St. JOSEPH, Mo. (Dec. 3, 2016) - Central Missouri Jennies Basketball closed the game on a 13-1 run, and outscored Missouri Western 24-13 in the fourth quarter to come-from-behind, picking up their seventh straight win, 66-58 over the Griffons. In their first conference game of the season, UCM stands at 1-0 and moves to 7-1 overall, including 3-0 on the road.

The Jennies trailed at the half, 33-29, and played from behind for much of the second half. The Griffons pushed their lead to a game-high seven, 49-42, with 8:44 left to play. With just under six to play, the Missouri Western lead was still at six, 55-49.

That's when the Jennies picked it up, both offensively and defensively, holding MWSU to just one field goal in the final 4:30 of the game. Following a Griffon missed layup, Morgan Fleming grabbed the rebound and tied the game, 57-57, with a pair of free throws. It was all UCM from there. Fleming then gave the Jens their first lead since the first half, 59-57, with a layup at the 2:04 mark. Megan Skaggs pushed the lead to four by knocking down her second three-pointer of the game, and the Jens went 4-4 at the free throw line in the final 30 seconds to clinch the win.

The win is the Jennies first in St. Joe since the 2013-14 season, and snapped a two-game losing streak to the Griffons. 

Paige Redmond led three Jennies in double-figures with a game-high 16 points. She was 4-for-8 from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line. Fleming added 14 for the Jennies and Skaggs scored 13, 10 coming in the fourth quarter alone. Redmond and Skaggs each hit a pair of triples, and Redmond dished out five assists. 

On the glass, Kayonna Lee grabbed a dozen boards, including five on the offensive end. Fleming corralled six rebounds herself and UCM blocked a season-high three shots.

Central Missouri out-shot the Griffons, connecting on 44.1% of the FG attempts to the Griffons 43.6%. They doubled up Missouri Western on three-pointers, 6-3, and shot 12-for-16 from the charity stripe while MWSU was 3-for-5. UCM also held a 37-29 advantage in rebounds, and turned 13 offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points.

Both teams shot the ball well to start and the score was knotted, 9-9 at the first media timeout. An Ashley Duffy layup gave the Jens a four-point lead, 18-14, near the end of the first, but Julia Torres splashed a three to make it a one-point game, 18-17, after the first quarter. 

The two teams went back and forth to start the second period, but the Jennies went cold towards the end of the half. Missouri Western closed the frame on a 10-3 run to take a 33-29 lead into the half. 

A slow-paced third quarter saw UCM cut the lead to three, 45-42, with just 10 minutes left to play. Despite holding the lead for nearly two-thirds of the game, the Griffons let the Jennies hang around too long and UCM took advantage, outscoring MWSU by 11 in the fourth quarter.

Sefulu Faavae led the Griffons in scoring with 12 points. Chelsea Dewey added nine and three Griffons scored eight. Erin Anderson grabbed eight rebounds to go along with eight points, and Torres handed out five assists.

The Jennies have a full eight days off before their next game, another MIAA contest against Northwest Missouri, Sunday, Dec. 11 in Maryville, Mo.