Games 17:
Newman (6-10, 3-8 MIAA) @ Central Oklahoma (6-10, 3-9 MIAA)
Saturday, January 21, 2023 | 1:30 p.m. | Edmond, Okla. (Hamilton Field House)
Audio:  Newman Jets Audio Network (Play-by-Play:  Blake Cripps) | Video:  MIAA Network | Live Stats:  UCO Athletics
 
HOWDY PARTNER
The Newman women face their MIAA travel partner on the road this weekend.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Newman's offense turned frigid in the fourth quarter and Northwest Missouri State pulled away for a 67-53 victory over the Jets Saturday Jan. 14 at Fugate Gymnasium in Wichita.  The Jets trailed early but pulled back into the game in the second and third period thanks to a monster afternoon by senior forward Britney Ho.  Trailing at the break by six, the Jets used an 8-0 run to take a 46-41 lead late in the third.  Northwest found an answer to the Navy & Red offensive attack and went on a 26-6 run that spanned 12 minutes to put the Jets away late.  The Bearcats outscored the Jets 22-7 in the fourth period.  NU turned the ball over 20 times and was outscored in points off turnovers 25-11.  Ho notched her third-straight double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Jets fell earlier last week 74-52 to Missouri Western.
 
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
Entering Week 10 UCO is a half game back of NU in 12^th place in the conference standings.  The Bronchos finished 17-13 last season with a 12-10 record in MIAA play.  UCO's season came to an end in a quarterfinal loss to Fort Hays State at the MIAA Tournament.  The Bronchos are under new management with the program's fifth head coach in program history following the retirement of Guy Hardaker last season.  Hardaker went 298-171 with UCO and led the Bronchos to six 20-win seasons in his tenure.  Central Oklahoma has shown remarkable consistency in recent seasons and has notched nine-straight winning seasons and postseason appearances.  Central is looking for its sixth NCAA Tournament berth and first since 2017.
 
UCO is sixth in the league in offense scoring 66.8 ppg in MIAA action but has struggled defensively ranking 12^th while allowing 72.1 ppg.  The Bronchos are led by Alayzha Knapp whose 14.1 ppg is tied for ninth in the conference while Aliyah Llanusa paces the Bronze & Blue with 6.8 rpg.  Knapp also ranks in the top 10 in the conference in field goal percentage while Karly Wadsworth is in the top ten in the league in both 3-point field goal percentage and 3-point field goals per game.
 
THE SERIES
UCO leads the series 7-0 and is 3-0 against the Jets in Wichita.  The Bronchos have won all five games the teams have played as MIAA members.
 
PREVIOUS MATCHUP
Central Oklahoma shot 52.9% from the field and the Navy & Red couldn't keep pace in a 77-62 loss to the Bronchos February 12, 2022, at Fugate Gymnasium in Wichita.  The two teams traded baskets early and the Jets went into the halftime break down just five.  The Jets shot over 50% in every quarter but the third where they cooled off to an icy 26.7% on just 4 of 15 shooting from the field.  Britney Ho led the Jets with 19 points.
Full Recap | Box Score
 
THE 800 CLUB
Senior Britney Ho just passed the 800-point mark in her career last week.  She's scored 566 points in two seasons as a Jet and is averaging 13.2 ppg in Wichita.  She had previously scored 265 points in his first two seasons at Northeastern State before dropping 280 points last year as a junior.  She's already scored 286 points this season.  If Ho had played her entire career at Newman, her 831 career points would rank sixth on Newman's all-time list.
 
IT'S A TOP TEN HIT
Britney Ho has now moved into 10^th all-time in career field goals made.  Ho is now 241-for-492 as a Jet for a career field goal percentage of .490 which would rank her inside NU's top five in that category if her career ended last week.  With her 241^st field goal, Ho passed the great Satoria Bell who hit 239 shots in just one season as a Jet in 2011-12.  Ho is two shots away from passing Haley Albers who currently sits in ninth on the list at 242 career baskets.
 
CAREER FIELD GOALS MADE
Rk.           Player                                      FGM        Games    Years      
1.             Bria DeGrate                           381          113          2015-19
2.             Hannah Alexander                  375          58            2016-18
3.             Alexandra Ciabbatoni             347          53            2012-14
4.             Tasha Cannon                          340          56            2010-12
5.             Mali Wright                             317          97            2013-17
6.             Kaitlyn Potter                          298          59            2018-20
7.             Faith Mason-Vestal                261          87            2018-22
8.             Abbey George                         254          95            2017-21
9.             Haley Albers                            242          103          2017-21
10.           Britney Ho                              241          43            2021-23
 
Ho is currently 40 field goal attempts away from entering the top ten for career field goals attempted in NU history.
 
SHE'S ON A HEATER
Britney Ho has scored in double figures 15 times this year including her last seven games.  She's registered seven games with at least 20 points and has registered five double-doubles including the last three games in a row.  Ho has also tallied back-to-back 20/10 games with at least 20 points and at least 10 rebounds and has three 20/10 games this season.
 
