Jennies open MIAA play defeating Pittsburg State, 69-49

                The Jennies opened the conference portion of the season with a victory over Pittsburg State 69-49 on Saturday in Warrensburg.
            After struggling on defense in their last outing, the Jennies (5-2, 1-0 MIAA) came out playing tough early, forcing eight turnovers and scoring 15 points off those turnovers to grab their largest lead of the half at 31-18, with six minutes to play. PSU (4-3, 0-1 MIAA) would not go quietly, however, as it closed the opening frame by scoring 12 of the final 15 points. The Gorillas held the Jennies to only one field goal in the final five minutes to trim the lead to 34-30 at the break. Lindsey Maple knocked down a trio of threes to lead UCM with nine points and Meagan Fromm knocked down two more treys for six points. Anna Nimz led Pittsburg State with 14 points. The Jennies shot 54 percent from the three point line (7-for-13) in the first half.
            The Gorillas scored the first bucket of the second stanza, but after that it was all Jennies as they pushed the lead to 14 points over the next seven minutes with a 14-2 run behind five points from Fromm and solid defense, holding PSU to just one field goal. Pittsburg State would respond cutting the lead to nine with a little over nine minutes remaining, but that would be the closest they would get. Tanisha Bitsoi came off the Jens bench to score six points in the run and the team continued applying solid defensive pressure by forcing 14 more Gorilla turnovers. They finished the game strong by scoring 19 of the final 27 points to reach the final margin.
            Maple led the Jennies with 17 points, connecting on 5-of-9 from behind the three-point line and Fromm dropped in 16. Nimz led the Gorillas with 16 points, but it was held to two points in the second half while Candice Gilbert added 14.