Games 18 & 19:
Newman (6-11, 3-9 MIAA) @ Missouri Southern (17-4, 9-4 MIAA)
Thursday, January 26, 2023 | 5:30 p.m. | Joplin, Mo. (Leggett & Platt Athletic Center)
Audio:  101-7 The Vault 101.7 FM (Play-by-Play:  Mike McClure) | Video:  MIAA Network | Live Stats:  MSSU Athletics
 
@ Pittsburg State (15-4, 10-3 MIAA)
Saturday, January 28, 2023 | 7:30 p.m. | Pittsburg, Kan. (John Lance Arena)
Audio:  Gorilla Sports Network (Play-by-Play:  Eddie Lomshek) | Video:  MIAA Network | Live Stats:  PSU Athletics
 
HOWDY PARTNER
Newman women's basketball plays their last consecutive road games of the year this weekend.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Newman offense started slow and the defense couldn't make stops late in a 71-57 loss to Central Oklahoma Saturday Jan. 23 at Hamilton Field House in Edmond, Okla.  The Jets started the game an icy 1-for-19 from the field with a five-point first quarter, but held UCO to just 10 points in the period.  The Jets offense finally got off the tarmac in the second quarter thanks to 17 first-half points for Carissa Beck, but UCO's offense thawed out as well as the Bronchos scored 23 points in the frame to lead 33-24 going into the break.  The Jets used an 8-0 run that spanned halftime to cut the deficit to within four, but a Karly Wadsworth 3-pointer for the Bronze & Blue stopped the Navy & Red's advance.  The UCO lead swelled as high as 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Jets were unable to make a run.  Britney Ho matched Carissa Beck to lead the Jets in scoring with 17 points while grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds.
Full Recap | Box Score
 
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
Missouri Southern starts the week in sixth place in the MIAA standings.  The Lions started the season ranked and were ranked #4 by the coaches and #2 by the media in their first meeting with the Jets this season.  The Lions dropped out of the rankings when they lost four-straight MIAA games in a brutal stretch of schedule that bridged the Christmas break.  However, the Lions have turned things around with a five-game winning streak after beating Lincoln 84-45 on Monday.  Last year, Missouri Southern stunned the MIAA by going 19-3 in league games to tie for the regular season conference title with Fort Hays State, the Lions' first MIAA women's basketball crown in program history.  The Lions emphatically ended a streak of five-straight losing seasons with a 24-7 record.  The Southern season ended in a heartbreaking 69-67 loss to #16 St. Cloud State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, MoSo's first since 1996.  Before last year, the Lions hadn't finished above .500 since going 18-12 in 2015-16.  MSSU's last winning MIAA season in 2014-15 (14-5) was also the last time the Lions won at least 20 games in a season going 20-7 that year.  The Lions are seeking their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023.
 
MSSU is tied for fourth in scoring offense in MIAA games at 69.9 ppg and is third defensively allowing 58.3 ppg in conference games.  Lacy Stokes leads the Lions and is fifth in the league in scoring at 16.1 ppg.  Madi Stokes (no relation) tops MSSU in rebounding and is fourth in the conference grabbing 8.3 rpg.  Lacy Stokes leads the league in assists per game (5.4) and has an assist to turnover ratio (4.5) that is 2.1 higher than the second best ratio in the league.  Madi Stokes leads the league in rejections at 2.2 bpg.
 
Pittsburg State enters this week in a tie for fourth place in the conference standings and have only suffered defeat to the three teams above them on the conference leaderboard.  The Gorillas have won five-straight games entering their matchup with the Jets this week.  The Gorillas wrapped 2021-22 with a 16-13 record while splitting their 22 conference games at 11-11.  The Gorillas were good at home inside John Lance Arena with an 11-4 home record but struggled to a 4-8 mark away from Pittsburg.  The Gorillas have notched 12-straight winning seasons since a 14-14 campaign in 2009-10.  Prior to that season, Pitt State had a losing record in three of the four prior seasons.  A 17-11 mark in the 2019-20 season ended a stretch of six-straight 20-win seasons during which the Gorillas went a combined 148-43.  Last season's .500 mark in MIAA play snapped a streak of 13-straight seasons with a winning conference record dating back to a 4-14 MIAA mark in the 2007-08 campaign that saw PSU finish 10-17.  The Gorillas are seeking their 12^th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2019. 
 
