Jennies Basketball Kicks Off 2017-18 This Weekend

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 10, 2017) - It's a new season of Central Missouri Women's Basketball. The Jennies march towards a repeat berth in the NCAA Tournament begins this weekend.

Opponents: University of Mary Maruaders (0-0)
                    Northern State Wolves (0-0)

When: Friday-Saturday, Nov. 10-11
            Mary: Friday, Nov. 10 - 2:15 p.m.
            Northern State: Saturday, Nov. 11 - 12 p.m.

Where: Kansas City, Mo. - Municipal Auditorium

On the Air
Friday's game will be broadcast on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with Greg Hassler calling the action, while Saturday's action can be heard at 1450 KOKO and warrensburgradio.com with Bob Jackson on the call. Live stats for both games can be found at ucmathletics.com

Tip Off
• Central Missouri begins their 48th year of women's basketball in 2017-18. The season starts with a pair of games in Kansas City against two Northern Sun opponents. 
• The Jens finished 2016-17 at 24-7 and made the NCAA Regional for the 20th time in team history. UCM defeated Minnesota State-Moorhead before falling to Harding in the 2nd round.

Story Lines
• All-time the Jennies are 16-6 in games against the Northern Sun. They are 6-5 with Coach Slifer at the helm. 
• This marks the first ever meeting between the Jennies and Mary.
• The Jennies and the Wolves have met once previously, in the NCAA Regional Tournament in 2014. Central Missouri won the opening round contest 82-69.
• The Jennies have lost three straight season openers. 

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
The Jennies season came to a close against Harding in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. The Jennies built a lead against the home team Bisons, but couldn't hold on, getting outscored 23-13 in the fourth quarter. UCM struggled from three hitting just 5-of-27 from beyond the arc. Megan Skaggs led all scorers with 20 points. She hit four of the Jennies five three-pointers. Harding also got to the free throw line 12 more times than UCM, connecting on 17-25 to the Jens' 11-for-13. 

Previously vs. Mary/Northern State
The Jennies and Marauders have never met before. Central Missouri and Northern State met only one time previously, the first round of the 2014 Central Region Championship. The Jennies came out on top 82-69. There are no current Jennies that remain from the 2013-14 team. Keuna Flax was the team's leading scorer with 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds. BreAnna Lewis added 19. 

Jennies in the Rankings
The Jennies were ranked in the top-15 in two preseason rankings. Central Missouri came in at No. 13 in the WBCA Coaches Poll and No. 11 in the D2SIDA Media Poll, voted on by SID's. The D2SIDA also released preseason regional rankings which had the Jennies second in the Central behind Harding. 

All-MIAA
Last year, Central Missouri finished with three named to the All-MIAA team. Paige Redmond was a unanimous selection to the First Team. She becomes the 31st Jennie to make the first team and the first sophomore or younger since Lori Nichols in 1999-2000. Megan Skaggs and Kayonna Lee each made their first All-Conference team as a member of UCM, collecting votes and appearing on the Honorable Mention list. Following the season, Redmond was named a WBCA Honorable Mention All-American, the 17th in UCM history. 

Return of the Jennies
It is a large group that returns for the Jennies from the 2016-17 squad. Ten in total are back from last yaer while the Jens lose only two letter winners. Last year, seven Jennies made at least 13 starts in 31 games and six come back for 2017-18.

Stamina Monsters
The Jennies made a name for themselves in the fourth quarters last year. Their 565 points were the most in any quarter for UCM and they also allowed the fewest, an impressive 408. They averaged outscoring opponents 18.2-13.2 in the fourth quarter.

Late and Close
Central Missouri was nearly unbeatable with a late lead last year, going 21-1 when holding the lead with five minutes left to play. Their one loss came in their final game against Harding. The Jennies were also 3-6 when tied or trailing with five minutes left to play. Though it didn't happen often, UCM was good at squeaking out some wins, going 3-1 in games decided by five points or less. For his career with the Jens, Coach Slifer is 34-23 (.596) in games decided by three points or less. 

Individual Milestones 
• Senior Kayonna Lee reached 250 points and 250 rebounds in 2015-16. That has only been done four other times since the 1999-2000 season. It is however the fourth time in the last five years. Revonnia Howard reached that milestone twice in her two years at UCM.
• Paige Redmond scored 500 points for the Jennies last year, becoming just the third Jennie to do so in the last 18 years. She will need 318 points to become the 26th member of the 1,000 point club. She also could join the all-time top-10 in three point field goals made with 17 more. 
• As a freshman, Megan Skaggs hit some round numbers. She totaled 301 points and 104 rebounds in 2016-17.
• Kelsey Williams is coming up on some milestones as well. She needs two more points to reach 200, 11 assists to reach 100 and 17 rebounds for 100 as well. 

