No. 11 Central Missouri Jennies (22-3, 16-2 MIAA) vs. Northwest Missouri Bearcats (7-11, 10-15 MIAA)
Next up for the Jennies
The 11th-ranked Jennies (22-3, 16-2 MIAA) are in search of their first outright MIAA regular season title since the 1990-91 season when they host Northwest Missouri for Senior Day on Saturday, March 1 at 1:30 p.m. UCM has won its past seven games and clinched at least a share of the MIAA regular season title with a 59-53 win at Missouri Western on Wednesday night. It is the first MIAA title share for the Central Missouri program since 1995-96.
The Jennies wrap up the 2013-14 regular season with a home matchup with the Bearcats. Five UCM seniors,
Keuna Flax,
BreAnna Lewis,
Quinnecia Twine,
Kiersten Orton and student assistant, Maggie Bishop will be honored prior to tip-off. Northwest Missouri looks to end the regular season on a two-game win streak after defeating Southwest Baptist, 76-72 on Wednesday in Maryville. Junior guard Ariel Easton is leading the Bearcats in scoring, averaging 15.8 points per game, to go along with 4.6 rebounds.
Flax stands 36 points shy of becoming the newest member of the Jennies 1,000-point club, and needs 57 points to pass Lashonda Albert for 24th on UCM's all-time scoring list.
Last Time Out
The No. 11 Jennies erased a 12-point first half deficit to win, 59-53 at Missouri Western, clinching at least a share of the MIAA regular season title.
The Jennies (22-3, 16-2 MIAA) held a brief lead at 7-6 but Missouri Western rattled off nine-straight points to take a 15-7 lead with 11:40 left in the first half.
The Griffons maintained the lead throughout the remainder of the opening half, led by Sharniece Lewis, who tallied 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. UCM shot just 23.1% (6-for-26) from the floor, helping Missouri Western take a 31-23 lead into halftime.
Following a jumper by JaQuitta Dever that put Missouri Western ahead, 39-33, the Jennies scored the next seven points on a three-pointer by
Justina Prairie Chief and four free throws from Flax to take their first lead of the game since 17:44 in the opening half.
The two teams exchanged leads four times over the next minute and both foes went without a basket for the next 3:11, until
Quinnecia Twine scored on a three-point play, bumping UCM's lead to 47-43.
The Jennies protected their lead for the remainder of the game, as the Griffons were unable to draw closer than two points. Leading 55-53 with 28 seconds left, the Jennies iced the game, sinking four-straight free throws.
With the victory, the Jennies clinch the program's first conference title share since the 1995-96 season.
Slifer By The Numbers
Slifer is 34th on the all-time wins list for all division coaches with 575.
Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 575 wins and is eighth among all Division II coaches with a .742 winning percentage.
Slifer earned his 570th career win in UCM's 67-64 win against Southwest Baptist on Feb. 6.
Sweet 16
The Jennies have 16 conference wins this season, the most in the NCAA/MIAA era, passing the 1990-91 total of 15.
Second Half Surge
In the Jennies' 59-53 comeback win at Missouri Western on Wednesday night, the Jennies trailed by 12 in the first half and went into the locker room down, 31-23. It was the largest halftime deficit that the Jennies have overcome to win this season. It improved UCM's record to 3-3 when trailing at halftime.
The Number 23
With a win against Northwest Missouri on Saturday, the Jennies would have 23 wins, passing their regular season win total from a season ago (finished regular season, 22-4). It would be the first time under head coach
Dave Slifer that the program reached 23 regular season victories.
A Win Is a Win
The Jennies scored 59 points in their last win at Missouri Southern - the lowest point total in a victory since March 8, 2013, when Central Missouri edged Missouri Western in the opening round of the MIAA Tournament, 54-53.
Strong Defense
Over the past nine games, the Jennies have forced the opposition into at least 13 turnovers. In only three games have the Jennies not forced double-digit turnovers (vs. Rollins, at Harding, at NWMSU). UCM also stole the ball 10 times at Missouri Western, the fourth time this season the defense has recorded double-digit steals.
Flax Seeing Double
Senior forward
Keuna Flax picked up her fifth double-double of the season at MWSU on Wednesday, scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 boards. Last season, Flax tallied eight double-doubles.
