(WARRENSBURG, Mo.) — Seven Jennies contributed to a 44-point first half for UCM, propelling the team to a 79-67 win over visiting Lincoln at the Multipurpose Building Wednesday night.
The victory was the Jennies’ (12-6, 6-4 MIAA) sixth in a row against the Blue Tigers and third in a row in Warrensburg.
Senior Revonnia Howard earned her sixth double-double of the season with a 17-point, 10 rebound performance.
Junior Shelby Winkelmann scored 15 while senior Jasmine Thompson added 13 for the Jennies.
UCM never trailed in the game, running  out to a 7-2 lead behind four points from Howard. The Blue Tigers tied the game with five straight points, senior Justina Prairie Chief scored the next five points to put the Jennies ahead, 12-7 with 15:03 left in the first half.
UCM built its lead to 13 in the next 3:58, sparked by an 11-3 run. However, Lincoln fought to keep the game close, answering with four straight points to cut the Jennies’ lead to nine with 10:31 left.
Both teams battled over the next 5:56, as the Jennies maintained a 13-point lead when Tayler Weiks dropped a trey on the Lincoln defense with 4:35 left in the half. Winkelmann’s layup on the next Jennies possession made it 40-25, the largest lead of the game.
The half ended with the Jennies leading 44-29. UCM scored 10 points off turnovers and received 10 points from its second unit.
In the second half, UCM maintained a commanding lead through the first 11:09 with a 62-51 advantage.
Lincoln cut the lead to single digits with 8:11 left to go following a layup by Kate Frazier, but Prairie Chief’s three dropped Lincoln back into a 12-point hole with 6:46 remaining.
The Blue Tigers closed the gap to eight points with four straight free throws, but a three-pointer by Weiks pushed the Jennies’ lead back to 68-57 with 5:26 to play in the game.
A 6-1 run by the Blue Tigers closed the margin to six points with 2:36 left, but the Jennies defense did not allow the gap to close any further. UCM ended the game on a 10-2 run to snap its two-game losing streak.
The Jennies made 91.7 percent (22-of-24) of their free throws, the first time they have shot 90 percent from the charity stripe since March 1, 2014, against Northwest Missouri.
The team’s next game is slated for Saturday at Lindenwood for a 1 p.m. tipoff.