Jennies Return to MIAA Tournament

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (March 6, 2019) - It's MIAA Tournament time for the Jennies! The No. 2 seed, UCM will receive a bye into Thursday's Quarterfinal Round.

Schedule
Thursday, March 7 - MIAA Quarterfinals
Saturday, March 9 - MIAA Semifinals
Sunday, March 10 - MIAA Championship

Opponents
Quarterfinals
No. 7 Central Oklahoma Bronchos (18-11, 9-10 MIAA)
or
No. 10 Missouri Southern Lions (14-15, 6-13 MIAA)

Where
Kansas City, Mo. - Municipal Auditorium

When
Quarterfinals - Thursday, March 7 - 8:15 p.m.
If UCM advances to semifinals
Saturday, March 9 - 8:15 p.m.
If UCM advances to finals
Sunday, March 10 - 3:15 p.m.

How to Watch
• This week's games will be broadcast live on 1450 KOKO and 98.5 The Bar with Greg Hassler on the call. Online audio stream can be found at www.warrensburgradio.com There will also be a webstream available on the MIAA Blueframe portal page at www.themiaanetwork.com. Live stats will also be available.

Tip Off
• The MIAA Tournament is here. Central Missouri went 22-5 during the season, 15-4 in the MIAA and earned the number two seed in the tournament.
• Over the last three seasons, the Jennies have won 48 MIAA games.
• The Jennies will face the winner of the 7/10 matchup between No. 7 Central Oklahoma and No. 10 Missouri Southern. 

Story Lines
• All-time in MIAA Tournament games the Jennies are 40-28. They have won seven MIAA Tournament Championships, with their last coming in 1990.

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• The Jennies wrapped up the regular season with road wins at Lindenwood (76-66) and at Lincoln (77-52) last week

Previously vs. UCO/MSSU
• The Jennies defeated both teams during the regular season on the road. First was a 70-67 win at Missouri Southern. Three weeks later they took down Central Oklahoma by 30, 80-50. 

Jennies vs. UCO/MSSU
• Central Missouri has gone 2-2 against Central Oklahoma and 5-2 against Missouri Southern in the last four years.
• Morgan Fleming scores 19 points per game in 2 contests against the Bronchos while Paige Redmond scores 11.8 and has hit 10 of 20 three pointers vs. UCO.
• Megan Skaggs is shooting 52.6% against Missouri Southern in five games, scoring 11.0 points. Morgan Fleming scores 11.7 points against the Lions while Redmond scores 15.4 in seven games with 26 assists. 

Jennies in the Rankings
• Central Missouri remains ranked 24th in the WBCA poll for the fourth straight week.
• The Jennies have been ranked by the WBCA in 39 of the last 40 polls dating back to the 2016-17 season.
• UCM was ranked fourth in the second NCAA Regional poll released Feb. 27. 
• The Jens were picked first in the MIAA preseason coaches poll, following their 18-1 regular season championship last season.

Jennies at Neutral Sites
• This season UCM is 4-0 in neutral site games
• All-time the Jennies are 47-26 when playing at neutral sites under coach Slifer with 16 of those wins coming in the last three years. 

The MIAA Universe (As of March 3, 2019)
• Not one, not two, but three Jennies ranked in the MIAA top-10 in scoring to close the regular season. Paige Redmond moved up to No. 4 overall with 16.5 points per game. Morgan Fleming finished seventh with 15.2 and Megan Skaggs ninth with 15.0. All three are also in the top-10 in FG%. Skaggs is second at 55%, Fleming sixth at 45.2% and Redmond eighth at 43.5%. 
• Redmond is leads the MIAA in minutes per game at 36.8, a minute and a half ahead of second place. She's also third in assists with 4.3 and Fleming is fifth with 3.5. 
• In MIAA only games this season, the Jennies defense is second in points allowed with 61.4. 