Ball Security
Last year the Jennies did a tremendous job at holding onto the ball. In fact, few did it better. The Jens were fourth in Division II in turnovers per game with just 11.6. That helped them have a 1.13-to-1 assist to turnover ratio, which was 22nd in D2. Kelsey Williams played a big roll in that with a 3.7-to-1 assist to turnover ratio. She dished out 89 helpers and turned the ball over just 24 times.

Freebies
The Jennies were 40th as a team last year in free throw percentage at 75.3. One big help was Paige Redmond who shot 86.4% (114-132), which was the ninth-best single-season percentage in team history. Interestingly, teams also shot 76.4% at the line against the Jens, which was the highest in the MIAA. 

Scouting the Opposition
University of Mary
Courtesy of the northernsun.org:
Fresh off earning a home playoff game in the Northern Sun tournament last season, the University of Mary will be one of the youngest teams in the Northern Sun next season. After graduating two seniors, the Marauders look to start three sophomores in 2017-18 and possibly four underclassmen total. Senior Dani Williams enters her third year in the starting lineup. After playing the point last year, Williams will see action at the wing and is a scoring threat from the outside. Sophomore center Gabbie Bohl started every game as a freshman and was a force inside. The NSIC Freshman of the Year also earned a spot on the All-NSIC second team and the NSIC all-freshman team. Bohl averaged 15.3 ppg and 5.9 rpg and twice earned NSIC Player of the Week honors. She scored 20 or more points nine times, had four double doubles and posted double digit points in all but two NSIC games. Sophomore guard Lauren Rotunda also started all 31 games last year in her first collegiate season and joined Bohl on the NSIC All-Freshman team. The Fargo, ND, native averaged 9.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists while making 81.8 percent of her free throw attempts. A key reserve for the Marauders last season, forward Cassie Askvig averaged 8.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game as a freshman while shooting 43.4 percent from the floor and 84.8 percent at the line. The 6-2 sophomore looks to replace graduated Hannah Larson, one of UMary's all-time leading scorers and rebounders. Newcomers to watch for the Marauders include freshman guard Macy Williams and sophomore Jordyn Jossart, who is transferring from NCAA Division I Marist College back to her home town.
Player to Watch
#32 Gabbie Bohl (C, 6-2, So., Minot, N.D. / Bishop Ryan) - 15.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, .496/.200/.684

Northern State
Courtesy of the northernsun.org:
The Northern State University women's basketball team returns in 2017-18 after a 24-7 season and their fourth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Wolves won their second NSIC Tournament Championship in three seasons, defeating Sioux Falls 55-52 at the Sanford Pentagon. Wolves head coach, Curt Fredrickson, tallied the 800th win of his career and finished the season with 820 through 38 seasons at the helm. Northern went 11-2 from Wachs Arena, as they led the nation for the tenth straight season in NCAA DII attendance, averaging 2,910 fans per game. As a team the Wolves finished the year third in scoring defense (57.5), third in scoring margin (+11.2), second in field goal percentage (44.9), first in field goal percentage defense (35.0), fifth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (30.5), fifth in offensive rebounds (11.8), fifth in defensive rebounds (27.8), fifth in assists/turnover ratio (1.22), fourth in blocked shots (4.35), second in assists (16.06), and first in rebounding margin (+9.2) in the NSIC. Northern returns starters Brianna Kusler, Jill Conrad, and Miranda Ristau from a season ago, as well as 2015-16 starter Alexis Tappe. NSU has a wealth of bench experience in upperclassmen Gabby Laimer and Brynn Flakus, as well as sophomores Jessi Marti and Sara Tvedt. Ristau was nabbed as the team's player to watch after a first team all-conference and NSIC All-Tournament team performance in 2016-17, where she led the team in scoring (515 pts) and rebounding (249 rebs). She was also top-5 in the NSIC in scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots. Northern opens the season with three exhibition games against Creighton, South Dakota State, and Dakota Wesleyan, before heading to face Harding and Central Missouri in regional play.
Player to Watch
#51 Miranda Ristau  (C, 6-2, Sr., Warner, S.D./Warner HS) - 16.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg, .534/.000/.730