No. 7 Jennies Basketball Welcomes Pittsburg State Thursday, No. 24 Missouri Southern Saturday

Andrew Mather Photography

Women's Basketball | 2/1/2023 11:03:00 AM

Game 19: No. 7 Central Missouri (17-1, 13-1 MIAA) vs. Pittsburg State (17-4, 12-3 MIAA)
Thursday, Feb. 2 | 5:30 p.m. | Warrensburg, Mo. (Multipurpose Building)
Radio: 1450 KOKO, 107.9 FM, 98.5 The BAR | TV: MIAA Network (PPV)

Game 20: No. 7 Central Missouri vs. No. 24 Missouri Southern (19-4, 11-4 MIAA)
Saturday, Feb. 4 | 1 p.m. | Warrensburg, Mo. (Multipurpose Building)
Radio: 98.5 The BAR | TV: MIAA Network (PPV)

Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | UCM Game Notes (PDF)

Tip-Off

No. 7-ranked Central Missouri Jennies basketball (17-1, 13-1 MIAA) is back home in the friendly confines of the UCM Multipurpose Building Thursday, Feb. 2, and Saturday, Feb. 4, for a pair of key MIAA games vs. Pittsburg State (17-4, 12-3 MIAA) and No. 24 Missouri Southern (19-4, 11-4 MIAA). UCM is scheduled to face Pittsburg State at 5:30 p.m. Thursday before hosting Missouri Southern Saturday at 1 p.m.
Central Missouri is coming off an 82-49 win at Lincoln Jan. 28 in Jefferson City, Mo.
Through 18 games, the Jennies are paced by redshirt sophomores Brooke Littrell (19.2 ppg., 8.7 rpg., .513 FG%, .389 3FG%, .876 FT%, 41 A, 15 Blk, 28 Stl), Olivia Nelson (11.7 ppg., 2.9 rpg., .482 FG%, .349 3FG%, .884 FT%, 75 A, 23 Stl) and Lauren Frost (8.1 ppg., 3.9 rpg., .345 FG%, 72 A, 28 Stl), junior Ashley Tull (9.6 ppg., 6.0 rpg., .547 FG%, 31 Blk, 12 Stl) and redshirt freshman Graycen Holden (7.9 ppg., 3.8 rpg., .489 FG%, .683 FT%, 12 Stl).
As a team, UCM is averaging 76.8 points and 41.2 rebounds per game and shooting 46.7 percent from the field while holding its opponents to 58.7 points and 31.6 rebounds per game and a 37 percent field-goal percentage.
The Jennies are seventh in all of NCAA Division II in field-goal percentage through 18 games at 46.7 percent. UCM has converted 518 out of 1,108 shot attempts going into Thursday's game. Central Missouri is also ranked in the top-50 in assists per game (46th at 15.1 per game), blocks per game (47th with 3.7 per game), rebound margin (sixth at +9.7), rebounds per game (38th with 41.22 per game), scoring margin (eighth at +18.1), scoring offense (185h at 76.8 points per game) and turnovers per game (10th at 12.6 per game).

Last Time Out

Brooke Littrell led three student-athletes in double figures with 19 points as No. 7-ranked Central Missouri Jennies basketball put the pedal to the metal and stomped the Lincoln Blue Tigers, 82-49, Saturday afternoon, Jan. 28, inside Jason Gymnasium.
Littrell netted her game-high 19 points on a 6-of-12 performance from the field and a 7-of-8 mark at the free-throw line, and pulled down a game-best nine rebounds, while Cierra Smith scored 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting and Ashley Tull added 12 points and snagged five boards, rounding out the Jennies in double digits.
Graycen Holden and Olivia Nelson each dished out five assists. Holden's five assists is a career high.
Central Missouri shot 52 percent from the field for the game, going 33-of-64, and were an impressive 11-of-12 at the free-throw line for a season-best 92 percent. UCM outrebounded Lincoln (5-15, 3-11 MIAA), 39-32, and outscored the Blue Tigers off turnovers, 30-6, and in the paint, 56-16.

