WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 18, 2019) - After opening the 2019-20 season with three straight road games, Central Missouri Jennies Basketball finally returns home for their home opener Monday night.

Opponent
Union Lady Bulldogs (3-1)

Where
Warrensburg, Mo. - UCM Multipurpose Building

When
Monday, Nov. 18 - 6 p.m.

How to Watch
• Monday's game will be aired on the MIAA Network on the Jennies BlueFrame portal. Greg Hassler will be calling the action on 98.5 FM The Bar and 1450 KOKO AM. Live stats are also available and found at ucmathletics.com

Tip Off
• Central Missouri plays home for the first time in 2019-20.
• The Jennies will host Union from Jackson, Tenn. at the Multipurpose Building.
• This is the only game for UCM this week. 
• The Jennies were ranked 11th in the first WBCA top-25 coaches poll. They also were 14th in the D2CCA media poll.

Story Lines
• This is the Jennies first home game of the season. Last year, UCM went 9-2 when playing at home.
• The Jennes and Union met in the Final Four round of the National Championship in 2017-18 in Sioux Falls, SD.
• UCM enters the game 1-2 to start the season following their 52-45 loss at Southern Indiana last Wednesday.
• UCM is yet to allow 60 points in a game this season. 

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• The Jennies got off to a great start, leading 14-1, but the lead fell apart against the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles in a 52-45 loss. The Jennies shot just 18.5% from three, going 5-27. Morgan Fleming and Megan Skaggs were in double-figures as Fleming scored game-high 19 and Skaggs 16. Nija Collier grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked six shots. 

Previously vs. Union
• These two met in the Final Four of the Jennies National Championship run in 2017-18 with the Jennies victorious in a 70-57 score. UCM  kept the high-powered Union offense to fewer than 10 points in both the second and fourth quarter. UCM shot 49% from the floor. Kayonna Lee picked up a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Paige Redmond, Kelsey Williams and Megan Skaggs were all in double-figures for UCM. 

Jennies in the Rankings
• The Jennies have been ranked by the WBCA in 41 of the last 43 polls dating back to the 2016-17 season. They open the season ranked 11th in the preseason and received one first-place vote. The next poll will be released after this week of games.
• in the D2SIDA Poll, Central Missouri ranks 14th.
• The Jens were picked second in the MIAA preseason coaches poll, following their 15-4 conference season in 2018-19

Individual Milestones
• Kim Crown is 23 points away from 200.
• Morgan Fleming is 7 three-pointers away from 100 and 8 rebounds shy of 400.

1,000 Point Club
• Both Morgan Fleming and Megan Skaggs started the 2019-20 year as members of the 1,000 point club. Fleming has 1,100 while Skaggs is at 1,227. Skaggs is currently 19th all-time and 37 points away from 18th. Fleming is 22nd and needs 37 points to get to 21st. Her sister, Kara Fleming, is 20th with 1,160 points. 

10 Below
• For the last three seasons the Jennies have made a habit of holding teams to fewer than 10 points in at least one quarter. It's happened in 47 games dating back to the 2016-17 season and in those games, UCM is 42-5. The Jens were 15-1 when doing so in 2016-17 and 18-1 in the run to the national championship including four of the six NCAA postseason games. The Jens defense has cranked it up again, holding opponents to fewer than 10 points in two of three games, but are just 1-1 so far in 2019.

Who's Hot?
• Morgan Fleming and Megan Skaggs have scored in double-figures in all three games. Fleming is coming off a season-best performance with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 4 three pointers.
• Nija Collier's defense has been red hot through three games. She's averaging three blocks per game and 9.3 rebounds. At Southern Indiana, Collier had six blocks with 11 rebounds. 

The Big Three
• It's been no secret the trifecta of Fleming, Skaggs and Collier have been leading the Jennies through three games. The trio makes up for 72% of the Jennies points thus far.
• They also have 62 of the Jennies 100 rebounds thus far.

On the Glass
• The Jennies so far are outrebounding opponents 100-98. They've had the rebounding edge in two of three games this season.
• One reason for that is Nija Collier who's pulling down 9.3 rebounds per game. The Jennies haven't had an individual average double-figure rebounds since Nicole Caddell in 2012-13. 

60 and Under
• In all three games this season, the Jennies have held opponents to fewer than 50 points scored. Minnesota-Moorhead has scored the most thus far reaching 58 points. 
• The last time UCM held their first three opponents to fewer than 60 points in a game was in 2006-07 when they held their first five under 60 points. 

Scouting the Opposition
Union Lady Bulldogs (3-1)
• Union has gotten off to a hot start with wins in three of their first four games. They opened the season with a 77-56 win over No. 15 Nova Southeastern before falling in 2OT to Barry.  They defeated a pair of NAIA teams last weekend.
• The Lady Bulldogs were picked to finish second in the Gulf South this season and Jada Smith was named to the Preseason All-GSC Team. 
• Jacie Higgins and Jaelencia Williams were two identified by the league as top newcomers for Union.
• Union made the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last five years after winning their fifth GSL regular season championship.
• Smith is the only starter returning from last season when she averaged 15.4 points per game and has averaged at least 10 points in each of her first three seasons at Union.
• So far this season, Union has been hot from behind the arc shooting at 38%. Emily Beard has been the three-point specialist hitting on 14 of 28 from deep.
• Williams leads the team scoring 21.8 points per game and shooting 57% from the floor. 
Player to Watch
#2 Jada Smith (5-9, G, Sr., Hoover, Ala.) - 18 ppg, 53.7% FG, 5.5 rebound, 22-11 assist-turnover ratio