(WARRENSBURG, Mo.)  March 30, 2004 - Dave Slifer is the third-winningest active coach in NCAA Division II womens basketball. The Central Missouri State University Jennies are the seventh winningest team in D-II history. Sounds like a match made in basketball heaven.

That match was in fact made when CMSU Athletics Director Jerry Hughes announced Slifer as the sixth head coach in the 34-year history of Jennies basketball. Slifer has served the past nine seasons as head coach at MIAA-rival Missouri Western State College.

We are thrilled to hire a coach of Dave Slifers caliber to lead our womens basketball team, Hughes said. Dave Slifer is a proven winner, he is a gentlemen, and we couldnt be happier to have him join our staff.

My family and I are delighted to be a part of the Central Missouri athletics family, Slifer said. Central Missouri State has a long and rich tradition of academic and athletic excellence. We look forward to being a part of such a great university.

As Missouri Westerns mentor, Slifer posted a record of 205-69. After going 16-12 in his inaugural season with the Lady Griffons, he enjoyed eight consecutive seasons of 21 or more wins. The winningest coach in Missouri Western womens basketball history, he was named MIAA Coach of the Year three times and led Missouri Western to a pair of MIAA titles, two MIAA Tournament Championships, and eight consecutive NCAA Tournaments. His Lady Griffons also enjoyed a string of seven straight years in the MIAA Tournament Championship game.

Prior to his stint at Western, Slifer served six seasons at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He won at least 28 games all six seasons, and led the Mustangs to six straight NAIA Tournaments, including the Final Four in 1993-94 and 1994-95. Overall Slifer produced a record of 178-30 (.856) at Mount Mercy.

He takes over a Central Missouri State program that finished 15-13, 8-10 and sixth in the MIAA in 2003-04.

We have a good solid nucleus of returning players, Slifer said. We are going to work very hard everyday to get Jennies basketball back to the level of excellence it has enjoyed for many years.

Slifer received a bachelors degree in business administration from Mount Mercy in 1982, and a masters degree in business administration from Eastern Illinois University in 1985. He and his wife, Tammy, who served as his volunteer assistant coach at Missouri Western, have three children: daughters Brittney and Maggie, and son D.J.

The Slifer File

at Mount Mercy College

1989-90 - 29-5 (NAIA Tournament)

1990-91 - 29-5 (NAIA Tournament)

1991-92 - 30-5 (NAIA Tournament Quarterfinals)

1992-93 - 28-5 (NAIA Tournament Quarterfinals)

1993-94 - 31-4 (NAIA Final Four)

1994-95 - 31-6 (NAIA Final Four)

Total - six years, 178-30 (.856)

at Missouri Western State College

1995-96 - 16-12

1996-97 - 24-7 (MIAA Regular season champions, MIAA Tournament champions, MIAA Coach of the Year, NCAA Tournament)

1997-98 - 23-9 (NCAA Tournament)

1998-99 - 25-5 (NCAA Tournament)

1999-00 - 22-9 (NCAA Tournament)

2000-01 - 24-7 (NCAA Tournament)

2001-02 - 27-3 (MIAA Regular season champions, MIAA Tournament champions, MIAA Coach of the Year, NCAA Tournament)

2002-03 - 23-8 (NCAA Tournament)

2003-04 - 21-9 (MIAA Coach of the Year, NCAA Tournament)

Total - nine years, 205-69 (.748)

Overall Record - 15 years, 383-99 (.795)