By BEN JOHNSON
Sports Editor
—
Men's standings
Conf. Overall
W-L W-L
Central Missouri 9-2 15-4
NW Missouri 8-3 15-5
Washburn 7-3 14-4
Northeastern State 8-4 15-5
Lindenwood 7-4 14-5
Fort Hays State 7-4 13-6
Pittsburg State 6-5 13-6
Central Oklahoma 6-5 8-11
SW Baptist 5-6 7-12
Missouri Southern 4-7 9-10
Truman 4-7 7-12
Missouri Western 4-8 8-12
Emporia State 3-7 8-10
Neb. Kearney 3-9 6-14
Lincoln 2-9 3-18
Women's standings
Conf. Ovr.
W-L W-L
Washburn 9-1 15-3
Central Missouri 9-2 17-2
Truman 9-2 16-3
Northeastern State 9-3 14-6
Emporia State 7-3 12-6
Fort Hays State 6-5 14-5
Pittsburg State 6-5 12-7
Missouri Western 6-6 13-7
NW Missouri State 5-6 11-8
Missouri Southern 4-7 10-9
Lincoln 4-7 9-10
SW Baptist 4-7 9-10
Neb. Kearney 3-9 6-13
Central Oklahoma 1-10 8-11
Lindenwood 1-10 4-15
(Weeknight games: women start at 5:30 p.m., men at 7:30; Saturday games: women at 1:30 p.m., men at 3:30, unless noted otherwise)
Friday (Feb. 1)
Men
Central Okla. 85, Neb. Kearney 75
Women
Neb. Kearney 72, Central Okla. 60
Saturday (Feb. 2)
Men
Lindenwood 83, Central Missouri 82
NW Missouri State 52, Emporia State 51
Northeastern St. 73, Mo. Western 61
SW Baptist 76, Truman 73
Fort Hays State 83, Mo. Southern 69
Washburn 67, Pittsburg State 51
Women
Central Missouri 83, Lindenwood 75
Emporia State 72, NW Missouri St. 58
Northeastern St. 73, Mo. Western 56
Truman 64, SW Baptist 50
Fort Hays State 62, Mo. Southern 55
Washburn 58, Pittsburg State 44
Wednesday (Feb. 6)
Northwest Missouri St. at Fort Hays St.
Missouri Western at Washburn
Thursday (Feb. 7)
SW Baptist at Missouri Southern
Central Missouri at Central Oklahoma
Lindenwood at Northeastern State
Truman at Pittsburg State
Lincoln at Emporia State
Saturday
Lindenwood at Emporia State
Lincoln at Central Oklahoma
Truman at Northeastern State
SW Baptist at Pittsburg State
Neb. Kearney at Fort Hays St. (2 p.m.; 4 p.m.)
Northwest Missouri St. at Washburn (5 p.m.; 7 p.m.)
Central Missouri at Missouri Southern (5:30 p.m.; 7:30 p.m.)
MIAA Men
Ahead of the pack
Central Missouri: A one-point loss at Lindenwood Saturday snapped a nine-game winning streak for the Mules. However, Central Missouri was able to maintain its lead in the standings, which now stands at a game over Northwest Missouri. On the schedule this week for the Mules is a pair of road games at Central Oklahoma and Missouri Southern.
Up and coming
Washburn: The Ichabods extended a two-game winning streak into a four-game spurt with wins over Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State last week. Washburn could also make a late surge in the standings with five of its final eight — and three of its last four — regular-season games at home.
On the skids
Lincoln: The Blue Tigers don’t have the longest losing streak among MIAA teams, but a 111-72 thumping at the hands of Central Missouri on Wednesday signified a spot at rock bottom. Since Dec. 8, Lincoln has posted one win — a shocking 70-65 triumph at Northwest Missouri State.
Notes
Nicholson named top player: Fort Hays State freshman guard Craig Nicholson was named the league’s men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week. Nicholson averaged 15 points and 11 assists per game in wins over Central Oklahoma and Missouri Southern last week.
Ridle leads scoring fray: Lincoln senior Cedric Ridle upped his scoring average by a tenth of a point on Wednesday with 21 points against Central Missouri. Ridle (19.3 points per game) currently leads the league in scoring, with Washburn’s Will McNeil (18.1), Northeastern State’s Bryton Hobbs (17.8) and Missouri Southern’s Marquis Addison (17.4) not far behind.
Shooting superiority: Northeastern State is deadly when shooting from anywhere on the floor. Through 20 games this season, the RiverHawks lead the MIAA in field-goal, free-throw and 3-point shooting percentage. The RiverHawks are making 78.9 percent of their foul shots, 48.6 percent of their field-goal attempts and 40.5 of their shots from behind the 3-point arc.
MIAA Women
Ahead of the pack
Washburn: The Lady Blues turned in another dominant week with double-digit wins over both Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State.
Up and coming
Central Missouri and Truman: Both clubs have won four straight games and are tied for second in the league at 9-2, which is a half game behind Washburn. Emporia State is charging hard, too, having won five straight games to sit all alone in fifth place in the standings.
On the skids
Central Oklahoma: Nine straight losses have the Bronchos tied with Lindenwood for last in the league. Central Oklahoma’s last win came over Arkansas-Fort Smith on Dec. 29.
Notes
Hanf honored: Emporia State senior Rachel Hanf helped the Hornets cruise to two easy victories last week over Nebraska Kearney and Northwest Missouri State. The 5-foot-9 guard from Paola, Kan., averaged 22.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game last week.
Lizzy leads scoring pack: Pittsburg State’s Lizzy Jeronimus continues to lead the MIAA in scoring at 18.7 points per game. However, her scoring lead shrunk on Saturday, when she only scored 12 points at Washburn while Northeastern State’s Taylor Lewis scored 19 points to up her average to 16.3, which is good enough for second.
Games of the week
Men: Northwest Missouri at Washburn, Saturday
Despite going on the road for two games this week, Central Missouri is likely to go 2-0. That said, the loser of the Northwest Missouri-Washburn matchup will fall further behind in the race for the top spot in the league standings.
Women: Truman at Northeastern State, Saturday
The winner will continue to chase Washburn for No. 1 in the standings, while the loser will have a tougher road to trek as the schedule gets shorter.
