Warrensburg, Mo. (Jan. 18, 2000) -- Sporting an 11-2 record at the midpoint of their regular-season schedule, the basketball Jennies of Central Missouri State University will look to continue their winning ways as they begin the second half of the campaign with two Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association contests at home and one on the road in the next week.

The Jennies host Washburn University on Wednesday and Missouri Southern State College on Saturday, then hit the road on Tuesday to play Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo. All three games will begin at 5:30 p.m. as part of doubleheaders with the CMSU Mules and will be broadcast on KLRQ Radio of Clinton, Mo. (96.1 FM), with air time slated for 15 minutes prior to tipoff. The broadcasts can also be heard via the Internet on KLRQ's web site at http://www.klrq.com or TEAMLINE (dial 1-800-846-4700, use access code 3946 and a credit card).

Highlighting Wednesday's twinbill will be the return of "Mascot Mania" to the Multi as the mascots of several Warrensburg-area businesses will square off in a basketball game at halftime of the Mules' contest. Saturday's doubleheader will be "Take a Kid to the Game" Night at the Multi, with each child under the age of 18 receiving a free general-admission ticket when accompanied by a paying adult.

The Jennies will enter Wednesday's game with an 11-2 overall record and a 4-1 league mark, which ties them for second place in the MIAA standings. They are off to their best overall and conference starts since the 1995-96 squad began the season with records of 15-0 and 5-0, respectively. They have won 19 of their last 23 outings dating back to the final month of the '98-99 campaign after winning 85-61 at Northwest Missouri State University on Jan. 12 and 67-56 at the University of Missouri-Rolla on Jan. 15.

Washburn will enter Wednesday's encounter with a 7-9 overall record and a 1-4 MIAA mark. The Lady Blues have dropped their last three outings to fall into a tie for seventh place in the conference race. Last week they lost 83-63 on the road to Emporia State University on Wednesday and 72-67 at home to Pittsburg State University on Saturday.

Missouri Southern will put a 2-11 overall record and an 0-5 conference mark on the line Wednesday when it hosts Pittsburg State. The Lady Lions, who are tied for last in the MIAA with Northwest Missouri State, have lost their last five outings, including an 84-76 decision at Southwest Baptist University on Jan. 11 and an 89-71 verdict at home to Emporia State on Saturday.

Southwest Baptist enters tonight's home game against league-leader and eighth-ranked Emporia State with records of 11-2 overall and 4-1 MIAA. The 25th-rated Bearcats, who are tied with CMSU and Truman State University for second place in the conference standings, defeated Missouri Southern 84-76 at home on

Jan. 11, but had an eight-game win streak halted on Saturday with a 77-70 loss at Truman State.

CMSU leads the all-time series with Missouri Southern by a 14-9 margin as the two teams split their two meetings last season, with each winning on its own home floor (MSSC 53-50 in Joplin and CMSU 70-59 in Warrensburg). The Jennies trail 13-6 in their series with Washburn, but claimed the only meeting between the two schools last year by a 74-63 score in Topeka. CMSU is 28-3 all-time against Southwest Baptist after claiming two of three encounters last year. SBU won 71-67 in Bolivar, but the Jennies took a 76-68 decision in Warrensburg and were 55-54 winners in Bolivar in the first round of the MIAA Post-Season Tournament.

A pair of 20-0 runs were the difference for the Jennies in their two victories last week. Against NWMSU, they trailed 15-11 in the first half, but turned things around before intermission with their spurt, while in the UMR contest, they used a similar burst to overcome a 52-45 deficit in the final six minutes of play.

The Jennies had four players score in double-figures against UMR, led by forward Callie Newton (Fr., Republic, Mo., RHS) with 14 points, while guard Lori Nichols (So., Nevada, Mo., NHS) tallied 13 and guard-forward Marlies Ozias (Jr., Centerview, Mo., Crest Ridge H.S.) and center Katie Vaske [So., Bancroft, Iowa, Bishop Garrigan H.S. (Algona, Iowa)] scored 12 each. Against NWMSU, Nichols led the way with a career-high 27 points, including 19 in the second half, while Newton scored 16, forward Kelly Sutton (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Parkway South H.S./Univ. of Evansville) had 13 and Vaske had 12.