Jennies Start MIAA Tournament Tomorrow Afternoon

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (March 4, 2020) - The march in the postseason begins now for No. 15 Jennies Basketball. The Jennies start the MIAA Tournament this weekend in Kansas City.

Opponent
No. 8 Washburn Ichabods (17-11, 11-8 MIAA) or
No. 9 Missouri Southern (10-17, 7-12 MIAA)

When
Thursday, March 5, 2020 - 12 p.m.

Where
Kansas City, Mo. - Municipal Auditorium

Tip Off
• Its MIAA Tournament time. The Jennies are the No. 1 seed and will face the winner of Missouri Southern/Washburn in the opening round. 

How to Watch
• This week'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
• The Jennies have won the MIAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons. 
• Central Missouri is 44-23 all-time against the Lions which includes two wins over them in 2019-20, with one coming just last week. They have won seven straight vs. MSSU. 
• The Jennies also defeated Washburn twice during the regular season and have won seven of eight against the Ichabods. 
• The Jennies are the No. 1 team in the Central Region after the second set of regional rankings.UCM has made three straight regional appearances.

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• The Jennies kept rolling picking up wins over Missouri Southern 74-39 and Pittsburg State 72-60 to close the regular season.

Previously vs. Missouri Southern/Washburn
• It wasn't long ago the Jennies played both these teams. They were two of their final three opponents of the season. The Jennies won the MIAA regular season with a 70-59 win at Washburn and defeated Missouri Southern 74-39 last week.

Jennies in the Rankings
• The Jennies have been ranked by the WBCA in 46 of the last 53 polls dating back to the 2016-17 season. They're currently 15th.
• In the second NCAA Central Region rankings of 2020, the Jennies were No. 1. There will be one more regional polls before the NCAA selection show Sunday, March 8.
• Central Missouri is ranked 12th in the D2CCA poll.
• The Jens were picked second in the MIAA preseason coaches poll, following their 15-4 conference season in 2018-19.

Individual Milestones
• Nija Collier's 54 blocks are third in a single-season at UCM. She needs eight more to get to eighth. 
• Morgan Fleming needs 11 assists to get into the UCM all-time top-10. She is also nine points away from 1500.
• Gigi McAtee is 16 assists away from 100 for her career. 
• Megan Skaggs is 36 points away from 1700 in her career. Something only five other Jennies have done.
• Morgan VanHyfte needs nine more rebounds to get to 200. 

1,000 Point Club
• Both Morgan Fleming & Megan Skaggs started the 2019-20 year as members of the 1,000 point club. Fleming has 1464 while Skaggs is at 1664. Skaggs is currently 6th all-time and 66 away from 5th, held by former teammate Paige Redmond. Fleming is 10th and 54 points back of ninth. 

10 Below
• For the last four seasons the Jennies have made a habit of holding teams to fewer than 10 points in at least one quarter. It's happened in 58 games dating back to the 2016-17 season and in those games, UCM is 53-5. 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 12 of their 28 games, and UCM is 11-1 so far in 2019 when doing so.

60 and Under
• In 18 of 28 games this season, the Jennies have held opponents to 60 or fewer points scored. Truman State was the first to break the 60-point barrier hitting 63. The most UCM has allowed this season is 69.

Who's Hot?
• Morgan Fleming has dished out a career-high eight assists in back-to-back games.   
• Ellisha Davis has hit four of her last five three-pointers. 
• Nija Collier picked up her 10th double-double of the year in the regular season final at Pittsburg State. 

MIAA Leaders
• Megan Skaggs is third in the MIAA scoring 17.0 points per game while Morgan Fleming is 6th at 15.7. Skaggs is also fourth in field goal percentage and sixth in the free throw percentage. 
• Collier is leading the league in rebounding with 9.5 and is 2nd with 1.9 blocks per game. Fleming is 4th with 3.9 assists per game.
• Skaggs moved up to sixth in steals per game and Morgan VanHyfte is 10th.
• Fleming, Collier and Skaggs are all in the top-12 in field goal percentage. 

All-MIAA
• The Jennies took home plenty of All-MIAA awards. Megan Skaggs and Morgan Fleming made the All-MIAA First Team and Nija Collier the Second Team.
• Skaggs was also the 11th MIAA Player of the Year in team history and Collier the second Defensive Player of the Year.
• Dave Slifer earned his fifth MIAA Coach of the Year award and second with UCM.

Defense First
• The Jennies are the only team in the MIAA to be in the top-5 in both blocks and steals per game. UCM is second with 4.57 blocks per contest and fifth with 9.21 steals per game. 
• UCM leads the league allowing 57.0 points per game, 25th in Division II.

Scouting The Opposition
Washburn Ichabods (17-11, 11-8 MIAA)
• Washburn has been a streaky team this year and finished the season winning two of their last three. Two of their last three losses of the season came against Central Missouri.
• The Ichabods have been a different team at home and on the road. They are 9-3 in home games and 8-8 playing away from Topeka. 
• Washburn is shooting 43% from the floor and 35% from three this season. They have three averaging double-figures as they score 69.4 points per game.
• Hunter Bentley and Shelby Piggie lead the team scoring 13 points per game and both made the All-MIAA team. Bentley is grabbing 7.1 rebounds per game while Piggie is shooting 44% from three.
• Washburn is turning the ball over 13.9 times per game this season while forcing 1511
Player to Watch
#2 Shelbe Piggie (5-4, G, Sr., Kansas City, Mo.) - 13.0 ppg, 25 vs. UCM in Feburary

Missouri Southern Lions (10-17, 7-12 MIAA)
• Missouri Southern is 5-4 in their last nine games and played their way into an MIAA Tournament berth. Playing at home, Missouri Southern is 7-5 this season compared to just 3-12 away from Joplin. 
• The Lions as a team are scoring 65.8 points per game, but just 62 in conference games. 
• They are shooting 41.7% from the floor and 32.3% from three but are just 68.1% at the free throw line, towards the bottom in the league.
• Missouri Southern has two scoring in double-figures led by Destiny Cozart at 14.6. Chasidee Owens is scoring 14.0 points per game. Cozart is among the MIAA leaders shoting 34% from three. 
• The Lions are averaging more than 18 turnovers per game are last with a -3.04 turnover margin.
• Amber Buch has been their leading ball-handler with 69 assists.
Player to Watch
#1 Destiny Cozart (5-8, G, Sr., Lexington, Kent.) - 14.6 ppg, 34% 3FG, 57 assists