PITTSBURG – Pitt State will play one game at home and one on the road this week. First up is yet another top-15 match-up, as the MIAA now has four teams ranked in the top 15 of the WBCA Poll. No. 15 Central Missouri travels to John Lance Arena for a 5:30 p.m. match-up on Wednesday (Feb. 8). On Saturday (Feb. 11), the Gorillas will travel to Bolivar, Mo., to take on Southwest Baptist. The Bearcats most recently upset Central Oklahoma.  

Scouting Central Missouri 

No. 15 Central Missouri (18-3, 11-2 MIAA) ranks third in the MIAA behind No. 8 Central Oklahoma and No. 11 Pittsburg State. The Jennies recently suffered a 65-55 loss to Central Oklahoma on Feb. 2, then came back and defeated Northeastern State on Saturday, 77-54.

Paige Redmond (16.0 ppg, 4.1 apg) headlines a Central Missouri offense that averages 72.3 ppg. Kayonna Lee pulls down a team-high 8.4 rebounds and adds 8.1 points to the effort. Ashley Duffy scores 9.7 ppg and has 38 steals on the season. Morgan Fleming averaged 11.9 ppg in 13 games but she has missed the Jennies last eight games due to injury.

Central Missouri ties at second with Pittsburg State in 3-point percentage (.370) with the help from Redmond's .402 (39-97). Along with shooting .430 (527-1227) from the paint and .756 (300-397) from charity, the team is also recording 13.7 assists, 8.6 steals and 2.6 blocks per game.

Scouting Southwest Baptist 

Southwest Baptist improves to 13-9 and are cruising on two-game winning streak. Last weekend, the Bearcats upended Northeastern State, 76-55, and handed No. 8 Central Oklahoma their second loss of the season by three points. The team will take on Missouri Southern on Feb. 9 prior to hosting the Gorillas.

The Bearcats' .466 (586-1257) field goal percentage ranks highest in the MIAA with the help from Megan Rosembohm and Caylee Richardson. The two collectively average .558 from the field. Madison Strong has the sharpest shot from long range with a .346 (18-52) mark. Richardson also leads in rebounds with 7.3 per game. Alusa Isaac and Mackenzie Skupa supply eights point each per game.

Southwest Baptist is .322 (113-351) from three and .748 (323-432) from free throw. Additionally, the Bearcats average 73.1 points, 38.9 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 6.3 steals and 4.2 blocks per game.

Scouting Pittsburg State

Pittsburg State is the No. 10 team in the country with an 19-3 record overall and a 11-2 record in MIAA play. All three of Pitt State's losses have been to top 10 teams. The Gorillas played only one game last week and earned a 15-point win at Missouri Southern.  

The team has won its games by an average of almost 19 points per game. The 61-point win over Rio-Piedras was the largest of the season, while the four-point win over Kearney was the closest. Pitt State scores 77.7 ppg, while holding opponents to 59.0 ppg. The most points scored by the Gorillas this season were the 106 points against Lincoln on Jan. 12.

The Gorillas are shooting .448 from the floor overall and .370 from three-point range. The Gorillas make an average of 9.87 threes a game, but are holding opponents to just 3.9 made threes a game. Pitt State is also outrebounding its opponents by 6.2 rpg. 

Mikaela Burgess leads the Gorillas with 17.7 ppg and was named the MIAA Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 21-27. She scored her 1,000th career point on December 1 against Nebraska-Kearney. Most recently, she set a new career-high with 35 points at Washburn on Jan. 21. She has hit 64 threes on the season, which leads the MIAA. She is also second in the MIAA with a .372 three-point percentage

Madison Northcutt, who was named the MIAA Player of the Week on Jan. 16, is second on the team with 11.3 ppg, including 12.2 ppg in conference play. She is the team's leading rebounder with 8.2 rpg. She is fourth in the MIAA for rebounding overall and third for offensive rebounds. She has recorded four double-doubles on the season.

Shelby Lopez is averaing just under double figures for the season with 9.7 ppg. Lopez has made 55 threes this season, which is  third in the MIAA. She is second in the league with her .414 three-point percentage. She recorded her fist 20-point game with 24 points at Northwestern Oklahoma. She made six threes in that game.  

Paige Lungwitz adds 8.9 ppg. She was named the MIAA Player of the Week for the week of November 30-December 4 after putting up a career-high 27 against UNK. She also adds. 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

Elena Flott scored 9.4 ppg and was the second-leading rebounder with 5.8 rebounds per game before a medical condition has put her on the bench. She recorded the first double-double of her career with 15 points and 11 rebounds against UNK. 

Hadyn Herlocker chips in 8.1 ppg and leads the team with 5.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Her assists lead the MIAA, while her steals are fifth. She also leads the MIAA with a 3.3 assists/turnover ratio. Herlocker is also the team's third-leading rebounder with 5.0 rpg. She earned MIAA and HERO Sports National Player of the Week honors after putting up a double-double with 12 points and a school record 13 assists at Lincoln on December 10.

PSU vs. Central Missouri

Central Missouri leads the series between the two teams, 28-24. Each team leads on its home court, with Pitt State holding an 14-9 advantage in Pittsburg and UCM leading 19-7 in Warrensburg. Pitt State leads 2-1 at neutral sites. Last season the two teams met three times, each team won on the others' home court, but Pitt State broke the tie with a win in the quarterfinal round of the MIAA Tournament.

For the first time since the 2006-07 season, the two teams did not split the regular season series in 2011-12. Pitt State won all three meetings between the two teams, including a win in the NCAA Regional Tournament in Topeka. That is the longest streak of wins by the Gorillas.

The largest margin of victory by either team was a 25-point UCM win (78-53) on Jan. 3, 2000 in Pittsburg. The largest PSU win was 17 points, three different times, Jan. 12, 1998 (70-53), Jan. 13, 1999 (71- 54) and Jan. 23, 1999 (65-48).

Central Missouri had a streak of five consecutive wins two times, from Jan. 3, 2000 to Feb. 28, 2001 and Dec. 30, 2004 to Dec. 9, 2006.

Seven of the last 10 meetings have been decided by single digits.  

PSU vs. Southwest Baptist

Pitt State has an eight-game lead in the series with Southwest Baptist, 33-25. Each team leads in its home arena, the Gorillas lead 20-10 in Pittsburg, while the Bearcats lead 14-13 in Bolivar. Pitt State's 2014 loss in the MIAA Tournament was the first neutral site meeting between the two teams

Prior to the 2009-10 season SBU had won four straight over the Gorillas, the longest streak of wins by either team in the series. The series began with each team winning only on its own court. SBU gave up the first Gorilla victory in Bolivar on Feb. 4, 1992. Pitt State won 10 straight at home before falling, 86-75 on Valentine's Day of 1996. 

The largest margin of victory in the series was a 37-point Pitt State win on Jan. 6, 1981, the very first meeting between the two teams. SBU's biggest win was a 82-52 win in Bolivar on Dec. 1, 1987, only the third meeting between the teams. Since then things have been more evenly matched, for the most part. The most points scored in the series was a 101-95 Bearcat win on Jan. 8, 2005 in Bolivar.

Up Next

Pitt State will return home for two games next week. Thursday, Feb. 16 the Gorillas will take on Northwest Missouri at 5:30 p.m. That day is Alumni and Constituent Relations' Family Day. People can register through that office to receive a ticket and meal deal. There will also be a bounce house and a raffle for two new bicycles. On, Saturday, Feb. 18, the Gorillas will face Missouri Western at 1:30 p.m. Between the men's and women's games, the Gorillas will honor the seniors from both teams.