Last Time Out vs. Pittsburg State

Brooke Littrell scored 31 points and Olivia Nelson added 25 points to lead No. 17-ranked Central Missouri Jennies basketball past Pittsburg State, 82-75, Saturday evening, Dec. 17, inside John Lance Arena.
Littrell went 11-of-18 from the floor, 2-for-4 from three-point range and 7-of-8 at the free-throw line for her season-high 31 points. She added a career-high tying 18 rebounds for her team-best third double-double of the season and dished out a team-high four assists.
Nelson compiled her season-best 25 points on a 10-of-16 performance from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 clip at the foul line.
The Jennies shot 46 percent from the field, converting 31 out of 68 shot attempts, and were 6-of-14 from downtown for 43 percent and 14 out of 17 at the free-throw line for 82 percent.
UCM was outrebounded in the game, 37-26, but scored 26 points off 16 Gorilla turnovers and dominated Pittsburg State in the paint, 48-28.
Pittsburg State led 73-72 with 3:22 to go in the fourth quarter before Central Missouri went on a 10-2 run over the final three minutes of the game for the 82-75 advantage and eventual victory. Nelson got the run started with a layup before Littrell hit back-to-back shots with a layup and jumper for a 78-75 lead with just over two minutes remaining on the clock. She iced the game down the stretch with a perfect 4-of-4 showing at the foul line.

Last Time Out vs. Missouri Southern

Brooke Littrell scored 24 points and pulled down a season-high 16 rebounds as the No. 17-ranked Central Missouri Jennies basketball team held off the No. 3 Missouri Southern Lions, 73-71, Tuesday, Dec. 13, inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
Ashley Tull added 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor and a 3-of-4 showing at the foul line. Olivia Nelson dished out six assists and netted nine points, while Lauren Frost added eight points, four assists and seven rebounds, and Kade Hackerott tallied nine points.
The Jennies shot 44 percent from the field, going 28-of-63, and were 15-of-20 at the free throw line for 75 percent.
Central Missouri owned the glass in the game, outrebounding Missouri Southern, 46-32, and outscored the Lions in the paint, 44-26.
UCM used an 11-0 run in the final four minutes of the second quarter to turn a 25-25 tie into 36-15 advantage with five seconds to go in the stanza. The Jennies would never trail again in the game. Nelson got the run going with a layup at the 3:25 mark before Littrell converted back-to-back layups to up the Central Missouri lead to 31-25 with 2:21 remaining. Graycen Holden kept the offensive spurt rolling with a layup at the 1:41 mark, followed by Hackerott making one of two free throws with just under 45 seconds to go. Holden capped the run with a jumper with six seconds on the clock for the 11-point lead.

Individual Milestones

UCM head coach Dave Slifer is eight wins away from tallying his 400th victory as head coach of the Jennies. Slifer is an impressive 392-167 in his 19 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 (776 career victories in 33 seasons).
Olivia Nelson is 38 points shy of 1,000 for her Central Missouri career. Going into Thursday's game, she sits at 962 career points.

A State for the Record Books

UCM's 16 consecutive wins to start the season set a new mark for the best start in program history, surpassing the 15 straight victories in 1995-96.
The streak was snapped when Central Missouri fell at Missouri Western Jan. 21, 66-63.

Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back: Littrell Earns Fourth Consecutive MIAA Athlete of the Week Honor

Brooke Littrell became the first MIAA basketball student-athlete (men's or women's) since at least 2011-12 to earn four consecutive Athlete of the Week honors after her performance on the court during the week of Jan. 9-15.

Jennies in the Rankings

UCM is ranked No. 7 in the most recent WBCA Division II Coaches' Poll and No. 5 in the latest D2SIDA Division II Media Poll.
Central Missouri was picked third in the 2022-23 MIAA Preseason Media Poll and fifth in the Preseason Coaches' Poll. UCM received three first-place votes and 218 points in the media poll and 127 points in the coaches' poll.

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