NOT JUST WINDOW DRESSING
The Navy & Red have dramatically turned around their fortunes on the glass over their last six games.  NU has outrebounded their opponents in five of their last six games after being outrebounded in their previous four games by an average of 15.8 rebounds per contest.   Of Newman's last six opponents, only Missouri Western ended the game with more rebounds than the Jets.
 
CARISSA KNOWS IT ALL
Carissa Beck continues to move up Newman's career 3-point field goals list.  Beck most recently passed Braxtyn Stewart's 82 career threes to move to No. 8 on the all-time list.  Beck is now 12 threes shy of catching Hadley Freeman for seventh.  Freeman did her damage from the outside in the first years of NU's transition to NCAA Division II from 2007-10.
 
CAREER 3PT FIELD GOALS MADE
Rk.           Player                                      3PTM      Games    Years      
1.             Kaitlyn Potter                          196          59            2018-20
2.             Brianna Caldwell                     150          78            2012-16
3.             Bria DeGrate                           143          113          2015-19
4.             Haley Albers                            124          110          2017-21
5.             Rainey Nickel                          113          80            2007-10
5.             Cheniqwa Banks                     113          54            2012-14
7.             Hadley Freeman                     95            79            2007-10
8.             Carissa Beck                           83            44            2021-23
9.             Braxtyn Stewart                      82            106          2017-21
10.           Rhea Codio                              71            27            2010-11
 
Last week Beck also passed Rhea Codio for ninth on the career 3-point field goals attempted list.  She's now 47 attempts away from catching Stewart's 255 attempts from 2017-21.
 
JOHNSON & JOHNSON
Newman began a new era in 2021 as the Jets welcomed Drew Johnson and Nicole Ohlde-Johnson to Wichita as the new leaders of Jets Women's Basketball.  The Johnsons are in their second season at Newman and enter 2022-23 with a 3-25 record at NU while posting a 1-21 mark in MIAA play.  The husband-and-wife team didn't have to travel far to Wichita, moving from just minutes up the road after spending four seasons at Bethel College where Drew was the head coach and Nicole was his associate head coach.  Drew Johnson compiled a 64-53 record in North Newton, while going 51-41 in Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference play.  Under their leadership, the Johnsons helped Bethel to its first ever 20-win season as the Threshers went 20-10 and hosted their first KCAC Tournament game inside Thresher Gym in 8 years.  In their final year at the helm, the Johnsons led the Threshers to a 16-10 season while going 16-6 in the KCAC, delivering the program's first ever NAIA National Tournament appearance.
 
The Johnsons bring with them a wealth of basketball experience both on and off the court.  Ohlde-Johnson, a Clay Center, Kan. native, played collegiately at Kansas State University where she was a two-time first-team All-American and departed as the school's all-time leading scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker.  Ohlde-Johnson was drafted in the first round of the 2004 WNBA draft and played seven years in the league and helped the Phoenix Mercury win the 2009 WNBA title.  After playing in Europe, Ohlde-Johnson founded the Nicole Ohlde Basketball Academy with Drew serving as a player trainer and coach for the club competing on the AAU circuit.
 
Prior to becoming the Bethel head coach, Drew Johnson previously served on the high school girls basketball coaching staff at Valley Center, Derby, and Clay Center High Schools in Kansas.  Johnson is a Wichita native and Friends University graduate.  Johnson was a two-year captain and four-year starter for the Falcons football program and earned All-KCAC honors as a punter.  As part of Ohlde Basketball Academy and Ohlde Elite, the Johnsons coached players that went on to play at all levels of basketball including the Big 12, Big East, Missouri Valley, MIAA, and KCAC.
 
The Johnsons are 0-2 against the Bronchos.
 
BUCKING WITH THE BRONCHOS
The Bronchos hired Emma Andrews to be their women's basketball coach in May of 2022.  She joined UCO after spending the previous six years at Cameron University in Lawton, Okla where she compiled a 79-97 record.  There she led the Aggies to five appearances in the Lone Star Conference Tournament and one NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021.  She assisted with CU two seasons before earning the top job.  After posting four losing seasons to begin her tenure with the Aggies, Andrews led Cameron to a 28-19 record and back-to-back winning seasons in her last two years on the bench.  She previously was a graduate and student assistant coach at Fresno State University for three years after a four-year playing career for the Bulldogs from 2007-11.  Andrews helped FSU win four-straight Western Athletic Conference crowns and finish each year in the NCAA tournament.  She was All-WAC as a junior and was born in Melbourne, Australia.
 
Andrews is 2-0 against the Jets with both wins coming while she was the head coach at Cameron.
 
