The eighth-ranked Jennies (15-2, 9-1 MIAA) are in search of their fourth-consecutive win when they host Lindenwood (9-7, 4-5 MIAA) on Saturday, Jan. 25 for a 1:30 p.m. tip-off. The Jennies are coming off a 71-70 comeback victory at Lincoln on Wednesday. UCM trailed by 11 with over 12 minutes left and escaped with a narrow one-point win in the last seconds. Senior forward
Keuna Flax set a new career-best in points with 35, maintaining her MIAA lead in points per game (20.6). Lindenwood snapped a four-game skid at home against Southwest Baptist on Wednesday, winning, 71-66. The Lions are led by freshman guard Kassidy Gengenbacher, who is first on the team with 14.3 points per contest.
Last Time Out
The Jennies (15-2, 9-1 MIAA) fell behind early, 13-9, but fought to take a 17-15 lead with 10:47 in the first half, capped off by a jumper from Flax.
The Blue Tigers took the lead right back as Jennifer Rosado would hit a three, followed by a layup from Lizzie Nessling, giving Lincoln a 20-17 advantage with 9:58 in the first half.
UCM scored six unanswered points to re-claim the lead at 23-20, highlighted by a pair of layups from Howard.
Lincoln's Hunter Yoakum hit a three with 3:57 on the clock, providing the Blue Tigers with a 29-28 lead. The Blue Tigers finished the first half on a 10-6 run to take a five-point lead into halftime. The Jennies shot just 39.4% (13-of-33) from the floor and missed five of 12 free throws (58.3%) in the first 20 minutes of play.
The Blue Tigers opened the game's second half with a three from Hunter to go up by eight, but
BreAnna Lewis would cancel it out on the ensuing possession with a three of her own to pull UCM to within 42-37.
UCM worked to cut the deficit to two at 43-41 after
Revonnia Howard sank a pair of free-throws with 16:30 left.
However Lincoln scored 10 of the next 11 points to take their largest lead of the game, 53-42 with 12:21 to play.
The Jennies got six of those points back thanks to a pair of layups from Flax and two free-throw makes from
Breonna Embray with 9:55 remaining in the game.
Angela Randall converted on a layup to put Lincoln ahead by seven, 55-48, but Flax scored the next seven Jennies points to even the score at 55-55 with 7 and a half minutes to go.
Flax gave UCM the lead for good, 59-58, splitting a pair of free throws after drawing a foul from Kate Frazier with 5:23 left in the game.
Slifer By The Numbers
Slifer is 34th on the all-time wins list for all division coaches with 568.
Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 568 wins and is eighth among all Division II coaches with a .741 winning percentage.
Slifer earned his 560th career win in UCM's last game on Dec. 5 against Fort Hays State.
Jennies Basketball In The Multi
The Jens are 425-92 all-time in the Multipurpose Building, and 96-29 during the Slifer era ... Central Missouri finished the 2012-
13 season with a 14-0 record in the Multi ... UCM has won at least nine home games every year since 2004-05 ... the Jennies have gone undefeated at home four times: 1982-83 (15-0, finished 3rd in the nation), 1985-86 (14-0, regional champions), 1988-89 (15-0, finished 4th in the nation), and 2012-13 ... from 1988 to 1990, the Jennies won a school-record 34
consecutive games at the Multi ... Currently, UCM is riding a 21-game winning streak at the Multi.
Flax's Career Game
Senior
Keuna Flax scored a season-high 35 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the floor. The 35 points is the highest output since Dec. 8, 2012 when
Shelby Winkelmann scored 42 against Emporia State.
The Comeback Kids
With 12:21 left in the last game at Lincoln, the Jennies trailed by 11, 53-42. The deficit was the largest the Jennies have overcome this season (trailed 51-41 in second half at Ark. Tech in 82-68 win). The last time the Jennies trailed by more than 11 and won was Dec. 18, 2012 when they trailed by 12 in the first half to Dixie State (won 78-69).
Free-Throw Woes
Despite a three-game win streak, the Jennies have struggled at the free-throw line in the last three games. The team is shooting 64.7% (55-of-85) from the charity stripe and missed 12 (season-high) against MWSU.
Senior guard
BreAnna Lewis registered 88 three-pointers during the 2012-13 season. The 88 shots made from beyond the three-point arc placed her second on the Jennies' single-season list (four behind Jessica Burkholder in 1996-97 season).
Through 17 games this season, Lewis has sank 35 three-pointers, reaching five twice this season. She has recorded at least one three-pointer in 14 of 17 games (none against FHSU,
WU and MWSU). The 35 three-pointers bumps her three-point career total to 123 – eighth on the Jennies' all-time list and 5 behind Ashley Millham.
Winkelmann Playing Strong
After leading the Jennies offense during the first eight games of the 2012-13 season, freshman
Shelby Winkelmann suffered a season-ending injury during the win over Dixie State on Dec. 18, 2012. Winkelmann was averaging 17.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, the Jennies' leading scorer at the time. Last season, Winkelmann recorded the third-highest scoring output in a game in Jennies history with 42 against Emporia State on Dec. 8. Winkelmann is third on the team with an average of 11.5 points (71-of-168 from the floor) through 17 games this season. She has reached double-figures in scoring in 13 of 17 contests.
