The top-seeded Jennies (25-3, 17-2 MIAA) will battle No. 2 seed Emporia State (27-3, 16-3 MIAA) for a conference championship rematch from last season. Central Missouri fell, 67-51 in the 2013 MIAA Tournament title game to the Lady Hornets. The Jennies look to win their first MIAA Tournament since the 1989-90 season and eighth title overall. Senior forward
Keuna Flax becames the newest member of the Jennies' 1,000-point club on Saturday, scoring 24 points to put her career total at 1,020. Flax is now tied for 24th all-time with Lashonda Albert in program history and needs 18 points to tie Ashley Millham for 23rd place with 1,038 points. The Lady Hornets make their fifth MIAA Tournament championship appearance in the last six years. Emporia State defeated Southwest Baptist in the conference semifinals on Saturday afternoon, 90-69. Five Hornets scored in double-figures, led by Merissa Quick and Rheanna Egli who both tallied 16. Senior guard Laura Patrick leads ESU with 14.0 points per game and is shooting 38.5% (79-of-205) from three-point range this season.
Last Time Out
UCM's offense was led by senior
Keuna Flax, who scored 24 points and added four assists and three steals. Sophomore
Shelby Winkelmann added 11 while senior
BreAnna Lewis chipped in 10. Junior
Revonnia Howard turned in a strong defensive performance, grabbing 13 rebounds and blocking four shots, none bigger than the last one in the final seconds, denying a driving Beth Bohuslavsky underneath the basket.
UCM and Fort Hays State played a back and forth game in the first half, with the Jennies taking a 30-28 lead into halftime.
The Jennies went ahead by as many as 14 in the second half, but the Tigers battled back to take a 64-60 lead with 9:16 left in the game.
Fort Hays State fought back to cut the deficit to nine after seven-straight points from Kate Lehman.
The Jennies went up 57-47, but the Tigers rattled off a 17-3 run to take their largest lead of the game at 64-60 with just over three minutes left.
The Jennies responded following a timeout, pulling to within a basket following two free throw makes from Flax. On the next UCM possession, Howard was fouled by Lehman and hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 64 apiece.
The Tigers' Keriann Shaw scored on a layup on the next possession, giving FHSU the lead back at 66-64 with 2:12 to go.
The Jennies answered when Flax found Winkelmann for an open three at the top of the circle, giving the Jennies the lead at 67-66 with 1:49 on the clock.
Edwards drew a foul from Winkelmann on the ensuing possession and split a pair of free throws, marking the game's sixth tie.
Flax came back to hit a jumper with a 1:02 left leading to a timeout. Edwards came back with a layup to even the score at 69-69 with 34 seconds left.
On the last Jennies' possession, Twine found Flax in front of the basket for the game-winning layup with five seconds remaining.
On the final possession for Fort Hays State, Bohuslavsky drove to the right side of the basket but was denied by Howard with one second left. Howard grabbed the loose ball as time expired.
Regional Rankings
For the third straight week, the Jennies hold the third spot in the Central Region rankings, trailing No. 1 Harding and No. 2 Emporia, who swapped spots in this week's poll. The Jennies lost to both teams this season.
Regular Season Milestone
With 23 wins in the 2013-14 regular season, the Jennies program passed its total from a season ago when the team finished with 22 wins prior to the conference tournament. It's the first time the Jennies have won 23 regular season games in the
Dave Slifer era.
Win Number 25
The Jennies have won 25 games this season, the most since the 1989-90 season when the team finished 29-3 under head coach Jon Pye. That team went on to win the MIAA Tournament championship.
Slifer By The Numbers
Slifer is 34th on the all-time wins list for all division coaches with 578.
Slifer is sixth among all Division II coaches with 578 wins and is eighth among all Division II coaches with a .743 winning percentage.
Slifer earned his 570th career win in UCM's 67-64 win against Southwest Baptist on Feb. 6.
Jennies In MIAA Tourney Play
The Jennies have won seven MIAA Tournament titles, the last coming in 1990.
The Jennies have reached the MIAA championship game for the second-straight season and have finished tied for third or lower in six of the past seven seasons. The Jens are 36-23 all-time in MIAA Tournament play. UCM is 4-1 in its last five conference tournament games.
Jennies By The Numbers
UCM is currently in the midst of a 10-game win streak, tying the program's longest string of consecutive victories since the 1995-96 season (15).
The Jennies are 22-0 when leading at halftime and are 23-0 when leading with five minutes remaining. They are 5-1 in games decided by five points or less.
UCM is also 2-1 in games decided by two points or less this season (defeated Pittsburg State and Lincoln, lost to Lindenwood).
