Jennies Make 32 at the Free Throw Line, Beat Bronchos by Three

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Feb. 25, 2021) - Central Missouri Jennies Basketball fans were treated to two very different halves of basketball Thursday night at the Multi. After building a 19-point lead, the Jennies needed some clutch free throw shooting to hang on, 79-76 against Central Oklahoma. The win gives the Jennies 18 on the season with one more left to play before the MIAA Tournament.

How it Happened
• Free throw shooting was the story in this one. Central Missouri went to the line 36 times and made 32 of them. The Bronchos hit a bunch as well going 24-30.
• Central Missouri ended up shooting better overall, but because of all the fouls and 20 turnovers, attempted 14 fewer field goals than UCM, 62-48. The Jennies were also 5-18 from three while UCO managed to make just two from downtown.
• UCO outrebounded the Jennies by three, 36-33 overall and 18-10 in the second half.
• The Jennies 20 giveaways led to 15 points for UCO while the Jennies scored nine points of the 15 Broncho turnovers. 
• Nija Collier started the game hitting a three from the wing and the Jens were off and running. They scored the first eight points of the game before UCO was able to get on the board.
• Charley Bovaird knocked in a three of her own to cap a 10-0 Jennies run and at the media timeout UCM led 18-7. 
• The Jennies kept the pressure on and Graycen Holden's spinning layup in the lane plus the free throw put the Jennies up 24-9 after one quarter.
• Things slowed down in the second quarter. The two teams played evenly scoring 10 points each. The Jennies scored the first four points taking their largest lead, 28-9.
• The Bronchos forced a couple turnovers and brought the game back to 15 at the half, 34-19.
• UCO came to life in the second half. After scoring 19 points in the first half, they fought early in the third quarter to get the game back to single-digits and less than four minutes into the half, it was just a six-point game, 39-33.
• The two teams kept trading baskets for the rest of the half. UCO was 9-12 from the floor in the third quarter scoring 32 points and cut the lead to just four, 55-51, with one quarter left to play.
• And what a fourth quarter it was. Real time was roughly 35 minutes. There were 18 fouls called, nine on each team, and 34 free throw attempts.
• Central Missouri was just 3-8 from the field in the fourth but were a perfect 16-16 at the line. UCO nearly matched the Jennies going 15-18 in the period from the stripe.
• The Jennies appeared to be pulling ahead when Brooke Littrell hit a three to make it an eight-point game, 64-56 with 7:51 to play. Gigi McAtee buried a three of her own and UCM led 73-64 with less than five minutes remaining.
• That was the last field goal the Jennies hit until the final minute of the game. UCO responded right away with a 7-0 run and brought the lead to just two, 73-71 with 2:16 left.
• Olivia Nelson made it a two-possession game, 75-71 at the line, but the Bronchos tied the game for the first time since 0-0, at 75 with 36.8 seconds left to play.
• Coming out of a timeout, the Jennies made it look easy on the inbound getting a two-on-one under the basket and Morgan VanHyfte's pass to a wide open Nija Collier put the Jens back up 77-75 after just four seconds ticked off. 
• Central Oklahoma had a chance to tie at the free throw line, but went 1-2. After the original ruling gave the ball back to UCO out of bounds on the rebound from the missed throw, the officials went to the monitor and felt there was enough video evidence to over turn the call and give the ball to the Jennies.
• Forced to foul, they sent Olivia Nelson to line where she sank both attempts. The Bronchos missed on their final shot and the rebound fell to the Jennies who ran out the clock for a 79-76 win.

It Was Over When...
• Down by three, the Bronchos went for a quick two, but the Jennies defense stepped up when it needed to, denying the layup and Brooke Littrell was there to collect the rebound as the clock ticked down to zero.

Jennies Stat Leaders
• Brooke Littrell was 6-10 from the floor and finished with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double.
• Nija Collier led UCM scoring 21 points. She was 5-9 from the field and 10-12 at the free throw line.
• Graycen Holden scored 13 and hit all seven free throw attempts.
• Olivia Nelson added 14 with three rebounds and three assists. She was 8-8 at the line.
• Gigi McAtee was 2-4 from three and scored six points with three rebounds.

For the Bronchos
• Kelsey Johnson scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. She was 8-14 from the floor and 7-8 at the line.
• Clary Donica came off the bench to score 11 with five rebounds.
• Brooke Raynor was 5-7 shooting for 10 points.
• Jacy Littell added 10 points as well.
• Avery Allen dished out a game-high six assists.

News and Notes
• The Jennies 32 made free throws are their most in a game since Nov. 29, 2003 against East Central and are the most in the Dave Slifer era. 
• Central Missouri's 88.9% at the line was a season-high. 
• The double-double was Littrell's fourth this season. 
• The Jennies held the Bronchos to just nine first-quarter points. It's the ninth time this season they've kept an opponent below 10 points in a quarter and the 69th time since 2016-17. The Jennies are () this season and () in the six years since moving to quarters.
• In their first meeting, UCO was 7-15 from three. This time the Jennies held them to 2-12 from behind the arc.
• The 76 points allowed are the most by UCM this season. 
• UCM finished a stretch of three straight games against teams either ranked or receiving votes at 2-1. 

Up Next
• The Jennies close out the regular season Saturday, Feb. 27 with Senior Day. The Jennies will host Lincoln with a 1 p.m. tip-off.