Jennies Face Two Key Road Tests This Week

Warrensburg, Mo. (Feb. 15, 2000) -- The basketball Jennies of Central Missouri State University face two key road tests this week as their Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association schedule sends them to Topeka, Kan., on Wednesday to play Washburn University and to Joplin on Saturday to take on Missouri Southern State College. Game time is 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Both contests 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).

The Jennies will enter Wednesday's game with an 18-4 overall record and an 11-3 league mark, which ties them for second place in the conference standings with Southwest Baptist University. They have won 10 of their last 12 games, 17 of their last 20 and 26 of their last 32 overall dating back to the final month of the 1998-99 campaign. They moved up from third to second in the latest NCAA Division II South Central Region ratings released on Feb. 9 and were ranked 25th in last week's USA TODAY/WBCA Division II Coaches Top 25, representing their first appearance in that poll since the 1995-96 campaign.

Washburn will enter Wednesday's contest with an 11-14 overall record and a 5-9 MIAA mark. The Lady Blues have won four of their last seven outings, including a 92-68 verdict at Pittsburg State University on Feb. 12 that halted a two-game losing streak, and are seventh in the conference standings.

Missouri Southern will put a 4-18 overall record and a 2-12 league mark on the line Wednesday when it travels to Pittsburg State. The Lady Lions, who are ninth in the MIAA, have dropped their last four outings, including an 85-66 home decision to No. 21 SBU on Feb. 9 and a 102-60 verdict to No. 6 ESU on Feb. 12.

The Jennies have already defeated both foes in Warrensburg this season, topping Washburn 65-47 and Missouri Southern 73-63. They still trail in the all-time series with the Lady Blues by a 13-7 margin, but lead their series with the Lady Lions 15-9.

The Jennies won both their outings at home last week, edging Northwest Missouri State University 78-74 and topping the University of Missouri-Rolla 67-46.

They trailed 57-55 at the 9:50 mark of the NWMSU game, but used a 13-0 run to take a 68-57 lead with 6:46 remaining, only to have the Bearcats trim their deficit to one point four times, the last being 75-74 with 56.7 seconds to play. Free throws by guards Marlies Ozias (Jr., Centerview, Mo., Crest Ridge H.S.) and Lori Nichols (So., Nevada, Mo., NHS) in the final 20 seconds then iced it. CMSU was led by center Nicole Cassmeyer (So., Jefferson City, Mo., Blair Oaks H.S.), who came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points, while Nichols had 15, guard Molly Knobbe (So., Cimarron, Kan., CHS) had 13 and Ozias had 12.

Against UMR, the Jennies led just 12-10 in the first half, but outscored the Lady Miners 26-10 the rest of the period to take a 38-20 lead at intermission and maintained a double-digit margin the remainder of the game. Nichols, who scored 19 points in the first half, led all scorers with 26 points, while forward Blanche Tucker (Jr., Fort Worth, Texas, Brewer H.S./Odessa College) tallied 10.

The win over UMR also enabled Jennies mentor Scott Ballard to not only record his 200th victory as a collegiate head coach, but also notch his 425th win as a basketball coach overall. In his fifth year at CMSU, Ballard is now 98-39, while his collegiate coaching record is 200-81 and includes a 102-42 mark in five years at Missouri Southern. His overall record is 425-139, which includes nine seasons at Marshfield (Mo.) High School (199-55) and one at his hometown of Niangua, Mo. (26-3).