New Career Highs
A pair of Jennies set new career-highs in the first two games of the MIAA Tournament. Senior
BreAnna Lewis dished out seven assists in the semifinals against Fort Hays State, breaking her previous high of five. Sophomore
Shelby Winkelmann hit four 3-pointers in the quarterfinals win against Northeastern State on Thursday, breaking her previous career high of two.
Offensive Boards
The Jennies pulled down 15 offensive rebounds on Saturday against Fort Hays State, the 12th time in the past 13 games they have recorded double-digit offensive rebounds. In only three games this season have the Jennies not recorded at least 10 offensive boards.
Winkelmann Coming On Strong
Over the past four games, sophomore
Shelby Winkelmann has scored 11 points or more and is averaging 16.5 points per game. She hit a crucial three-pointer with 1:49 left to take a 67-66 lead against FHSU on Saturday. It is her best stretch of the season since November 26 through December 19 when she averaged 12.6 points per game over a five-game period.
Need To Get To The Line
UCM has attempted just 39 free throws in the last three games, converting on 30 (76.9%).The Jennies are 16-3 when they attempt at least 20 free throws.
New Starting Point Guard
Junior
Breonna Embray has started the past 10 games for the Jennies, logging 215 minutes and recording 16 assists and 13 rebounds. She tied her career-high with four rebounds against Fort Hays in the tournament semifinals.
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 10-0 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 51 three-pointers, reaching five twice this season. She has recorded at least one three-pointer in 22 of 28 games (none against FHSU, WU, LU, SBU and MWSU twice). The 51 three-pointers puts her three-point career total to 139 – seventh on the Jennies' all-time three-point field goals made list. She is six three-pointers from tying Maegan Fromm for sixth on UCM's all-time leaderboard.
She is shooting 33% (4-of-12) from beyond the arc during the MIAA Tournament.
Defensive Spark Off The Bench
Junior transfer
Justina Prairie Chief has made her presence felt on the team's second unit, leading all bench players in rebounds with 103 (31 offensive). She's pulled down 23 rebounds in her last seven games, logging a total of 96 minutes.
Holding Down The Frontcourt
Junior transfer
Revonnia Howard is averaging 9.6 points and 9.0 rebounds and has 40 blocked shots in 28 games. She averaged 9.1 boards in the regular season, third-most in the MIAA. 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 12 games of at least 10 rebounds this season, which is first among Jennies. She is tied with Christie Brown for 10th-most blocked shots in a single season, after swatting four against Fort Hays State on Saturday. She needs just two blocks to move into eighth-place on the Jennies' single-season list to pass Barb Sorensen and Shelly Metzger.
Twine Continues To Shine
This season, senior
Quinnecia Twine has played in 26 games, starting two, and is averaging 7.8 points, shooting 61-of-151 from the floor (40.3%). She has added 24 steals and 29 assists. Her 7.8 points leads all bench players this season. Twine finished the regular season tied for third in the MIAA in 3-point field goal percentage at .385 with Emporia State's Laura Patrick. She scored in double-figure points in five of the Jennies' final seven regular season games. In the quarterfinals game against Northeastern State, Twine led all bench scorers with 12 points and drained 4-of-5 three-pointers.
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 three spots to No. 8 in this week's WBCA/USA Today Sports Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. UCM garnered 544 points in this week's rankings, a 67-point improvement from last week's poll. UCM defeated Missouri Western on the road and closed out the regular season with a convincing victory at home against Northwest Missouri to clinch the No. 1 seed in the MIAA Tournament. The basketball program has appeared in the Top 25 for 30-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. 7, Pittsburg State at No. 22). Emporia State fell two spots to No. 7, while Pittsburg State climbed one spot to 22nd in the poll. UCM and Emporia State appear in the Top-25 for the 15th-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 874-358 (.709) after 43 seasons, and 673-269 (.714) 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 Emporia State
Emporia State leads the all-time series, 38-31 and won the only matchup of this season with UCM, 80-67 on Jan. 11 at Emporia ... The Jennies are 2-9 all-time against Emporia State in the postseason ... The Hornets have won six of the past eight games against the Jennies ... UCM lost in the MIAA Tournament championship to Emporia State, 67-51 last season.
A Win for the Jennies Would...
... be the fifth win in the last six MIAA tournament games for UCM ... give the Jennies their first MIAA Tournament title since the 1989-90 season ... extend the Jennies' win streak to 11 games, four short of the 15-game win streak to start the 1989-90 season ... be the third victory against Emporia State in the postseason.
A Loss for the Jennies Would...
... be the fourth loss of the 2013-14 season ... snap the Jennies' 10-game win streak ... mark the third-consecutive postseason loss to Emporia State ... be the second-consecutive loss in the MIAA tournament championship ... drop the Jennies' postseason record to 2-10 to Emporia State ... 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.
