WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 7, 2019) - Central Missouri Jennies Basketball is headed back to a state they've had great success in. The No. 11 Jennies will open the season in South Dakota, this time playing in Aberdeen at the Central Region Challenge, hosted by Northern State.
Opponents
No. 18 Minnesota State-Moorhead Dragons (27-7, 19-3 NSIC 2018-19)
Northern State Wolves (10-19, 7-15 NSIC 2018-19)
Where
Aberdeen, SD - Barnett Center
When
Friday-Saturday, Nov. 8-9
Friday, Nov. 8 vs. Minnesota-Moorhead - 2 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 9 at Northern State - 6 p.m.
Tip Off
• The Jens season came to an end last year vs. Southwestern Oklahoma State in the NCAA Regional Semifinal game in Hays, Kan.
• UCM officially gets the season underway when they travel to Aberdeen, SD to take on Minnesota State-Moorhead and Northern State to start the season.
How to Watch
• This weekend's game will have live video courtesy of Northern State and live stats available at ucmathletics.com
Story Lines
• UCM finished 2018-19 at 25-7 and were 2nd in the MIAA regular season & Tournament.
• Central Missouri have won an NCAA Tournament game in three straight seasons.
• UCM has two 1,000 point scorers on the team in seniors
Morgan Fleming and
Megan Skaggs.Â
Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• The Jennies played an exhibition against Division I Drake last weekend in Des Monies. UCM kept pace for most of the first half, tying at 28 at the media timeout in the second quarter. The Bulldogs though closed the half on a 17-2 run and went on to win 92-59.
Morgan Fleming led the Jennies scoring 14 points.
Nija Collier added 11 points with six rebounds and
Ryann Stearns scored 13 ponts.
Previously vs. MSU-Moorhead/Northern State
• UCM played both Minnesota-Moorhead and Northern State during their National Championship season in 2017-18. The Jennies defeated the Dragons 66-49 in their first NCAA Regional game.
Paige Redmond scored 19 points while
Morgan Fleming added 17. The season started with UCM defeating Northern State in game two of the regular season 82-65.
Morgan Fleming scored 25 points and the Jens hit 15 three-pointers.Â
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.
• 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
•
Morgan VanHyfte needs one rebound to get to 100.
• With one more game played,
Megan Skaggs will get to 100. She also needs five more rebounds for 450.Â
•
Morgan Fleming needs one more assist to get to 200.Â
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 1,053 while Skaggs is at 1,188. Skaggs is currently 20th all-time and 12 points away from 19th. Fleming is 27th and needs 12 points to reach 26th and 26 more to jump to 23rd.Â
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 46 games dating back to the 2016-17 season and in those games, UCM is 42-4. 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 did it 11 times last year and went 9-2 in those games.Â
Who's Hot?
•
Megan Skaggs hit the Jennies final shot in 2018-19, a deep three to tie the game vs. Southwestern Oklahoma. She was 3-5 from three in that game and hit 9-15 from three in the postseason.
•
Kim Crown played some important minutes in the NCAA regional and scored six points in seven minutes with four rebounds against Southwestern Oklahoma State.
•
Morgan Fleming scored in double-figures in her final 12 games of the year, including 21 in the NCAA Regional opener against Lindenwood
Awards and Honors
• Four Jennies made the All-MIAA team with
Paige Redmond and
Morgan Fleming being named to the 1st Team.
Megan Skaggs was on the Third Team and
Sydney Crockett was honorable Mention.
•
Megan Skaggs also was on the MIAA All-Defensive Team.
New Kids on the Block
• Central Missouri will see plenty of new faces this year as they have brought in six new players, four transfers and two high school freshmen.
• Two of the transfers were already teammates and National Champions:
Nija Collier and
Camryn Swanson. The duo helped Kansas City Kansas Community College to an NJCAA Division II National title last year. Collier was also an All-American.
• The other two transfers come from the ranks of Division I. Ellisha Bradley is a senior who spent last year at Bradley while
Ryann Stearns spent her freshman year at Texas San-Antonio.Â
• UCM also brought in two freshmen -
Madisyn Pense and
Sydnee Schovanec. Schovanec was a 1,000 point scorer at Bixby HS in Oklahoma and Pense was three-times All-State at Farmington HS in Arkansas.Â
Scouting the Opposition
Minnesota State-Moorhead Dragons
• Minnesota-Moorhead after being bounced in the NCAA regional quarterfinals in 2016-17 and 2017-18, won their first game against Minnesota-Duluth before falling in the semifinals to Fort Hays State. The Dragons season ended at 27-7 overall as they went 19-3 in the NSIC and finished 2nd in the NSIC Tournament.Â
• MSU-Moorhead waws picked to finish first this season in the Northern Sun Preseason Coaches Poll. They were three points ahead of Sioux Falls and received six of eight first-place votes in the North Division.
• The Dragons bring back Megan Hintz who made the Northern Sun All-Preseason Team and was selected as the North Division Preseason Player of the Year. Hintz scored 15.2 points per game last season hitting 56.3% of her field goals.
• Last year, the Dragons shot 41.3% from the floor and hit on 33.2% of their three-point attempts.
• MSU-M averaged 41 rebounds per game. Hintz also led the team in rebounds with 10 per game.
• Also back for the Dragons is Madi Green, a 6-2 senior who scored 7.8 points per game last year with 5.6 rebounds.
Player to Watch
#51 Megan Hintz (6-2, F, Sr., Rochester, Minn.) - All-NSIC 1st Team - 15.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 56.3 FG%
Northern State Wolves
• The Wolves went 10-19 last season and 7-15 in the Northern Sun.
• In the Northern Sun Preseason Poll, Northern State was picked to finish 12th out of 16 teams in the league.
• Brianna Kusler was selected as a preseason Player to Watch in the Northern Sun. She led the team in scoring last season with 11.9 points per game and nearly averaged a double with 9.6 rebounds per game. She shot 40.3% from the field.
• Also back for the Wolves is sophomore Lexi Wadsworth. She also was in double-figures last season scoring 10.0 points per game.
• Northern State struggled from beyond the arc shooting just 31.8% while opponents hit 34% from three point range.
• The Wolves outrebounded opponents 37.7 to 31.4.
• Northern State had trouble holding onto the ball turning it over 419 times and causing just 301 turnovers on defense.Â
Player to Watch
#32 Brianna Kusler (5-9, G, Sr., Aberdeen, SD) - 11.9 ppg, 9.6 rpg, NSIC Preseason Player to Watch
