MIAA Play Continues for No. 3 Jennies Basketball at Lincoln Saturday

Game 8: No. 3 Central Missouri (7-0, 2-0 MIAA) at Lincoln (4-3, 1-1 MIAA)
Saturday, Dec. 9 | 1:00 p.m. | Jefferson City, Mo. (Jason Gymnasium)
Radio: 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The BAR (Greg Hassler, pxp; Kim Anderson, color commentary)
Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio

UCM Game Notes (PDF)

Tip-Off

Third-ranked University of Central Missouri Jennies basketball (7-0, 2-0 MIAA) is scheduled to travel to Jefferson City, Mo., for a 1 p.m. MIAA contest at Lincoln (4-3, 1-1 MIAA) Saturday, Dec. 9, inside Jason Gymnasium.
UCM is coming off a 2-0 week, winning at Central Oklahoma Nov. 30, 63-47, before posting an 87-51 road win at Newman Dec. 2.
Through seven games, the Central Missouri is paced by Brooke Littrell (20.0 ppg., 9.9 rpg., 1.9 apg., 1.6 spg.), Olivia Nelson (15.4 ppg., 4.4 apg., 2.6 spg., 2.4 rpg.), Ashley Tull (10.1 ppg., 6.3 rpg., 1.3 bpg.) and Graycen Holden (10 ppg., 5.3 rpg., 1.6 apg.).
Littrell leads the MIAA in scoring through seven games with her 20 points per game.
As a team through seven contests, the Jennies are shooting 44.3 percent from the floor, 31.7 percent from three-point range and 75.3 percent at the free-throw line. UCM is outscoring its opponents, 76.9-57.1, and outrebounding adversaries, 39.4-32.3.

Welcome to the 'Burg!

Central Missouri has four newcomers on its 2023-24 roster, including one high school freshman (Rylee Vierthaler, G), one junior college transfer (Jada Devine, F), one Division II transfer (Allie Clevenger, G) and one Division I transfer (Shannon Karlin, G).

Last Time Out for UCM

No. 3-ranked University of Central Missouri Jennies basketball rolled past the Newman Jets, 87-51, in a MIAA game Saturday afternoon, Dec. 2, inside Fugate Gymnasium.
Brooke Littrell scored 18 points on 4-of-9 shooting and a perfect 10-for-10 performance at the free-throw line to lead four Jennies in double figures. Olivia Nelson (12 points), Graycen Holden (10 points) and Ashley Tull (10 points) also reached double-figure points in the victory. Littrell and Tull paced UCM on the glass with seven rebounds each.
For the game, Central Missouri shot nearly 50 percent from the field, going 29-of-59, and were 41 percent from three-point range (7-of-17). The Jennies excelled at the free-throw line, making 22 out of 26 attempts for 85 percent. UCM outrebounded Newman, 46-28, and posted an impressive 42-16 advantage in points in the paint.

Individual Milestones

UCM head coach Dave Slifer earned his 400th win at Central Missouri in the 66-64 overtime MIAA tournament semifinal win over Fort Hays State March 4, 2023. Slifer is an impressive 407-170 in his now 20 seasons as the Central Missouri women's basketball head coach. He's already the winningest head coach in both UCM and MIAA women's basketball history, and the second-winningest coach in NCAA Division II history (791 career victories in 33 seasons).

Jennies in the Rankings

Central Missouri was picked first in both the 2023-24 MIAA Preseason Coaches and Media Polls. UCM received 167 points and 11 first-place votes in the coaches poll and 283 points and four first-place votes in the media poll.
Central Missouri is ranked No. 3 in the latest WBCA Division II Top-25 Coaches Poll released Tuesday, Dec. 5.

Storylines

UCM finished the 2022-23 season with an overall record of 25-5 and a MIAA mark of 19-3, placing second in the final conference standings. Central Missouri advanced to the NCAA-II Central Regional Tournament in Duluth, Minn., before falling in the first round to Minnesota State.
The Jennies return four of five starters from last season's team, including defending MIAA Player of the Year and WBCA Coaches All-American Brooke Littrell and All-MIAA Defensive Team selection Olivia Nelson.

Jennies Basketball Inks High School Standout Taylor Weishaar During Signing Period

University of Central Missouri Jennies basketball head coach Dave Slifer announced the signing of Riverside High School standout Taylor Weishaar to a National Letter of Intent during the 2023-24 signing period Friday, Nov. 17.
Weishaar: 2023 Sports in Kansas 2A Player of the Year…First Team All-State as a junior…Two-time unanimous first team all-league…Second Team All-State as a sophomore…All-State Honorable Mention and all-league honorable mention as a freshman…four-year letterwinner…Averaged 17.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.5 blocks per game as a junior…Helped her team to a Kansas 2A Substate Championship and Kansas 2A State Runner Up finish…Was also a four-year letterwinner in volleyball…First team all-league volleyball as a junior and senior…Daughter of Russell and Lori Weishaar…Plans to major in exercise science at UCM.

Returning Scoring