No. 6 Jennies Basketball Gears Up for MIAA Tournament

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Feb. 28, 2018) - It's time for the MIAA Tournament! The regular season champion Central Missouri Jennies are the No. 1 in this weekend's Tournament which begins tomorrow with the quarterfinal round.

Opponent: No. 9 Lindenwood (17-12, 8-11 MIAA)

When: Thursday, March 1 - 6 p.m.

Where: Kansas City, Mo. - Municipal Auditorium

How to Watch
• Jennies 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. There will be a live webcast of this week's games on UCM's Internet Blueframe portal and is available on TV streaming devices.

Tip Off
• Central Missouri Jennies Basketball begins the MIAA Tournament this week taking on No. 9 seed Lindenwood in the quarterfinal round. 
• Central Missouri has won five straight, finishing the season at 24-2 and 18-1 in the MIAA to win their 11th regular season conference title.
• The Jennies moved up to No. 6 in the coaches poll and No. 4 in the media poll this week. They are ranked No. 1 for the first time in the NCAA Central Region rankings after being ranked second for the first two weeks. 
• The Jennies defeated Lindenwood twice this season, both at home and on the road. UCM is now 14-3 all-time against Lindenwood.

Storylines
• Central Missouri is 42-29 all-time in the MIAA Tournament. They are 16-15 under coach Dave Slifer. The Jens went 1-1 last year, falling to eventual champions Emporia State in the semifinals.
• UCM and Lindenwood have never met before in Kansas City. The only time they've faced each other in the MIAA Tournament was a First Round game in 2015 which the Jennies won 73-69.

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
Central Missouri had a home and road split, defeating Missouri Southern on Senior Night before going on the raod to defeat Pittsburg State in their regular season finale. Megan Skaggs was the leading scorer in both games, totaling 30 points for the week. She was 4-6 from three against the Gorillas and UCM was 11-17 as a team. 

Previously vs. Lindenwood
It was just two weeks ago that UCM met squared off with Lindenwood in St. Charles. The Jennies led by one at the break, but a big third quarter helped seal the deal. The Jennies scored 41 in the second half and defeated Lindenwood by 13, 73-60. It is the fewest points the Lions have scored this season. Paige Redmond scored a season-high 28 points and Kayonna Lee had a double-double. 

Jennies in the Rankings
Central Missouri moved up this week in both the WBCA and D2SIDA polls. The Jennies are ranked sixth by the coaches and fourth by the media. This was also the third and final week of NCAA Division II Regional rankings before the selection show. The Jennies moved up to No. 1 in the rankings this week after two straight weeks at No. 2. The Central Region consists of teams from the MIAA, Northern Sun and Great American Conferences. The top-eight teams will make up the field for the NCAA Regional Championship, March 9-12. 

Road Warriors
The Jennies haven't seemed to mind going into unfriendly environments. UCM is 11-0 away from Warrensburg this season and 9-0 in true road games. The Jennies started their year with two games in Municipal Auditorium. UCM defeated University of Mary and Northern State out of the Northern Sun in their first two games. 

The MIAA Universe
• Central Missouri won the MIAA regular season at 18-1. The top four teams all earned a First Round bye in the MIAA Tournament. Following the Jennies are Pittsburg State, Fort Hays State and Central Oklahoma. 
• The Jennies have been sharing the ball around, averaging 14.8 assists per game, second-most in the MIAA. UCM is the only team with two in the top-10 in assists per game. Paige Redmond overtook the team lead with 103 helpers, and her 4.0 assists per game are second in the MIAA. Kelsey Williams is right behind her with 90 assists. She averages 3.5 per game, sixth in the MIAA. Williams' 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio is second in the MIAA, while Redmond is third at 1.8-1. As a team, the Jennies assists to turnover ratio of 1.24-1 is the best in the MIAA and the 17th best mark in the NCAA. 
• As a team, the Jennies are in the top-five in the MIAA in field goal (46.4%), three-point (34.6%) and free throw (76.4%) percentages. They're first in field goal percentage and second in three-pointers. 

Individual Milestones 
• Paige Redmond joined the 1,000 point club this season scoring the milestone bucket against Pittsburg State. She is currently at 1,108 which is 21st all-time. She needs just 29 points to crack the top 20. Redmond is also climbing the all-time 3FGM list. She has 128 for her career which is tied for eighth all-time and 17 shy from seventh place. 
• Three more Jennies are poised to reach 500 career points in the near future. Sydney Crockett is 2 points away, Kayonna Lee is 7 points shy and Morgan Fleming needs to score 11 more. Crockett is also 8 three-pointers away from 100, which would be 10th all-time and Lee needs 4 more rebounds for 500.

Perfect 10
Through 26 games this season, Central Missouri has held opponents to fewer than 10 points in a quarter in 14 of those games and the Jennies are 14-0 in those games. Going back to last season, Central Missouri is 29-1 in games where an opponent has scored fewer than 10 points and 5-3 in games in which they failed to reach 10 points in a quarter. In 52.6% of UCM's games the last two years, the Jennies have held an opponent to under 10 points in at least one quarter.

All-MIAA
All five Jennies starters were named to the All-MIAA team. It is just the fourth time UCM has had five named All-MIAA.
• Paige 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 2013-14. She is just the ninth Jennie to be selected to multiple First Teams. 
• 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.
• 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. 

Scouting the Opposition
Lindenwood Lions (17-12, 8-11 MIAA)
• Lindenwood has been one of the streakiest teams in the MIAA. They have currently won seven of their last eight games with their only loss during that stretch to the Jennies. They finished the regular season at 8-11 in the MIAA. Before this recent winning streak, they had lost six straight and started out the season by winning their first seven games. 
• The Lions deploy one of the best players in the MIAA in Kallie Bildner. She is the only player league to average a double-double scoring 18.4 points and grabbing 120 rebounds per game, both are in the top-three in the MIAA. She was named All-MIAA Second Team. 
• Thanks in part to Bildner, the Lions have the second-best scoring offense in the MIAA with 77.9 points per game, which is 23rd in Division II. Gabby Walker is also scoring in double-digits w/ 13.3 points/game. 
• The only team in the league better than the Lions at shooting the ball is Central Missouri. Lindenwood connects on 46.2% of their field goal attempts. Bildner is shooting 56.8% from the floor and is 28-70 (40%) from three. Walker is right behind her shooting 55.6%. As a team, the Lions connect on 32.2% of their three point attempts and 71.5% of their free throws. 
• At 40.2 rebounds per game, the Lions lead the MIAA. Behind Bildner, Walker grabs 6.1 rebounds/game.
• Lindsay Medlen has helped the Lions scoring 10.2 points and passing out 96 assists. 
• Lindenwood has struggled holding on to the ball. They average 17 turnovers per game which is the second worst mark in the MIAA. However, they force an average of 17.4 turnovers per game which is best in the league. Of the 17.4 opponent turnvovers, 8.9 come from Lion steals, second in the league. 
Player to Watch
#25  Kallie Bildner (6-3, F, SO, Waynesville, Mo.) - Only player in the MIAA averaging a double-double