forwards Kayonna Lee and Sydney Skaggs both transferred in. Lee spent two seasons at Johnson County Community College, averaging 6.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while shooting 45% from the field. Skaggs played her first year at Missouri-St. Louis and scored 3.2 points with 2.4 rebounds per game.
    The Jennies have plenty of options as freshmen Megan Skaggs and Fleming, along with redshirt freshman Peyton Taylor, can all see time at guard or forward. Between Skaggs and Fleming they have four high school All-State nominations. Fleming was the 2016 KC Star All-Metro Player of the Year as a senior and Skaggs was the Missouri Class 3 State Player of the Year. 
    That leaves freshman Divine Ndu. At 6-5 she can play the center position. At her high school, she set the career and single season record for blocks and was a McDonald's All-American nominee in 2016. 
    Last season the Jennies played the toughest schedule in all of Division II. This season, while the team has added some non-conference games, the number of ranked opponents has gone down. UCM will start the season at home against Concordia-St. Paul and Minot State out of the Northern Sun, Nov. 11-12. The following week, they'll take part in the Pitt State Classic in Pittsburg, Kan., playing Arkansas-Fort Smith and Ferris State. Thanksgiving week, the Jennies will leave the midwest and head towards Florida where they'll play Embry Riddle, Barry, and Johnson and Wales. 
    After playing 22 conference games a season ago, the Jennies will play 19 this year. They start off on the road at defending MIAA regular season champions Missouri Western, Dec. 3. The Jens first three MIAA contests will all be Saturday games. They'll take on Northwest Missouri and Southwest Baptist Dec. 10 and 17 and close out 2016 at home against nonconference opponent William Jewell, Dec. 19.
    Once the calendar flips, UCM will be right back on the road at Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney Jan. 5 and 7. They play eight games in the month of January including hosting MIAA champions Emporia State Jan. 25. 
    February also sees the Jens playing eight games. They'll start the month with three straight on the road Feb. 2-8 at Central Oklahoma, Northeastern State and Pittsburg State who were the 2015-16 Central Region Champions. They'll come back for their longest homestand of the year, three games Feb. 11-18 against Missouri Southern,  Lincoln and Lindenwood. They close the regular season at home Saturday, Feb. 25 with a rematch against Pittsburg State. 
    Following the regular season, the MIAA Conference Championship Tournament runs Feb. 28-March 5. Opening round matchups will take place at campus sites Tuesday, Feb 28 with the final eight teams traveling to Kansas City March 3-5. 

Scouting the Opposition
Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears
Concordia-St. Paul is coming off a season in which they finished 10th in the NSIC overall standings and fifth in the south division. The Golden Bears turned it on late in the season, winning nine of their last 15 games of the year to finish on a high note. CSP defeated St. Cloud State in the first round of the NSIC Tournament in 2016 before falling to Winona State in a hard fought battle in the quarterfinals at the Sanford Pentagon. Head coach Amanda Behnke will begin her first full year at the helm for CSP and she brings backs seven letter winners, including all five starters, from last year's squad and three quality transfers led by sophomore point guard Anna Schmitt. Schmitt led all freshmen in the league in scoring (15.5), assists per game (3.7) and minutes per game (35.6) while also ranking second in three-point field goal percentage (37.1%) and three-point field goals made per game (1.6) in 2015-16. Lauren Shifflett and Mishayla Jones are also two key returners for Concordia. Shifflett finished second on the team in scoring with 14.2 ppg and led the team with 66 three-pointers made which ranked fifth in the NSIC. Jones led the team with 122 assists, ranking fifth in the conference. CSP opens up the season with four straight road games before returning home to host the Radisson Hotel MSP North Classic. Concordia begins NSIC play on Dec. 2 as they travel to Augustana for a 6 pm game time.

Minot State Beavers
Minot State will look to improve on an up and down 2015-16 season that finished 11-18 overall and 8-14 in Northern Sun play. The Beavers finished sixth in the NSIC North Division and tied for 11th overall. MSU will be very young as they return six letterwinners and one medical redshirt, but only one is a senior. The lone senior is Kori Eurich, a 5-7 guard, who started 25 games as a junior. She averaged 5.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game and led the Beavers with 22 3-pointers. MSU also returns a pair of talented sophomore guards, including NSIC All-Freshman selection Kari Clements and Madison Wald. Clements averaged 9.4 points per game and dished out 41 assists. Wald averaged 5.1 points and had 25 steals. MSU will also get a boost from Diondra Denton, Gabby Wilkinson and Mariah Payne who all sat out 2015-16. As a sophomore two seasons ago, Denton, a 5-11 junior who was injured last year, averaged 9.2 points and 4.1 rebounds while hitting 23 3-pointers. Wilkinson, a 5-9 guard who sat out last year following a transfer from the University of Mary, averaged 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds as a freshman for the Marauders in 2014-15. The 5-7 guard Payne is a talented redshirt freshman from Burnie, Australia. Minot State will look for big things from its incoming "bigs" as 6-1 junior Kristal Flowers joins 6-2 freshman Haley Hildenbrand to give the Beavers some much-needed height.

*Information on Concordia-St. Paul and Minot State provided by the Northern Sun - www.northernsun.org