MIAA Women's Basketball Report No. 5

Coming off rare home losses, No. 3 WU, No. 10 ESU aim to rebound

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Just more than seven years after its last occurrence (Jan. 2, 2002), Washburn (12-1, 5-1 MIAA) and Emporia State (11-2, 5-1 MIAA) lost MIAA home games on the same day last Saturday (Jan. 3).

Both the third-ranked Lady Blues and No. 10 Lady Hornets will have to bounce back quickly if they want to maintain at least a share of the conference lead.

Washburn has Southwest Baptist (5-7, 2-3 MIAA), the team which stunned Emporia State last weekend, coming to Lee Arena Wednesday (Jan. 7) before going to Missouri Southern (9-3, 3-2 MIAA) Saturday (Jan. 10).

ESU hosts MSSU on Wednesday before returning to the road for a meeting with a resurgent Pittsburg State (10-3, 5-1 MIAA) squad Saturday at John Lance Arena.

SBU has won three of its last four games after a 2-6 start to the season, and the Bearcats are seeking their first three-game win streak of the season. In the three games since the holiday break, Southwest Baptist has averaged just 10.7 turnovers with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.66-to-1.

The Southern Lions are 3-3 in their last six games after a 6-0 start. MSSU has averaged just 66 points during its break-even stretch, after scoring 75.2 ppg in the first six outings.

The Gorillas enters the week with the longest current win streak in the MIAA -- three games -- after wrapping up the non-conference schedule with a 94-48 win over Bethany (Kan.) Monday (Jan. 5) in Pittsburg. With its 10th win, Pitt State has matched its victory total from last season.

Just a half-game outside of first place following their win at Washburn last Saturday, the Central Missouri Jennies (9-3, 4-1 MIAA) head to Fort Hays State (7-5, 3-2 MIAA) on Wednesday before coming back to Warrensburg to host Nebraska-Omaha (5-5, 2-3 MIAA) Saturday.

UCM has just one loss in its last five games -- that being a 67-53 setback at Division I Missouri-Kansas City on New Year's Eve afternoon. The Jennies came back from a six-point deficit in overtime against Washburn, and sophomore G Kara Fleming's bucket with 1.4 seconds left capped the comeback for a 79-77 win.

FHSU got back on the winning track with a 71-46 win over Truman (3-10, 0-6 MIAA) after dropping two on the road to start the post-holiday slate. Junior G Naomi Bancroft has led the way for the Tigers, averaging 19.0 points in her last three games with a career-high matching 24 vs. the Bulldogs.

Its the first of three games in six days for Fort Hays State. The Tigers are at SBU Saturday and Southern Monday (Jan. 12).

UNO has been hot as of late with four wins in its last five games. The Mavericks bounced back from a loss at ESU on New Year's Eve with a 73-62 victory over Missouri Western (0-12, 0-6 MIAA) last Saturday. Nebraska-Omaha hosts Truman before going to UCM.

Northwest Missouri State (5-7, 1-4 MIAA) hosts Western Wednesday looking for its second win in three games. The Bearcats follow that with a weekend journey to Truman.

KEEPING UP WITH THE COACHES: Central Missouri head coach David Slifer is approaching the top spot of the MIAA career coaching wins list.

Slifer has 287 victories at MIAA schools (UCM and Missouri Western) -- he's nine behind Steve High (PSU 1989-2007 -- 296).

ESU's Brandon Schnieder has 261 wins and needs nine more to surpass Scott Ballard (MSSU 1990-95, UCM 1995-2004 -- 269) for third place all-time. Washburn's Ron McHenry needs one win to match former Lady Blues coach Patty Dick, who had 227 wins in the conference from 1989-2000.

Northwest's Gene Steinmeyer is four away from 500 wins, while Missouri Western's Lynn Plett needs three wins for 200 as a collegiate women's basketball coach.

MUELLER WATCH: Truman senior F Georgia Mueller is approaching MIAA career top 10s in scoring and rebounds.

She has scored 1,651 points, and needs to average 18.9 points through the remainder of the regular season to reach the top 10.

With 768 rebounds, Mueller needs 55 more to match Emporia State's Emily Bloss (1997-2001 -- 823) in 10th place.

Team-by-Team Notes

Central Missouri: Senior F Katy Davenport and junior G Brittany Slifer each carded career highs with 20 points each in the win at Washburn... Slifer, the coach's daughter, was 6-of-8 from three-point range vs. WU after going 6-for-21 in the previous four games... Six different players have led the Jennies in scoring this season.

Emporia State: Senior G Andrea Leiker was the MIAA's top scorer in December at 19.5 ppg... She also made 43-of-46 (93.5 percent) from the foul line in December... ESU leads D-II in rebound margin (+12.5 rpg) and is second in scoring (89.0 ppg) and scoring margin (+29.6 ppg)... Senior F Ida Edwards is fourth in D-II field goal percentage (62.7).