Individual Milestones 
• Paige Redmond became the sixth Jennie to score more than 1600 career points, doing so against NWMSU. She is currently at 1,666 and fifth in Jennies history. Redmond is also climbing the all-time 3FGM and assist list. She has 207 threes for her career which is fourth all-time, five behind 3rd place, is 6th with 410 assists and tied for sixth with 120 games played. 127 is the UCM games played record. 
• Sydney Crockett is also moving up the all-time three-point list and is currently eighth with 142, 3 shy of 7th place and 4 shy of 6th.
• Megan Skaggs has scored 1,096 points. She needs four for 1,100 and Morgan Fleming is 28 points away from 1,000. 

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 45 games dating back to the 2016-17 season and in those games, UCM is 41-4. The Jens were 15-1 when doing so in 2016-17 and 18-1 last year including four of the six NCAA postseason games. The Jens are at it again this year. In nine games, they've held an opponent to single-digits in one quarter of play. UCM held the Bearcats to less than 10 in 2 quarters and are 8-2 this season. 

Who's Hot?
• Megan Skaggs is scoring 19 points per game in her last five and shooting 60% in her last nine games.
• Paige Redmond has scored 20+ points in three of her last four games.
• Morgan Fleming has scored 19.1 points in her last seven games and has shot over 50% in five of her last six.

UCM in the MIAA Tournament
• As the number two seed, Central Missouri is 11-5 and two of their tournament championship wins have come as a No. 2 seed.
• In 35 appearances, the Jennies are 40-28 in the MIAA Tournament. They are 17-10 in quarterfinal round games and have made 14 championship appearances. 
• The Jennies went 0-1 last year, but rebounded to win the ultimate prize, the National Championship.
• UCM's last trip to the finals came in 2014, a 75-71 loss to Emporia. They last made the semifinals in 2017, a 58-50 loss to ESU.

Scouting the Opposition
No. 7 Central Oklahoma Bronchos (18-11, 9-10 MIAA)
• After starting out 8-0, the Bronchos played .500 ball the rest of the way, finishing the season at 18-11 and 9-9 in the MIAA. They are the No. 7 seed this weekend. 
• Central Oklahoma scores 67.4 points per game which is ninth in the MIAA. They have three averaging more than 10 points per game, and all between 10 and 13 points.
• Micayla Haynes leads the team with 12.2 points per game. She shoots nearly 40% from three. Ireon Smith is shooting 54.5% from the floor and scores 11.4 and Shatoya Brson averages 10.7.
• Smith is also the team's leading rebounder with 224 and is third in the MIAA with 47 blocked shots.
• The Bronchos shoot 412% from the floor and 34.5% from three.
• They hold a slight edge in rebounding with 36.5 per game and opponents at 36.1.
• UCO is in the middle of the pack in terms of turnovers, having committed 436, 15.0 per game and have forced 446, 15.4 per game.
• Bryson is leading the squad with 89 assists while Blake Blessington has 72.
• UCO has won three straight games, reaching 70 points in all three. 
Player to Watch
#24 Ireon Smith (6-0, F, Jr., Midwest City, Okla.) - 11.4 ppg, 54.5%, 47 blocked shots

No. 10 Missouri Southern Lions (14-15, 6-13 MIAA)
• Missouri Southern struggled down the stretch and finished the season dropping 5 of their last 7 games. They take a 14-15 record into the MIAA Tournament and their 6-13 conference record earned them the final spot in the tournament.
• The Lions are led by senior guard Chelsey Henry, who is fifth in the MIAA scoring 16.0 points per game. She shooting 39.7% from the floor but just 26.4 from three. 
• Missouri Southern finished the season second in the MIAA in rebounding with 39.8 per game. Their +3.4 rebounding margin is sixth in the league. 
• In addition to Henry, Chasidee Owens is scoring 11.4 points per game and Destiny Cozart is at 9.0. Owens is the team's leading rebounder with 6.0 per game.
• As a team, the Lions are shooting 40.5% from the floor and opponents are at 40.8, both are in the bottom half of the MIAA. From three, MSSU is shooting just 29.4%, next to last in the MIAA.
• Turnovers have been a major problem for the Lions who give it up 18.4 times per game, second-most in the MIAA. Their -3.83 turnover margin is also the second worst in the conference. 
Player to Watch
#15 Chelsey Henry (5-10, G, Sr., Neosho, Mo.) - 5th in MIAA scoring 16.0 points per game