Jennies Venture to No. 3 Fort Hays State, No. 9 Nebraska Kearney

Game 15: Central Missouri (9-5, 5-2 MIAA) at No. 3 Fort Hays State (11-1, 5-1 MIAA)
Thursday, Jan. 6 | 5:30 p.m. | Hays, Kan. (Gross Memorial Coliseum)
Radio: 1450 KOKO, 107.9 FM, 98.5 The BAR
Live Stats

Game 16: Central Missouri at No. 9 Nebraska Kearney (11-1, 6-0 MIAA)
Saturday, Jan. 8 | 2 p.m. | Kearney, Neb. (Health & Sports Center)
Radio: 1450 KOKO, 107.9 FM, 98.5 The BAR
Live Stats

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Tip-Off
• Central Missouri Jennies basketball takes to the road Thursday, Jan. 6, and Saturday, Jan. 8, for a pair of MIAA road games at No. 3 Fort Hays State and No. 9 Nebraska Kearney. The Jennies are scheduled to take on the Tigers in Hays, Kan., at 5:30 p.m. Thursday before facing the Lopers in Kearney, Neb., Saturday at 2 p.m.

Storylines
• The Jennies enter Thursday with a 9-5 overall record and an MIAA mark of 5-2 after routing Emporia State at home Monday, 83-49.
• Through 14 games, the Jennies are led by redshirt senior forward Nija Collier (20.4 ppg., 12.3 RPG, 1.7 BPG), redshirt freshman forward Brooke Littrell (18.4 ppg., 8.9 RPG) and redshirt freshman guard Olivia Nelson (14.2 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 4.9 APG, 1.8 SPG).
• Collier (first) and Littrell (fourth) rank in the top-10 in scoring in the MIAA through 14 games.
• Collier leads the conference on the glass with her 12.3 rebounds per game while Littrell is sixth in rebounding at 8.9 rebounds per game.
• Collier is second in the MIAA in field-goal percentage (105-188, .559) while Littrell is eighth (93-198, .470).
• Collier leads all of NCAA Division II in rebounds through 14 games with 172. She is 10th in NCAA-II and first in the conference with 12.3 rebounds per game. In addition, she is 12th in NCAA-II with her 20.4 points per game.
• Collier's team-high 10 double-doubles leads the MIAA and is second in NCAA-II, while Littrell's nine double-doubles is second in the conference and third in NCAA-II.
• Nelson is second in the MIAA in assists per game at 4.9, while Collier leads the league in blocks with 1.7 blocks per game.
• Nelson ranks seventh in total assists in NCAA-II with 69 in 14 games. \

Individual Milestones
 • Nija Collier is third in career blocks at UCM with 122 through 14 games this season. She needs four blocks to move up to second in program history.

Last Time Out for the Jennies
• Central Missouri Jennies basketball outscored the Emporia State University Lady Hornets 28-8 in the first quarter and never looked back, never trailing in an 83-49 rout of the Lady Hornets in an MIAA game Monday, Jan. 3, inside the UCM Multipurpose Building.
• The 34-point margin of victory was the largest for Central Missouri against Emporia State since a 36-point win in 1984.
• Brooke Littrell posted her eighth double-double of the season with a game-high 22 points to go along with 11 rebounds while Charley Bovaird tied her career-high with 18 points on six three-pointers and Kade Hackerott scored a career-best 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, pacing UCM offensively.
• Olivia Nelson dished out a career-high eight assists, and Nija Collier snagged a game-best 12 rebounds.
• Including the 28-point first-quarter offensive blitz, the Jennies outscored the Lady Hornets in three of the four quarters in the contest.
• UCM shot 48 percent from the field (30-for-62) and 36 percent from three-point range (11-for-31) and went 12-of-16 at the free-throw line (75 percent) for the game.
• Central Missouri outrebounded Emporia State, 47-30, and outscored ESU in the paint, 32-16, off turnovers, 15-7, and second chance points, 17-1.
• The Jennies limited the Lady Hornets to just 26 percent shooting from the floor and 15 percent from beyond-the-arc in the contest.

Jennies in the Rankings
• The defending NCAA Division II Central Region Champion Jennies were picked to finish second this year in the MIAA preseason coaches' poll. UCM received three first-place votes in the poll.
• Central Missouri was voted to tie for first with Fort Hays State in the MIAA preseason media poll. The Jennies tallied 118 points and five first-place votes in the poll.

Up Next
• The Jennies are back at home at the Multipurpose Building Jan. 13 and 15 to continue their MIAA schedule. Central Missouri is slated to face Central Oklahoma, Thursday, Jan. 13, at 5:30 p.m. before taking on Newman at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15.