New Starting Point Guard
Junior
Breonna Embray has started the past seven games for the Jennies, logging 160 minutes and recording 11 assists and seven rebounds. Against Lindenwood on Feb. 15, she set new career-highs in points (15), three-point field goals (5) and three-point field goal attempts (7). The Jennies are 7-0 when Embray starts at point guard this season.
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).
This season, Lewis has sank 45 three-pointers, reaching five twice this season. She has recorded at least one three-pointer in 19 of 25 games (none against FHSU, WU, LU, SBU and MWSU twice). The 45 three-pointers puts her three-point career total to 133 – seventh on the Jennies' all-time three-point field goals made list. She is 12 three-pointers from tying Maegan Fromm for sixth on UCM's all-time leaderboard.
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 97 (30 offensive). She has pulled down 17 rebounds in her last four games, logging a total of 63 minutes.
Holding Down The Frontcourt
Junior
Revonnia Howard is averaging 9.8 points and 9.0 rebounds and 35 blocked shots through 25 games this season. She set a new career-high in rebounds on Jan. 18 at Northwest Missouri with 17 (four offensive) to go along with 12 points. She has 10 games of at least 10 rebounds this season, which is first among Jennies. She is five blocked shots away from tying Christie Brown for 10th-most in a single season. She needs just seven blocks to move into eighth-place on the Jennies' single-season list, passing Barb Sorensen and Shelly Metzger.
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 0.6 rebounds in 11.4 minutes per game this season. She also has 14 steals and 43 assists (season-high of 6 against Lincoln on Feb. 12) while shooting 30.0% from three-point range (9-of-30).
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 17.9 minutes this season, making 14-of-38 field goals. Embray has been on the floor in the final seconds in three of the Jennies games decided by four points or less this season (88-86 overtime win at Pittsburg State, 71-70 win at Lincoln, 67-64 win vs. Southwest Baptist).
Twine Continues To Shine
This season,
Quinnecia Twine has played in 23 games, starting two, averaging 7.4 points, shooting 51-of-135 from the floor (37.8%) and has 23 steals and 28 assists. Her 7.4 points leads all bench players this season.
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 both won 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 moved up one spot to No. 11 in this week's WBCA/USA Today Sports Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. UCM garnered 477 points in this week's rankings. UCM defeated Southwest Baptist on the road last Saturday, keeping them a half game behind Emporia State for first place in the MIAA standings. The basketball program has appeared in the Top 25 for 29-consecutive weeks dating back to January 8 of last season. The Jennies are one of three MIAA schools in the Top 25 (Emporia State at No. 5, Pittsburg State at No. 23). Emporia State moves up two spots to fifth, while Pittsburg State cracks the Top 25. UCM and Emporia State appear in the Top-25 for the 14th-straight week. The Jennies are 3-2 against teams currently in the Top 25 (wins against Minnesota State, Pittsburg State and Rollins College; losses against Harding and Emporia State).
UCM Program History
The UCM Jennies are 871-358 (.708) after 43 seasons, and 670-269 (.713) in the 31 seasons since joining NCAA Division II ... the Jennies have won 10 MIAA regular season championships with this year's title, 7 MIAA Tournament titles, 6 NCAA regional titles, and the 1984 NCAA Division II Championship.
Series History with Northwest Missouri
Central Missouri leads the all-time series, 61-25 and has won the last four meetings against the Bearcats ... The Jennies are 39-6 all-time against Northwest Missouri in Warrensburg ... The Jennies won the first meeting of this season in Maryville, 67-62.
A Win for the Jennies Would...
... give the Jennies their first outright MIAA regular season title since the 1990-91 season ... give UCM its eighth consecutive win ... extend the Jennies' win streak against Northwest Missouri to five games ... be the 18th win in the last 19 games against unranked opponents ... be the sixth win in the last seven seasons on Senior Day.
A Loss for the Jennies Would...
... be the fourth loss of the 2013-14 season ... drop the Jennies conference record to 16-3 ... snap the team's four-game win streak against the Bearcats ... mark the 200th loss for
Dave Slifer in his head coaching career.
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.