Pittsburg State enters the week with the top offense in the conference scoring 79.5 ppg inside 'The Association' while ranking eighth allowing 66.4 ppg in MIAA action.  Tristan Gegg leads the Gorillas in scoring and is sixth in the league at 15.5 ppg while Karenna Gerber paces PSU in rebounding and ranks sixth in the MIAA at 7.7 rpg.  Gegg is one of the league's most feared 3-point threats and is third in the conference at 3-point field goal percentage while ranking first in the conference hitting 3.2 threes per game.  Harper Schreiner is tied for second in the conference with 4.1 assists per game while Gerber ranks fourth in blocks with 1.6 per night.
 
The Gorillas are scheduled to host Central Oklahoma on Thursday this week.
 
THE SERIES
The Lions lead the series 4-2 after beating the Jets earlier this season.  Newman does not count four wins MSSU took from the Jets while NU was an NAIA member and the Lions were NCAA Division II.  NU is 1-4 against the Lions in Joplin in the NCAA era of the rivalry.  MoSo has taken the last two from the Jets and four of the last five. 
 
Pittsburg State leads 15-2, 7-0 in NU's NCAA Division II era, 6-0 in MIAA play.  All but one of Pitt State's victories in the DII era have been by double digits.
 
PREVIOUS MATCHUP
Missouri Southern jumped out to an 8-2 run to begin the game and never looked back as the #4 Lions grounded the Jets 89-42 December 10, 2022, at Fugate Gymnasium in Wichita.  After trading baskets in the middle of the period, MoSo got rolling again with a 13-0 run late in the first quarter.  The Jets broke the run with a Maddie Spagnola 3-pointer late in the period, but the Lions tacked on the first 12 points of the second quarter on the way to a 34-6 first-half run that spanned approximately 13 minutes of game time.  Maddie Spagnola led the Jets with 14 points, her highest scoring output of the season in MIAA play.
Full Recap | Box Score
 
After hanging with the Gorillas through 20 minutes, the Newman defense faltered in the second half as Pittsburg State pulled away for a 81-58 victory December 7, 2022, at Fugate Gymnasium.  The teams played close in the first half with the Jets trailing 31-26 at the break after a cool-shooting second quarter.  The Gorillas ripped the nets at a 57.1% clip in the second half on the way to outscoring the Jets 50-32 in the final 20 minutes.  Britney Ho poured in 24 points for the Jets in the defeat.
Full Recap | Box Score
 
IT'S A TOP TEN HIT
Britney Ho has now moved into ninth all-time in career field goals made.  With her 243^rd field goal, Ho passed Haley Albers who made 242 field goals in a four-year career from 2017-21.
 
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.             Britney Ho                              248          44            2021-23
10.           Haley Albers                            242          103          2017-21
 
Ho is currently 23 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 16 times this year including her last eight games.  She's registered seven games with at least 20 points and has six double-doubles including the last four games in a row.  Ho has also tallied three games with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds 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 six of their last seven games after being outrebounded in the previous four games by an average of 15.8 rebounds per contest.   Of Newman's last seven opponents, only Missouri Western ended the game with more rebounds than the Jets.  The Jets had their worst rebounding week of the season when they played this week's opponents for the first time in December.  The Jets had their worst rebounding day of the year when they were outboarded by 21 by the Gorillas before the Lions outrebounded the Jets by 10 later that week.
 
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 seven 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                           88            45            2021-23
9.             Braxtyn Stewart                      82            106          2017-21
10.           Rhea Codio                              71            27            2010-11
 
Earlier this month Beck also passed Rhea Codio for ninth on the career 3-point field goals attempted list.  She's now 40 attempts away from catching Stewart's 255 attempts from 2017-21.
 
SHHHHHHHHHHH
Don't tell anyone, but we are obliged to report that Carissa Beck has tied the program record for consecutive free throws made at 22.  Kaitlyn Potter also made 22 consecutive free throws over a nine-game span in the 2019-20 season.  Beck's march to 22 has taken 16 games to accomplish.  Potter in that same season set the program record for season free throw percentage at 90.3% hitting 65 of 72 shots.  Potter would lead the Jets in career percentage at the line but did not have the 140 attempts needed to qualify for the records.  Beck's 27-for-29 performance this season would be the best percentage a Jet has shot at the line (93.1%) but she needs 51 more free throw attempts to qualify for the single-season free throw records.  Beck hasn't missed a shot from the charity line since going 6-for-8 against Oklahoma Christian in the second game of the season November 18, 2022.  Beck is 9-for-9 at the line over her last four games.
 
