 |  |
Central Women Rally to Defeat Omaha, 60-57
By David Boyce
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Central Missouri junior Kara Fleming was scoreless the first 19 minutes. She missed her first five shots.
"I was really down on myself," Fleming said. "I couldn't make anything. They kept leaving me open so I felt like I had to shoot it. Finally, they fell."
The six points she scored in the last 47 seconds in the first half provided a needed spark. The Jennies snapped out of their sluggish play to overcome a 10-point deficit and beat Nebraska-Omaha 60-57 Wednesday evening at the Multipurpose Building.
"It gave us a little momentum going into halftime and put us more in the mode that we could do this instead of having that negative energy going into the locker room," Fleming said.
Both teams came into the game looking to build some momentum for the MIAA Tournament March 4-7 at Municipal Auditorium.
The Jennies gained a little mo by winning their second straight and improving to 14-10 overall and 10-7 in the MIAA. Nebraska-Omaha lost its second straight and fell to 12-12 and 7-10.
"It is extremely important to build momentum going into these next few games," Fleming said. "We have Truman, Mo. West and Northwest. They are going to be tough games and we need to stay focused."
After an important finish in the first half in which Fleming's six straight points sliced the Jennies' deficit to four, she came out in the second half oozing with confidence.
"Those points were huge," said Central Missouri junior Becca Roberts. "They got us out of a hole. Being down four is a lot better than being down 10. And then she came out in the second half and went after it. It was what we needed."
Roberts played a solid game throughout. Consecutive baskets by her early in the second half helped the Jennies close to 31-28.
Central Missouri tied the game 42-42 on two free throws by Deidra Dace. With 10 minutes left, the Jennies took their first lead since midway in the first half on a basket by Roberts, making it 44-42.
"They had to help out on Kara and it gets me wide open," Roberts said.
A few minutes later Fleming made back-to-back three-point plays, giving Central Missouri a 52-44 lead.
"She got them in foul trouble," Central Missouri coach Dave Slifer said. "It really made us a different team offensively by her being that aggressive."
The Mavericks never recovered. They closed to 52-49 and they stayed within striking distance because of missed free throws by Central Missouri in the final minute.
Senior Alyssa Geen scored a game-high 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds for Nebraska-Omaha. It wasn't enough.
Fleming and Roberts both finished with 18 points. Of the combined 36 points, the most important ones were the six by Fleming just before halftime.
Nebraska-Omaha went into halftime ahead 28-24, but it could have been so much more.
"We were down 10 and had nothing going and Kara gave us some life," Slifer said.
The Mavericks methodically built a 28-18 lead late in the first half and then allowed three plays to slice significantly into their advantage.
The first was a three-pointer by Fleming. The second was a turnover and that allowed Fleming to make a three-pointer to send the Jennies into halftime on a 6-0 run.
That one-minute stretch was about the only time Central Missouri showed a spark on offense in the first half.
The Jennies held brief leads of 4-3 and 14-11. Except for the last minute, the rest of the half belonged to Nebraska-Omaha.
Kiley Herold started an 8-0 run with a bucket. Green gave the Mavericks a 15-14 lead with a basket and followed with another field goal. Autralius Sanders concluded the run with a basket, making it 19-14.
The Mavericks were in control until Fleming took it away.
To reach David Boyce, contributing writer for the MIAA, e-mail dboyce@themiaa.com.
