(SIOUX FALLS, SD) – The Jennies are back in the NCAA championship game after defeating No. 7 seed Union 70-57 in the semi-finals.
The Jennies are scheduled to play No. 1 and undefeated Ashland University, of Ohio, at 8 p.m. Friday.
How it Happened
• Defense was the name of the game for the Jennies. The defense didn’t quit for 40 minutes even when the offense was struggling, according to UCM Athletics.
• Not that the offense struggled much. UCM shot 49 percent from the floor. But they held the high-power Lady Bulldog offense to a season-low 57 points. This is a team that entered the game averaging 80 points per game.
• Both teams are prolific three-point shooting teams, but neither could get much going from deep. The Jennies were 5-17 and the Lady Bulldogs were 4-17, one game after hitting 11 in their Elite Eight matchup.
• The Jennies once again showed a tough side underneath the basket. UCM out-rebounded Union 34-25 and both teams scored 34 points in the paint. Central Missouri was 22-36 inside the three-point arc.
• Union entered the game as the best ball-control team in the country, turning it over less than 11 times per game, the fewest in the country. The Jennies defense forced 14 Lady Bulldog turnovers, getting seven steals and five blocks. The Jennies turned those 14 turnovers in 18 points, seven on the fast break.
• Central Missouri came out of the gates and found success on the inside. Layups from Megan Skaggs and mid-range jumpers from Morgan Fleming gave UCM a 10-7 lead four minutes into the game.
• Union scored the next five points and took a 12-10 lead with less than three minutes left in the first quarter. One Jennie who was hitting their three-pointers was Sydney Crockett. She gave the Jennies the lead back with under one minute left in the quarter, 17-16, and that was the score after 10 minutes.
• Second quarter and enter Jennies defense. Union scored just nine points as the Jennies extended their one-point lead to nine, 34-25.
• Union actually started the scoring with a layup 10 seconds in to retake the lead, 18-17. Kayonna Lee got a steal on the Lady Bulldog’s next possession and Megan Skaggs gave the Jennies what proved to be the lead for good with a layup in transition.
• From there, the Jennies methodically added to their lead, going 7-16 from the floor while Union was just 3-10. Kelsey Williams scored eight of her 13 points in the period, and UCM forced four turnovers.
• It looked like it was going to be all Jennies at the start of the second half. They went on a 12-6 run and their lead ballooned to 15, 46-31 with 6:51 left in the third.
• With 3:02 left to play, the Jennies still led by 15 after a layup from Williams, but Union scored the final eight points of the period, getting five of the eight from All-American guard Chelsey Shumpert.
• That stretch ended up being more of a last-gasp effort than a sign of things to come. Sydney Crockett pushed the lead back to 10 with her second triple of the game, 68-58 early in the fourth.
• Union cut the lead down to five on two separate occasions, but UCM had an answer each time. Kayonna Lee‘s layup between two defenders put UCM up 64-57 with 2:01 left to play and Union never got any closer.
• Forced to foul, the Jennies went 6-6 at the free-throw line and put the game on ice. After a 23-point third quarter, the Jennies clamped down defensively once again and allowed just nine fourth-quarter points.
It Was Over When…
• One possession after Lee made it a 64-57 game, Morgan Fleming came up with a big-time block on a three-point attempt from Shumpert and smothered the rebound to give the Jennies the ball with with less than two minutes to play. Union never scored again.
Jennies Stat Leaders 
• Once again four Jennies were in double-figures. Kayonna Lee had her mid-range jumper working and was 7-12 from the floor. She also picked up double-double number eight on the season with a game-best 11 rebounds. She also blocked two shots, picked off two steals and came up with three assists.
• Megan Skaggs led the Jens scoring 15 points on 5-11 shooting and was 4-5 at the free throw line.
• Kelsey Williams filled out her stat line with 13 points on 5-6 shooting. She grabbed seven rebounds, dished out a game-best five assists and had two steals.
• Paige Redmond reached double-digits scoring 12. Five of those came at the free-throw line where she was 5-5.
• Morgan Fleming and Sydney Skaggs each chipped in eight points. Crockett was the only Jennies with multiple three-point field goals and Fleming also grabbed four boards.
For the Lady Bulldogs
• Sara Lytle and Jada Perkins each scored a game-high 16 points on seven made field goals. Perkins was 2-3 from deep and had three assists as well.
• Chelsey Shumpert was the only other Lady Bulldog in double-figures. She scored 14, but was 5-18 from the field and 1-8 from three.
• Kyvin Goodin-Rogers grabbed a team-best seven rebounds and blocked three shots.
• Bria Gaines was 3-3 off the bench for seven points.
Quotable
Head Coach: Dave Slifer 
Opening Statement:
“First off, I thought these kids played a tremendous game tonight. I enjoy being their coach and I was glad to see two of our senior starters really shine tonight and find ways to make winning plays all night long. And that fourth quarter, I felt like those two just made play after play after play. Whether it’s K (Kayonna Lee) playing defense, kind of one-on-one in the post, or whether it’s Kelsey (Williams) just handling the whole offense and making sure that we make some good decisions. I couldn’t be prouder of two kids. We are going to the championship game guys! Wow! Wow!”
On advancing to his first national championship game:
“It’s what you dream about. I think the best text I got was from a retired coach who said, ‘I am jealous of you. I never got to do it but I’m so proud of you guys.’ And I thought that was just a great text because he was honest, because all of us want to be here. And whenever you’re done coaching and if you’ve never been here, then you never did get that chance and these kids are giving us that chance this year.”
Kelsey Williams
On playing all 40 minutes in the game and keeping up defensive intensity:
“It’s a little different this game because you had three minute timeouts. So I got lots of rest, got to catch my breathe. We had to regroup every time with the team first and then coach Slifer coming in and telling us. I just think that adrenaline really gets to you in these types of games. I mean it’s do or die now, we’re seniors. I just think that naturally you just kick in everything that you have and give it all, because you have five people and whole team behind you that you have to be there for.”
On playing for Central Missouri:
“I’ve never been on a group that seriously stays together, trusts each other, loves each other on and off the floor, if there’s any kind of bickering we’re going to fix it immediately. There’s never an issue and I think that’s what’s really got us here, we strive.”
Kayonna Lee
On being a senior going to the National Championship:
“It means a lot. Not a lot of people get this experience so we’re all very excited and we can’t wait.”
On playing against taller players at her position:
“I think just quickness and reacting quickly and being in the spot early. I try to make them shoot over me, but obviously, a lot of girls are bigger than me, so getting in the right position at the right time is usually what works out.”
News and Notes
• The win moves the Jennies to 3-2 all-time in national semifinal games.
• Central Missouri’s last appearance in the National Championship was the 1984-85 season, a loss to Cal-Poly Pomona.
• Kayonna Lee‘s two blocks give her 44 for the season, ninth all-time in a single-season in UCM history.
• The Jennies 29 wins this season are tied for the most in team history with the 1982-83, 1988-89 and 1989-90 teams.
• Union’s 57 points are the fewest they’ve scored all season and is the first time they have been held under 60 points in a game.
• Central Missouri has allowed fewer than 60 points in 20 games this season.