UNK Women's Basketball // UNK Communications
KEARNEY – The Nebraska Kearney women’s and men’s basketball teams host Central Missouri on Saturday (Jan. 6) afternoon.
The games tip at 2 and approximately 4 p.m. with the sponsor being Olsson. Both games will be on The MIAA Network.
The 11th-ranked Jennies (10-2, 4-2) were picked to win the MIAA this year and are coming off a 72-65 win at No. 10 Fort Hays State Thursday night. A new-look Mules squad (5-6, 0-5) is led by Kimball native and former ‘Husker Adam Bohac.
Last year on Buckle Court, the Loper men (5-7, 2-5) downed the Mules by a 78-72 score to trail the series by an 11-9 margin. UCM did win last year’s matchup in Warrensburg, 62-48.
Previously the head coach at Southern (Okla.) Nazarene, Bohac has a squad averaging 64 points per game and allowing 63. The Mules are 0-4 in true road games but have plus rebounding and turnover margins. Finally, they are 2-3 in games decided by 10 points or less. Individually, redshirt senior guard Caleb Nero (14.0 points, 2.6 rebounds) and junior guard Jalen Knott (11.5 points, 4.3 rebounds) lead the way.
Led by All-Americans Olivia Nelson and Brooke Littrell, the UCM women have had a wild four-game stretch. After a home loss to Missouri Southern on Dec. 14, the Jens saw an 18-point third quarter lead vs. Pitt State evaporate with the Gorillas eventually winning in overtime, 101-93. After a close call with NAIA Evangel (Mo.) on Dec. 30, UCM held a large lead at Hays before the Tigers got within four down the stretch.
Littrell (19.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists) and Nelson (15.8 points, 4.3 assists, 2.5 rebounds) do it all for UCM. Both are solid free throw shooters and have combined for 46 steals to lead a team that allows just 62 points a night. Opponents shoot only 29% from behind the arc and get out rebounded by five per game. UNK stopped a six-game losing streak to UCM last year in Warrensburg, 60-57. However, the Jennies lead the all-time series by a 13-3 margin.
In league play, point guard Jillian Aschoff (Lincoln Pius) is averaging 11.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game while shooting 77% at the line. Logging a team-high 33 minutes a night, she also has had 16 thefts (2.3 avg.). Next, wing Meg Burns (Ankeny, Ia.) has made 52% of her threes to average a team-high 11.4 points per game. Finally, UNK is getting a combined 29 points per game from forwards Shiloh McCool (Pleasant Hill, Ia.), Kia Wilson (St. George, Kan.) and Bailee Sobczak (Rapid City, S.D.).
The Loper men, in MIAA action, are averaging 71 pointes per game thanks to a 76% effort at the line and 50 made threes. Lefty Damiri Lindo (Oakland) is at 15.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game with three others in double figures as well. That trio includes forward Sean Murphy (New Zealand) who has a team-best 7.3 rebounds in league play.
Next weekend, UNK heads to Pitt State (Thurs.) and Missouri Southern (Sat.).
