#20 Central Methodist (19-6, 10-5) at #15 MidAmerica Nazarene (20-3, 12-2)
Saturday, February 22 - 2 p.m. CT
Olathe, Kan. - Bell Family Arena
Live Video, Audio, Stats: CMUEagles.com
Twitter:�@cmueagles
FAYETTE, Mo. - No. 20 Central Methodist looks to win its third-straight regular-season contest in Olathe, Kan., when the Eagles travel to No. 15 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) on Saturday in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Game of the Week. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. CT.
Saturday's contest is the second matchup between the two teams this season. MidAmerica Nazarene escaped Puckett Fieldhouse with a 61-59 win on January 18, but the Eagles have won two-straight regular-season games in Bell Family Arena against a ranked Pioneers' squad by an average of 11 points per contest.
The Eagles are 2-0 this season in the conference's primetime spot, with both wins coming on the road. The Green and Black defeated Graceland (Iowa) 103-67 on January 23 and Benedictine (Kan.) 79-56 on February 8.
Live video, audio, stats and Twitter updates will be available Saturday.
Last Time Out: Evangel 67, Central Methodist 63; MNU 82, Benedictine 75 (Feb. 15)
Last Meeting: MNU 61, Central Methodist 59 (Jan. 18, 2014 - Fayette, Mo.)
About the Eagles: A 22-point first half output was too much for Central Methodist to overcome on Thursday night as the Eagles had their four-game winning streak snapped and were eliminated from contention for the conference championship. Central Methodist also faces the possibility of sharing third place at the end of the weekend with a loss as the two teams behind it in the standings, Missouri Valley and Benedictine, square off on Sunday afternoon. Few teams, however, have had the success against the Pioneers that the Eagles have over the past three seasons. Central Methodist has won its last two regular season trips to Olathe and has kept its three losses to MNU within 10 points. In the first meeting this season, the Eagles were even with 17 seconds to play before a mental error gave the Pioneers the opportunity to claim the victory. The magic number for the Eagles will likely be 70 as they have won nine-consecutive games and 16 of 17 this season when reaching that scoring mark.
About the Pioneers: MNU is in unfamiliar territory compared to the previous two seasons of having to receive some help to receive the top seed in the HAAC Tournament. However, the Pioneers have more to worry about than home court advantage throughout the postseason with the team that has played them the toughest coming into the Cook Center. Though it will have been a week since the Pioneers took the floor due to their postponement on Thursday, the extra few days to prepare for a team that has given it fits has to be looked at as a positive. Head coach Jon Lewis has also added another weapon to his arsenal over the last week as Kendra Flemming has been cleared to play. The reserve forward gives the Pioneers a physical presence inside off the bench to help inject energy and provide offensive rebounds. She made an immediate impact last week with a late three-point play against Benedictine to cap a 13-point performance and has been the difference in several close wins for MNU over the past two seasons.
Free Throws: Central Methodist is #3 in the NAIA in assists per game (18.8) and three-point field goal percentage (.386) as well as #5 in defensive rebounds per game (31.8) and #6 in both three-point field goals per game (8.5) and field goal percentage (.462) ... MNU continues to lead the NAIA in assists per game (19.3) and ranks #3 in field goal percentage (.463), #4 in assist/turnover ratio (1.22) and #10 in rebound margin (9.3) ... Eagles F Burgandie Lewis is averaging 9.7 points and 7.0 rebounds over the last three games off the bench ... Pioneers G Megan Balcom is averaging 15.0 points over the last three games and shooting 50.0 percent (10 of 20) from three-point range.
| Team Matchup | MNU | CMU |
| Current Record | 20 - 3 | 19 - 6 |
| Scoring | 1763 | 1951 |
| Points Per Game | 76.652 | 78.040 |
| Scoring Margin | 14.174 | 16.120 |
| Field Goals | 660 | 707 |
| Field Goal Percentage | 0.463 | 0.462 |
| 3-pt FG | 121 | 213 |
| 3-point FG Percent | 0.338 | 0.386 |
| 3-point FG made per game | 5.261 | 8.520 |
| Free Throws | 322 | 324 |
| Free throw pct | 0.700 | 0.715 |
| Rebounds | 961 | 1110 |
| Rebounds per game | 41.783 | 44.400 |
| Rebounding Margin | 9.261 | 9.120 |
| Assists | 445 | 471 |
| Assists per game | 19.348 | 18.840 |
| Turnovers | 366 | 415 |
| Turnovers per game | 15.913 | 16.600 |
| Turnover margin | 1.304 | -2.160 |
| Assist/Turnover Ratio | 1.216 | 1.135 |
| Steals | 179 | 159 |
| Steals per game | 7.783 | 6.360 |
| Blocks | 80 | 67 |
| Blocks per game | 3.478 | 2.680 |
