No. 16 Jennies Welcome Northwest Missouri, Missouri Western to Warrensburg for Key MIAA Contests

Game 18: No. 16 Central Missouri (14-3, 8-3 MIAA) vs. Northwest Missouri (13-4, 7-4 MIAA)
Thursday, Jan. 25 | 5:30 p.m. | Warrensburg, Mo. (UCM Multipurpose Building)
Radio: 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The BAR (Greg Hassler, pxp; Brinkley Beever, color)
Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio

Game 19: No. 16 Central Missouri vs. Missouri Western (13-4, 8-3 MIAA)
Saturday, Jan. 27 | 1:00 p.m. | Warrensburg, Mo. (UCM Multipurpose Building)
Radio: 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The BAR (Greg Hassler, pxp; Brinkley Beever, color)
Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio

UCM Game Notes (PDF) | Buy Tickets

Tip-Off

No. 16-ranked Central Missouri Jennies basketball (14-3, 8-3 MIAA) is scheduled to host Northwest Missouri State (13-4, 7-4 MIAA) and Missouri Western (13-4, 8-3 MIAA) in a pair of key MIAA contests Thursday, Jan. 25, and Saturday, Jan. 27, inside the UCM Multipurpose Building. UCM is slated to face the Bearcats in the annual Black Out Game Thursday at 5:30 p.m. before hosting the Griffons Saturday at 1 p.m.
UCM has won its last four games and is coming off a pair of MIAA road wins at Northeastern State and Rogers State Jan. 18 and 20. Central Missouri defeated Northeastern State, 65-51, prior to taking down Rogers State, 65-37.
Through 17 games, the Central Missouri is paced by Brooke Littrell (19.1 ppg., 8.6 rpg., 2.7 apg., 1.5 spg.), Olivia Nelson (14.6 ppg., 4.4 apg., 2.0 spg., 2.8 rpg.), Ashley Tull (8.9 ppg., 5.9 rpg., 1.1 bpg.) and Graycen Holden (8.8 ppg., 5.8 rpg., 1.5 apg.).
Littrell leads the MIAA in scoring through 17 games with her 19.1 points per game and ranks second with her .896 free-throw percentage.
As a team through 17 contests, the Jennies are shooting 44.6 percent from the floor, 30.2 percent from three-point range and 74.5 percent at the free-throw line. UCM is outscoring its opponents, 74.7-61.0 and outrebounding adversaries, 38.2-32.9.

Black Out Game Set for Thursday

Thursday's contest will be the annual Black Out Game where fans are encouraged to sport their black UCM gear as the Jennies take on their long-standing rivals from Maryville.

Last Time Out for UCM

No. 17-ranked Central Missouri Jennies basketball upped its winning streak to four games after posting a convincing 65-37 victory over the Rogers State Hillcats Saturday afternoon, Jan. 20, at the Claremore Expo Center.
Brooke Littrell tallied a team-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting and a 1-of-2 showing at the free-throw line while Lauren Frost had eight points and pulled down five rebounds, and Ashley Tull added seven points and a team-best eight rebounds, pacing UCM in the victory.
For the game, the Jennies shot 44 percent from the floor (26-of-59), 21 percent from three-point range (3-of-14) and 67 percent from the free-throw line (10-of-15). UCM outrebounded Rogers State, 37-33, and outscored the Hillcats in the paint, 38-18, and off turnovers, 18-3. Central Missouri never trailed in the game.

Back-to-Back Weekly Honors

University of Central Missouri Jennies basketball's Brooke Littrell earned MIAA Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week honors for a second straight week, the conference office announced Monday, Jan. 22. Littrell averaged 18.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as the No. 17-ranked Jennies collected a pair of MIAA road wins at Northeastern Sate and Rogers State. In the 65-51 win over Northeastern State, Littrell finished with 18 points on 54.0 percent shooting (7-of-13) while pulling down eight rebounds. She then tallied 18 points again in the 65-37 win at Rogers State, shooting 62.0 percent (8-of-13) with five boards.

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 412-174 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 (798 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. 16 in the latest WBCA Division II Top-25 Coaches Poll released Tuesday, Jan. 23.

Storylines

Head coach Dave Slifer is just two wins shy of career victory number 800. Only one other coach in NCAA Division II has achieved at least 800 career wins (Tom Shirley, Jefferson, 849 wins in 41 seasons).

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