SCOUTING THE SQUADRON
Newman finished 2021-22 with a 3-25 record while going 1-21 in MIAA play.  The Navy & Red return seven players from last year's team including top scorer Britney Ho, who averaged 10.4 ppg.  Ho also led the Jets in total rebounds averaging 5.1 rpg and was the team's best field goal shooter at 49%.  Senior Carissa Beck averaged 32 mpg last year while playing and starting in all 28 contests for the Jets.  Beck scored 6.5 ppg while leading Newman with 51 3-pointers and connecting on 36.7% of her shots from the outside.  Sophomore Lauryn Dubbert was third on the team in assists last year with 59.
 
Newman will carry three seniors on the roster this season while integrating four freshmen into the program.  The Jets welcome eight transfers to the roster in 2022-23 including four from the junior college level, three from NCAA Division II, and one from NCAA Division I.  The Jet lineup features two graduate students, four juniors, and six sophomores.
 
INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS
Newman's new players arrived in Wichita from all over the country during the offseason and even around the world.  After boasting 15 Jets from just three different states a year ago, Newman women's basketball will have a much more diverse list of hometowns on this year's roster.  Five Jets are from the Sunflower State, three are from Texas with Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and South Dakota also represented.  For the first time in the Johnson era, the Jets have at least one international player on the roster with players from Latvia and Spain joining the squad for 2022-23.
 
BRINGING THEIR 'A' GAME

• Senior Britney Ho is third in the MIAA in scoring at 17.9 ppg.
• Ho is 10^th in the league in rebounding with 6.9 rpg.
• Ho's 49.0% shooting from the field is seventh in 'The Association.'
• Senior Carissa Beck is second in the MIAA in 3-point field goal percentage at 46.4%.
• Graduate Maddie Spagnola would rank fourth in 3-point field goal percentage but does not have enough attempts to qualify.
• Beck is seventh in the conference with 2.0 3-point field goals per game.
• Spagnola is tied for seventh in the MIAA in assists averaging 3.7 apg.

 
NU STATS N' STREAKS

• Ho has now scored in double figures in seven straight games and 15 of her 16 contests this year.
• Ho has registered three double-doubles in a row.
• Spagnola had five steals against Northwest Missouri.  She's the first Jet to tally five or more steals in a game since Amoni White had seven against Manhattan Christian November 27, 2021.
• In MIAA action, NU is 14^th offensively scoring 53.5 ppg.
• The Jets rank 11^th defensively allowing 71.9 ppg against MIAA competition.
• The Jets are vying for their first winning season since 2018-19 when head coach Darin Spence led the Navy & Red to a 21-10 record while finishing second in the Heartland Conference.
• NU also seeks its first 10-win season since 2019-20 when NU finished 11-17 while going 6-13 in its first year in the MIAA.
• Newman looks to return to the postseason for the first time since 2019 when NU ended a six-game postseason losing streak with two wins in the Heartland Conference Tournament.  The Jets lost in the championship game to #25 Lubbock Christian.  The top-seeded Lady Chaparrals went on to win the 2019 NCAA Division II National Championship.

 
COMING ATTRACTIONS
The Jets stay on the road to wrap up a three-game road trip with Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State next week.
 
2022-23 MIAA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Week 1:  Lacy Stokes – Missouri Southern
Week 2:  Alayzha Knapp – Central Oklahoma
Week 3:  Connie Clarke – Missouri Western
Week 4:  Katie Wagner – Fort Hays State
Week 5:  Lacy Stokes (2) – Missouri Southern (2)
Week 6:  Brooke Littrell – Central Missouri
Week 7:  Brooke Littrell (2) – Central Missouri (2)
Week 8:  Brooke Littrell (3) – Central Missouri (3)
Week 9:  Brooke Littrell (4) – Central Missouri (4)
 
2022 MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLLS
Coaches
1.  Missouri Southern (6) – 159 Points
2.  Fort Hays State (3) – 151 Points
3.  Nebraska-Kearney (2) – 144 Points
4.  Missouri Western (3) – 139 Points
5.  Central Missouri – 127 Points
6.  Emporia State – 106 Points
7.  Northwest Missouri – 100 Points
8.  Pittsburg State – 85 Points
9.  Central Oklahoma – 74 Points
10.  Washburn – 62 Points
11.  Rogers State – 50 Points
12.  Northeastern State – 31 Points
13.  Newman – 28 Points
14.  Lincoln – 18 Points
 
Media
1.  Missouri Southern (13) – 249 Points
2.  Fort Hays State (4) – 234 Points
3.  Central Missouri (3) – 218 Points
4.  Nebraska-Kearney – 216 Points
5.  Missouri Western – 211 Points
6.  Northwest Missouri – 164 Points
7.  Emporia State – 145 Points
8.  Pittsburg State – 129 Points
9.  Central Oklahoma – 127 Points
10.  Washburn – 108 Points
11.  Rogers State – 74 Points
12.  Northeastern State – 57 Points
T13.  Newman – 31 Points
T13.  Lincoln – 31 Points