Defensive Spark Off The Bench
Junior
Justina Prairie Chief has made her presence felt on the team's second unit, leading all bench players in rebounds with 76 (26 offensive). Prairie Chief has recorded a total of two rebounds in the past two games (Had at least 4 boards in previous 12 games).
Holding Down The Frontcourt
Junior
Revonnia Howard has started this season at forward, taking the place of the graduated
Nicole Caddell, the program's eighth all-time leading rebounder (704).
Howard is averaging 10.6 points and 8.8 rebounds through 17 games this season. She has a team-leading 47 offensive boards. She set a new career-high in rebounds last Saturday with 17 (four offensive) to go along with 12 points. She has two-straight double-doubles and a team-high of three this season.
The Lone Freshman
Freshman guard
Andee Wahlert is the only freshman on the Jennies' roster. The St. Joseph, Mo. native and Benton High School product was a four-year varsity letterwinner on the girls varsity team at Benton and served as a three-time captain. Wahlert is averaging 1.8 points and 0.5 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per game this season. She also has eight steals and 29 assists (season-high of 4 against Evangel on Nov. 26) while shooting 35.3% from three-point range (6-of-17).
Embray's Defense
Junior guard
Breonna Embray was a defensive staple for the Jennies in tight games last season. In games decided by four points or less, the Jennies finished 9-1 with Embray on the floor. Embray is averaging 15.5 minutes this season, making 5-of-17 field goals. Embray has been on the floor in both Jennies games decided by four points or less this season (88-86 overtime win at Pittsburg State, 71-70 win at Lincoln).
Twine Continues To Shine
For the first 17 games, senior guard
Quinnecia Twine had been coming off the bench with Winkelmann back in the starting five.
This season, Twine has played in 15 games, starting the last two, averaging 6.5 points, shooting 32-of-89 from the floor (36%) and has 10 steals and 15 assists. Her 6.5 points per game is the highest among Jennies bench players.
Excelling in the Classroom
The Jennies experienced plenty of success both on and off the court last season with seven MIAA Academic Honor Roll selections, for earning at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA.
Junior
Kiersten Orton and freshman
Shelby Winkelmann each won the the MIAA Academic Excellence Award, which recognizes student-athletes with a 4.0 GPA. The award was the third for Orton.
MIAA Preseason Polls
After a second-place regular season finish a year ago, the Jennies debuted at No. 1 in the 2013-14 MIAA Preseason Media Poll, and No. 2 in the Coaches Poll. The Jennies enter the season ahead of Fort Hays State in both polls, after finishing ahead of the Tigers in the final 2012-13 MIAA Standings and eliminating FHSU in the MIAA Tournament semifinals. UCM tallied fewer votes than Emporia State in the preseason coaches poll, but garnered more points than the Lady Hornets in the preseason media poll. Washburn, who finished in first place in last year's regular season standings, but were eliminated in the MIAA Tournament semifinals by Emporia State, were picked to finish third in both the preseason coaches and media poll. Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State placed fourth and fifth to round out the top five teams in both polls.
UCM in the Polls
The Jennies remain at No. 8 in this week's WBCA/USA Today Sports Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll, garnering 571 points - a 24-point improvement from last week's rankings. The basketball program has appeared in the Top 25 for 24-consecutive weeks dating back to January 8 of last season. UCM went 2-0 last week, defeating Missouri Western at home and Northwest Missouri on the road. The Jennies are one of three MIAA schools in the Top 25 (Emporia State at No. 2, Fort Hays State at No. 24). UCM and Emporia State appear in the Top-25 for the ninth-straight week. The Jennies are 3-2 against teams currently in the Top 25 (wins against Minnesota State, Rollins College and Fort Hays State; losses against Harding and Emporia State).
UCM Program History
The UCM Jennies are 864-357 (.707) after 43 seasons, and 663-268 (.712) in the 31 seasons since joining NCAA Division II ... the Jennies have won 9 MIAA regular season championships, 7 MIAA Tournament titles, 6 NCAA regional titles, and the 1984 NCAA Division II Championship.
Series History with Lindenwood
Central Missouri leads the all-time series, 6-0 and is 3-0 against the Lions in Warrensburg ... The Jennies won both matchups with Lindenwood last season (won 83-75 on Feb. 2 at Lindenwood; won 58-44 at home on Feb. 13).
A Win for the Jennies Would...
... improve the Jennies' conference record to 10-1 ... extend the Jennies' win streak against Lindenwood to seven games ... extend the Jennies' home win streak to 22 games.
A Loss for the Jennies Would...
... be the third loss of the 2013-14 season ... drop the Jennies conference record to 9-2 ... mark the first loss in the series history with the Lions (6-0) ... snap the Jennies' 21-game win streak at home ... give
Dave Slifer his 100th loss as head coach of the UCM program.
Jennies on the Air
Central Missouri women's basketball can be caught throughout the season on 98.5 "The BAR," 1450 KOKO, and warrensburgradio.com as Greg Hassler provides play-by-play.
Fans can catch highlights each week on Central Missouri Sportspage, Thursday nights at 7 p.m., and Saturdays at 5 p.m. on KMOS-TV. Jennies fans can also tune in to 98.5 "The Bar" and 1450 KOKO each Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. for Central Missouri Sports Talk, with Greg Hassler and Bill Turnage. The pair will talk UCM athletics, as well as other hot topics in the sports world. Jennies coaches and players will drop in throughout the season as well.