Fort Hays State: Junior F Erica Beil is eighth in Division II blocked shots (2.8 bspg) and ninth in rebounds (11.3 rpg)... Junior G Naomi Bancroft is third in three-pointers made (4.2 per game) after draining 14 over the last two games... Freshman F Rebecca Mausbach, a member of the FHSU volleyball team, debuted vs. WU and scored two points.

Missouri Southern: Two days after netting a career-high 32 at SBU, senior G India Wood scored just six vs. Western, but they came on consecutive treys in the last two minutes to keep the Griffons at bay in a 58-57 win... Senior G Myosha Barnes dished out a season-high seven assists in the win over Western, and led the Lions with 16 points.

Missouri Western: Sophomore F Tierra Ford averaged 3.14 steals per game in December -- tops in the MIAA... Freshman F Jessica Koch, the top-scoring frosh in the MIAA (11.7 ppg) posted her first double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds vs. UNO... Sophomore G Lauren Nolke has averaged 16.5 points in her last four games.

Nebraska-Omaha: Senior F Amanda Broadsack logged the Mavericks' first double-double of the season with 24 points and 14 rebounds at Western... Senior G Alyssa Green has averaged 16.5 points in her last four games... Senior G Ellen Majewski led the MIAA in three-point accuracy in the month of December (45.8 percent -- 11-of-15).

Northwest Missouri State: With 10 points vs. PSU, senior G Meghan Brue reached double-figure scoring for the 11 straight game -- longest such streak by a Bearcat since 2000... Senior F Micaela Uriell notched career-highs of 21 points and nine rebounds in the loss at Pitt State, making 5-of-7 from three-point range.

Pittsburg State: Junior F Nicole McCombs has averaged 19.8 points in her last six games -- she's third in D-II field goal accuracy as of Jan. 4 (63.8 percent)... After not reaching double-figure scoring in four of her previous five games, senior G Brianna Buchanan tallied a career-high 25 points and was 4-of-4 from the three-point arc at MSSU.

Southwest Baptist: The Bearcats average just 13.7 turnovers per game -- second-lowest in Division II... SBU is eighth in D-II with a team assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.2 -- senior G Cortney Shewmaker ranks ninth individually at 2.57... Shewmaker is averaging 6.2 assists over her last five games... Freshman F Mia Gilreath scored 17 at ESU.

Truman: The Bulldogs last met UNO in the 2000-01 season, earning an 80-68 win... Senior F Georgia Mueller did not play in the loss at Fort Hays State... Maintaining their current pace, the Bulldogs will make 83 treys this season -- fewest since 1995-96 (67)... Junior G Laura Joya scored 14 points with eight boards and seven assists at SBU.

Washburn: Senior G Janice Bright scored a career-high 24 in the win over FHSU, and then topped that with 26 points in the OT loss to UCM... Bright has made 11 of her last 14 three-point tries... Junior F Hope Gregory matched her career high with 15 points against the Tigers... WU is 31-10 coming off a loss in the Ron McHenry era.

MIAA Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week

For week of action ending Jan. 4

Courtney Creed, G
Southwest Baptist University

Creed, a 5-foot-8 senior from Walnut Grove, Mo., averaged 20.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 2.0 assists for the Bearcats as they posted a 2-1 mark in MIAA play last week, including a road upset of No. 9 Emporia State.

She scored 14 of her 18 points against the Lady Hornets in the second half as SBU rallied from a 16-point deficit and claimed an 86-73 win Saturday (Jan. 3). The decision snapped ESU's 16-game home court winning streak.

Creed scored 17 points and logged four steals to go with three rebounds in a 63-60 win over Truman Wednesday afternoon (Dec. 31). Three of those steals came in the second half as the Bearcats overcame a 13-point gap in the first half for the victory.

She tied her season high of 25 points and had three assists and two steals in a 77-69 home loss last Monday (Dec. 29) to Southern. Creed was 10-of-18 from the field in the game.

Creed, the MIAA's leading scorer (18.7 ppg), is a graduate of Ash Grove (Mo.) High School.

Others nominated: Naomi Bancroft, G, FHSU; Cassondra Boston, G, ESU; Janice Bright, G, WU; Meghan Brue, G, NWMSU; Kara Fleming, G, UCM; Alyssa Green, G, UNO; Nicole McCombs, F, PSU; Lauren Nolke, G, MWSU; India Wood, G, MSSU.

Previous winners: 11/24 -- Ida Edwards, F, ESU; 12/1 -- Janice Bright, G, WU; 12/8 -- Andrea Leiker, G, ESU; 12/15 -- Cassondra Boston, G, ESU; 12/29 -- Janice Bright, G, WU.

-- MIAA --