by WARRENSBURG, Mo. — The fifth-seeded Jennies basketball team overcame a seven-point halftime deficit to eliminate No. 12 seed Lindenwood by a 73-69 final, advancing to the MIAA Tournament quarterfinals this Friday in Kansas City, Missouri.
The win extended the Jennies’ win streak to eight games. Three Jennies (20-8), headlined by junior Tayler Weiks, scored in double-figure points. Weiks came off the bench to provide the UCM offense with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. Seniors Revonnia Howard and Jasmine Thompson both chipped in 16 points apiece.
The first 6:44 of the game had five ties until Lindenwood rattled off eight straight points to go ahead, 21-13 with 10:51 to play in the first half.
The two teams traded baskets for the next three possessions before Lindenwood’s Kassidy Gengenbacher buried a three-pointer to put the Lady Lions up, 26-19 at the 6:18 mark of the first half. The Jennies cut the deficit to one after sophomore Andee Wahlert hit a trey, but the Lady Lions closed the final 3 1/2 minutes outscoring the UCM, 8-2 to take a 34-27 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the intermission, the Jennies battled for the first 4:06 to close to within 38-35, but a three-pointer by Gengenbacher on the next possession pushed the Lady Lion lead to 41-35.
After another bucket, putting the Jennies in an eight-point hole, Weiks hit a three-pointer, followed up by a layup from senior Justina Prairie Chief (Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes) to close the gap to three-points with 14:18 to go.
Following a layup by Lindenwood, UCM got five straight points via a Weiks three-pointer and pair of free throws by Prairie Chief to tie the game at 45-45.
With the game knotted at 46-46, Wahlert splashed her second three of the game at the 9:48 mark to put the Jennies ahead, 49-46. The Jennies held that lead until 3:18 stood on the clock when Jonna Raflund scored on a layup to make it a 61-60 game in favor of Lindenwood.
Howard deposited a layup on the next possession to put the Jennies ahead for good, 62-61 with three minutes remaining. The Jennies would hold off Lindenwood for the rest of the game, outscoring them, 11-8, punching their ticket to Kansas City this Friday.
UCM shot 45.3% (24-of-53) from the floor, including 54.2% (13-of-24) in the second half. The Jennies received 23 points from their bench and stole the ball 17 times.
The win was No. 599 in the career of Jennies head coach Dave Slifer.
Next up for the Jennies is an MIAA Quarterfinals matchup with No. 4 seed Missouri Southern this Friday at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. Tip-off is set for 2:15 p.m. The two teams split the regular season series, 1-1 with both teams winning on their home court.
