(WARRENSBURG, Mo.) — Looking to keep pace with the top four teams in the MIAA, the Jennies cruised to a 72-55 win over visiting Lindenwood to run their win streak to four games on Saturday afternoon.
Ten Jennies (16-8, 10-6 MIAA) scored in the game, led by junior guard Tayler Weiks, who finished with 16 points, one point shy of a career high. She drained 6-of-10 shots from the floor, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Seniors Jasmine Thompson and Revonnia Howard added 13 and 10 points, respectively.
In the first half, the Jennies got off to a fast start, scoring nine of the game’s first 11 points. Their lead reached double-digits within the first 5:28 of the game at 14-3 and began to pull away from Lindenwood with eight straight points to take a 22-3 advantage. Weiks scored six of her points during the first seven minutes of action.
The Lady Lions were able to slice the deficit to 33-21 at the 1:33 mark of the first half, but drew no closer to the Jennies.
Central Missouri’s second unit scored 15 of their 32 bench points in the opening half of play, and outmatched Lindenwood in the paint, 16-2. All five starters for the Jennies scored in the first half, eight in total. The 32 bench points were the most for the Jennies since November 29 when they scored 37 at West Florida.
In the second half, Lindenwood scored the first basket to make it a 33-23 game in favor of the Jens, but were unable to pull to within single-digits for the remainder of the game. The Jennies’ largest lead of the game reached 21 points (49-28) at the 12:18 mark, capping off a 16-5 run by UCM’s offense to begin the second half.
Thompson and Weiks both chipped in eight points each in the game’s second half. The Jennies attempted a season-low five free throws, but made all of them. For the third straight game, the Jennies finished with 36 points in the paint.
UCM has won eight of 10 matchups against Lindenwood in the all-time series.
The Jennies will return to action next Saturday, February 21 against Southwest Baptist at home for a 1:30 p.m. tip-off.