‘We put it together at the right time’: Central Missouri women dance into Elite Eight
There were times early on this season when Dave Slifer didn’t enjoy coaching a young roster, but having seven freshmen has become an unexpected perk for the Central Missouri women’s basketball team as it enters the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II Tournament this week.
“I think we’re deep, I think we’ve got different parts and your point about their naivete is right,” Slifer said at a recent news conference. “They don’t know how big of a stage this is. We should be able to withstand some nerves and just get down to business and play basketball.”
That approach has worked for Central Missouri ever since it bowed out of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Tournament by losing its lone game in the event against Washburn.
The youngest players on the team had no idea what to expect during the postseason — some of them even humorously asked Slifer if it was a big deal — and began playing some of their best basketball.
“They had no idea what they were getting into,” Slifer said. “We had to explain that in the conference tournament and the region tournament how it kind of all works. And we had to do it multiple times, because they didn’t quite understand it. But we put it together at the right time.”
That’s not to say Central Missouri didn’t have a quality regular season. A 19-3 record suggests quite the opposite.
But nothing has stopped the No. 4 seed Jennies from winning games since the NCAA Tournament started nearly two weeks ago. They played their way into the Elite Eight by beating St. Cloud State, Fort Hays State and then Nebraska-Kearney to earn a spot in Columbus, Ohio. Their journey will continue at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday against Belmont Abbey.
It seemed like a different player stepped up her game to help her team in each game.
Olivia Nelson, a freshman from Kansas City, was first when she led the Jennies with 20 points in their opening round victory. Then Graycen Holden, a freshman from Edmond, Oklahoma, delivered 17 huge points against Fort Hays State. And Brooke Littrell, a freshman from Green City, scored 17 points in the third round.
“Throughout the season it has felt like almost every night somebody new pops up and puts some buckets in that you don’t think will,” Slifer said. “One of the things with these freshmen is that they are very, very consistent and we’ve been fortunate that most nights somebody steps up to the plate and gets the job done.”
Of course, they have had some good leaders to look up to.
Senior wing Nija Collier leads the Jennies in both points (15 per game) and rebounds (8.1 per game). All the while, fellow seniors Morgan VanHyfte and Gigi McAtee have been exemplary leaders who have played and contributed in every game.
As long as they know the stakes, the team’s freshman nucleus can naively keep doing its things.