WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Dec. 4, 2019) - The MIAA portion of the Jennies schedule begins this week at home with two games in the Multi.

Opponents
Missouri Western Griffons (5-1, 0-0 MIAA)
Northwest Missouri Bearcats (4-3, 0-0 MIAA)

Where
Warrensburg, Mo. - UCM Multipurpose Building

When
Thursday, Dec. 5, 5:30 p.m. vs. Missouri Western
Saturday, Dec. 7, 1 p.m. vs. Northwest Missouri

Promotions
Thursday
• Santa Claus will be coming to the Multi! He'll be available for pictures at the start of the Jennies game to halftime of the Mules game.
• Toys For Tots will be on hand collecting donations of new and unwrapped toys as well as monetary donations at both entrances of the arena.
• Courtside Cafe will open at halftime of the Jennies game until the start of the Mules game. Thursday's menu: Beef or vegetable lasagna, Caesar salad, breadsticks, cheesecake dessert
Saturday
• "White Out" - all fans are encouraged to wear white tops. The first 1,000 fans will receive a white pom. 

Tip Off
• The Jennies are back home to start off MIAA play this week against Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri.
• UCM went 2-1 last week with a win at home over William Jewell. They nearly upset No. 1 Drury in Springfield, before scoring a season-high 70 in a win over Truman State

How to Watch
• This weekend's games will be aired on the MIAA Network on the Jennies BlueFrame portal. Greg Hassler will be calling the action. Live stats are available and found at ucmathletics.com.

Story Lines
• All-time the Jennies are 70-26 against the Bearcats with eight straight wins. The Jens have also won six straight over the Griffons and are 40-29 all-time against MWSU.
• The Jennies dropped their MIAA opener last year on the road at Washburn. UCM is just 2-3 in MIAA openers the last five years. 

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• The Jennies played three games over Thanksgiving week. They started out with a win over William Jewell at home. Morgan Fleming scored 23 points and Megan Skaggs had 20. The Jens then came within inches of upsetting No. 1 Drury on the road, ultimately falling 57-54. Nija Collier had 15 points, eight rebounds. Megan Skaggs then scored another 20 in the Jennies 70-63 win over Truman State.

Previously vs. Missouri Western/Northwest Missouri
• The Jennies were also home the last time they met the Griffons and Bearcats. In fact they played in back-to-back weeks with the Jens going 4-0. After some close games on the road, UCM defeated the Bearcats 71-53. Fleming had a double-double with 21 points and 19 rebounds and UCM shot 51.7% from the floor. In a 20-point win over the Griffons, 86-66, the Jens again shot better than 50%, 55.6, getting 24 points from Paige Redmond and 23 from Megan Skaggs. UCM hit 10-19 from behind the arc. 

Jennies in the Rankings
• The Jennies have been ranked by the WBCA in 41 of the last 45 polls dating back to the 2016-17 season but are in the receiving votes category this week. The Jennies opened the season ranked 11th before starting the year 2-2 and falling out of the top-25.
• 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 three points away from 200.
• Morgan Fleming is three three-pointers away from 100.
• Megan Skaggs needs nine more points for 1,300. 

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 1,161 while Skaggs is at 1,291. Skaggs is currently 17th all-time and 46 points away from 16th. Fleming is 20th, having just passed her sister, Kara Fleming, and needs 66 points to get into 19th place. 

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 49 games dating back to the 2016-17 season and in those games, UCM is 44-5. 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 four of their seven, and are 3-1 so far in 2019 when doing so.

Who's Hot?
• Gigi McAtee grabbed a career-high nine rebounds against Truman State and scored a season-best nine points as well.
• Nija Collier has scored in double-figures in three straight games and is averaging 13 points during that stretch.
• Kim Crown is shooting 71.4% in her last two games. 

60 and Under
• In six of seven games this season, the Jennies have held opponents to fewer than 60 points scored. Truman State was the first to break the 60-point barrier hitting 63 last Saturday. 
• The last time UCM held their first six opponents to fewer than 60 points in a game was in 1972-73.

Freebees
• The Jennies are second in the MIAA right now shooting 78.4% from the free throw line and in the top-20 in the NCAA.
• Morgan Fleming is second in the league having hit 34 free throws in 42 attempts.
• Kim Crown leads the Jennies shooting 92.3%, hitting 12 of 13.
• The Jennies have also shot well at the free throw line in crunch time. With less than five minutes remaining in games, the Jennies have gone 33-40 at the line.

Pulling Away
• The Jennies best offensive quarter has been the last. UCM has scored 123 points in the fourth quarter, 14 more points than the next highest.
• UCM has built leads with stingy defense in the first, allowing just 70 first-quarter points. Their next fewest is 96 points allowed in the third quarter.

Scouting The Opposition
Missouri Western (5-1, 0-0 MIAA)
• Like UCM, this will also be the Griffons first MIAA contest of 2019-20. They come to Warrensburg at 5-1 and winners of five straight.
• All of the Griffons first six games have been at home.
• Missouri Western leads the MIAA shooting .481 from the floor and .385 from three.
• Chris Wilson leads the Griffons with 18.2 points per game while shooting .556, both in the top-five in the MIAA. Corbyn Cummingham is also in double-figures and shooting better than 50% at 14.3 points per game with a 52.4% shooting percentage.
• Wilson is averaging a double-double also grabbing 10.7 rebounds per game, second-best in the MIAA and an MIAA leading eight defensive rebounds per game.
• Kylee Williams has hit 13-24 from three point range. 
Player to Watch
#21 Chris Wilson (5-10, F, Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) - 18.2 ppg, shooting .556, MIAA Player of the Week

Northwest Missouri Bearcats (4-3, 0-0 MIAA)
• The Bearcats have traded wins and losses all season to a 4-3 record. They've played five of their first seven games in either Maryville or St. Joseph, Mo. and this will be their first true road game.
• Northwest Missouri leads the league shooting 82.1% from the free throw line.
• The Bearcats have the second-best defense in the league allowing just 52.7 points per game.
• Northwest Missouri has one of the best turnover margins in the MIAA at +5.71. They've forced teams into nearly 17 turnovers per game while losing just over 11 per game themselves.
• Three Bearcats are scoring in double-figures. Kendey Eaton is scoring 16.3 points per game and Jaelyn Haggard 10.4 with 17 of her 24 FGM coming from three.
• NWMSU is being outrebounded by nearly six boards per game, towards the bottom in the MIAA. 
Player to Watch
#5 Kendey Eaton (5-6, G, Sr., Mound City, Mo.) - 16.3 ppg .396/.333/.900