RSVP FOR HALL OF FAME DAY
The 2023 Class of the Newman Athletics Hall of Fame has been announced and will be inducted on February 4, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.  The day gets started with exciting MIAA basketball action at Fugate Gymnasium with a 1:30 p.m. doubleheader as the Jets host Nebraska-Kearney.  Fans are then invited to move to the Dugan Conference Center adjacent to Fugate Gymnasium and O'Shaughnessy Hall on campus.  Three former Newman Athletes and former Newman men's basketball coach Mark Potter headline this year's class.  Eck Agency will also be inducted as a booster.  The ceremony will begin with the presentation of the Sr. Thomasine Stoecklein Spirit Award.  RSVP your spot today HERE.  Proceeds directly support NU Athletics and table discounts are available.
 
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 MoSo and 0-3 versus PSU.
 
PREPARING THE PRIDE AND LEADING THE TROOP
Ronnie Ressel begins his seventh year as the head coach of Lions women's basketball in 2022-23.  He previously served three years as an assistant coach and one year as the interim head coach in Joplin before receiving the job full-time.  Ressel has spent nearly two decades in the Missouri Southern athletic department.  A member of the MSSU class of 1992, he rejoined his alma mater for the 2002-03 season after 10 years at Rend Lake College in Illinois.  Ressel entered the season with an 80-89 record as the Lions' head coach.  During Ressel's time as an assistant under Ronda Hubbard, the Lions went 57-27 with three MIAA Tournament appearances.  Last season, he guided the Lions to their first regular season MIAA Championship in program history and was named the 2022 MIAA Coach of the Year.  Ressel previously spent 11 seasons as an assistant with the Lions men's basketball program, during which MSSU went 204-145 with 11 appearances in the MIAA Tournament.  Ressel was a two-year letterman for the Lions and led the team in assists in the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons. 
 
Ressel is 3-1 in his career against NU.
 
Amanda Davied is in her fifth year as head coach at Pittsburg State.  She started the season with a 68-42 record at her alma mater.  Her Gorillas went 21-9 in her debut season of 2018-19 making the NCAA Tournament and finishing 13-6 in MIAA play.  She is the only coach in Pitt State history to win at least 20 games in her first year on the bench.  Davied is in her 19^th year as a member of the Gorilla coaching staff after spending 14 seasons assisting Lane Lord who departed the position to become head coach at NCAA Division I member Texas Rio Grande Valley.  Heading into the 2021-22 season, the Gorillas have an overall record of 351-202 with Davied on the bench with six NCAA Tournament appearances and two trips to the Elite Eight.  The Farlington, Kan., native also enjoyed a standout playing career as a Gorilla scoring 1,299 points to finish as a top 10 scorer in school history.  She also set records for career assists and career free throw percentage and graduated from Pittsburg State in December 2003.
 
Davied is a perfect 6-0 against the Navy & Red.
 
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 17.8 ppg.
• Ho is eighth in the league in rebounding with 7.4 rpg.
• Ho's 48.5% shooting from the field is sixth in 'The Association.'
• Senior Carissa Beck leads the MIAA in 3-point percentage at 48.7%
• Beck is tied for third in the conference with 2.2 3-point field goals per game.
• Graduate Maddie Spagnola is tied for seventh in the MIAA in assists averaging 3.6 apg.

 
NU STATS N' STREAKS

• Ho has now scored in double figures in eight-straight games and 16 of her 17 contests this year.
• Ho has registered four double-doubles in a row, a personal best.  She now has six double-doubles this season.
• Ho snatched 14 rebounds against the Bronchos, also a career high.
• In MIAA action, NU is 14^th offensively scoring 53.8 ppg.
• The Jets rank 12^th defensively allowing 71.8 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.
• Aspen Williston scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Bronchos last week, the first opponent to notch a double-double against the Jets since Kaya Goolsby scored 12 points with 11 rebounds for Rogers State in a Jet loss in Claremore, Okla. on Jan. 5.

 
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Newman returns home to celebrate Hall of Fame Week and hosts Hall of Fame Day on Saturday Feb. 4.
 
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)
Week 10:  Brionna Budgetts – Missouri Western
 
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