WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 8, 2018) - Central Missouri Jennies Basketball takes the floor for the first time in a regular season game since being crowned National Champions back in March. 

Opponents: Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm
                    Harding Bison

Where: Kansas City, Mo. - Municipal Auditorium

When: Friday-Saturday, Nov. 9-10
            Friday, Nov. 9 vs. Southern Nazarene - 3:30 p.m.
            Saturday, Nov. 10 vs. Harding - 7:30 p.m.

On the Air
• Both games this weekend will have live stats available from Kansas City. There will be a radio broadcast of Friday afternoon's game on KOKO 98.5 The Bar with Greg Hassler on the call.

Tip Off
• After an historic run in 2017-18, it's finally time for the Central Missouri Jennies to defend their National Championship. 
• This will mark the season opener for the Jennies after playing two exhibition games. UCM defeated Division I Missouri State, 70-64 and fell to Mississippi State 97-56.

Storylines
• 2017-18 was one for the ages for the Jennies. Not only did they win a National Championship, they set a new team record for wins with their 30-3 record. 
• The Jennies season opening win last year snapped a three-year streak of losing season openers. The last time UCM won two-straight season openers was in 2012-13 and 2013-14. 

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• It was a day not soon to be forgotten. The Jennies were atop the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball world following their 66-52 win over previously unbeaten Ashland. The win snapped the Eagles 73-game winning streak. The Jens trailed early, 16-6, but held Ashland to just 36 points in the final 35:30. Paige Redmond scored 22 points with four three-pointers. Kayonna Lee pulled down 11 rebounds and scored eight points and Megan Skaggs put the game on ice with seven points in 70 seconds in the closing minutes. 

Previously vs. Southern Nazarene/Harding
• The Jennies and Crimson Storm have never met before. UCM last took on Harding in the final day of the 2016-17 season. The Jennies came up short, 66-58 in the Regional semifinals in Searcy. Megan Skaggs scored 20 points and was 4-7 from three however the rest of UCM was just 1-20 from behind the arc.

Road Warriors
The Jennies didn't seem to mind going into unfriendly environments. UCM was 16-1 away from Warrensburg last season and 10-0 in true road games. Their only loss away from Warrensburg was to Lindenwood at the MIAA Tournament. It was the first time in program history the Jens have gone undefeated on the road. 

The NCAA Universe
• The Jennies entered the Elite Eight last year as the only team without an individual in the top-20 in any statistical category. 
• As a team though, the whole seemed to be greater than the sum of it's parts and it started on defense. The Jennies ranked 14th in scoring defense at 56.8 points per game. Their 16.0 point scoring margin was also 13th best in Division II. 
• Where the Jennies excelled was at holding onto the ball. With just 12.0 turnovers per game, the Jennies committed the seventh fewest in the NCAA. That goes hand-in-hand with committing the 14th fewest number of fouls per game, at just 14.6. 
• Offensively, the Jens weren't too bad either. Shooting 46.1% for the season, the Jennies ranked 12th in Division II. Paige Redmond was fifth in the MIAA in shooting percentage and the highest ranked guard. 

Individual Milestones 
• Paige Redmond joined the 1,000 point club last season scoring the milestone bucket against Pittsburg State. She is currently at 1,221 which is 18th all-time. She needs 43 more points to get to 17th all-time. Redmond is also climbing the all-time 3FGM list. She has 145 for her career which is tied for seventh all-time and one shy from sixth place. Her 68 3-pointers last season were tied or the sixth most in a single season. She also needs five more assists for 300 and 10 more to crack the all-time top-10. 
• Megan Skaggs needs eight more points to reach 700 for her career. 
• With two more field goals, Morgan Fleming will hit 200 for her career. She is also seven rebounds shy of 200 as well. 

Postseason Awards
• All five Jennies starters were named to the All-MIAA team. It is just the fourth time UCM has had five named All-MIAA.
• Redmond was selected to the First Team for the second straight season. She was also named Player of the Year, the 10th in Jennies history and first since Keuna Flax in 2014. She is just the 9th Jennie to be selected to multiple First Teams. Redmond was also named to the D2CCA All-Central Region First Team. Her second career All-Region award. She added WBCA First Team All-American. The fifth from UCM with multiple All-American awards. Following the Central Region Tournament and the Elite Eight, she was named the MVP of both tournaments.
• Also a Player of the Year was Kayonna Lee who was chosen the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year. She also was a part of the MIAA All-Defensive Team for the second straight season and was named an All-MIAA Honorable Mention. 
• Morgan Fleming made her first All-MIAA team as a part of the Second Team. 
• Megan Skaggs and Kelsey Williams were a named All-MIAA Honorable Mention. It is the second All-MIAA award for Skaggs, who also made the All-Region Tourament Team and Williams the Elite Eight Tournament Team. 
• For the first time at UCM, coach Dave Slifer was named the MIAA Coach of the Year. It is his fourth career MIAA Coach of the Year award after earning three with Missouri Western. He was also the WBCA Central Region Coach of the Year for the second time. 

New Faces
• A new year brings about new changes. The Jennies added five new players to the roster.
• Two of the five have NCAA experience already. Kim Crown is a transfer from Central Region foe Southern Arkansas and Morgan VanHyfte comes from Illinois State.
• New freshmen for the 2018-19 season include Madison Cook, Adria Costley and Jordan Wersinger.
• Meghan Allan also returns after redshirting as as freshman in 2017-18. 

Scouting the Opposition
Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm
• Southern Nazarene was picked to finish eighth in the Great American Conference preseason poll.
• The Crimson Storm went 10-16 last season with an 8-14 conference record and they tied for eighth in the league standings but failed to qualify for the GAC Tournament.
• Southern Nazarene is returning four starters from last year's team led by Adrienne Berry who averaged 14.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.
• Also back are Alexus Jones, Kennedy Gillette and Abby Niehues. Jones scored 9.1 points per game with five assists and 1.5 steals per game. Gillette scored 7.3 points per game and Niehues led the team with 6.9 rebounds per game.
• Last season, the Crimson Storm averaged 64.4 points per game and shot 36.8% from the floor. SNU hit 32.6% from three. They strugged from the free throw line shooting 64.6 from the line.
• Southern Nazarene held a slight rebounding edge with 41.4 rebounds while opponents grabbed 40.5. The also held a distinct advantage in terms of blocks with 144 to opponents 97. Niehues led the team with 90 blocks.
• The Crimson Storm turned the ball over 443 times while forcing 425. They also stole the ball 207 times and opponents took it away 207 times. 
Player to Watch
#10 Adrienne Berry (5-11, G, SR, Oklahoma City, Okla.) - 14.4 points per game, 4.2 rebounds per game

Harding Bisons
• Harding finished fourth in the league standings last season with a 12-10 league record and advanced to the Great American Conference Tournament Championship game. They went 18-15 in the regular season overall and won nine of their last 11 games after dropping four of their first five.
• The Bisons will bring back seven letterwinners from last season and three starters. Kellie Lampo is the teams leading returner with 12.2 points per game. She also shot 48.4% from the floor while grabbing 6.2 rebounds per game.
• Amanda Kearney and Peyton Padgett also return after starting last year. Kearney scored 6.6 poitns per game and Padgett was slightly behind with 5.3 points per game and 3.2 assists per game.
• The Bisons scored 69.7 points per game last year while allowing 65.4. They shot 42.7% and were 31.9% from behind the arc.
• Harding had a big advantage on the boards last season grabbing 42.6 per game to their opponents 31.8. 421 of those rebounds were offensive.
• Harding ran into trouble with turnovers. They gave the ball away 18 times per game while forcing just 13.9 and 6.4 steals.
• The Bisons blocked 133 shots but were blocked 169 times. 
Player to Watch
#10 Kellie Lampo (6-0, F, SO, Jessieville, Ark.) - 12.2 points per game, 6.2 rpg, 48.4% FG%