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Game Preview:

The Truman women's basketball team will look for their second straight conference road win and third straight overall when they head to Bolivar, Mo. and face off against the Southwest Baptist Bearcats on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 55-46 victory at Pittsburg State on Saturday.  Truman outscored the Gorillas 36-17 in the second half to erase a 10-point halftime deficit and were led in scoring by junior Breanna Daniels and freshman Nicole Gloor's 14 points each.

Daniels has been in double-figures in all five games this season and is currently tied for third in the conference scoring race at 17.0 points per game.  She is tied for first in free throw percentage at 93.8% and third in three-point field goal percentage at 42.9%.  Daniels is also among the league leaders in minutes played per game at 34.8, which is fourth.

Gloor has averaged 17 points in her last three games and 11.0 points per game overall while shooting 47% from the field and 78% from the foul line.  Last week against Missouri Southern, when Gloor was on the floor, Truman outscored the Lions 44-20 and was on the floor in the second half against Pitt when the Bulldogs outscored the Gorillas 32-11.

Senior Amy Galey recorded a career-high nine rebounds against Pitt on Saturday.  Galey is second in the MIAA in assists at 4.8 per game, seventh in defensive rebounds at 5.0 and sixth in minutes played at 33.6.

The Truman bench is averaging 27.0 points per game after last season's 19 per game and outscoring the opposition bench by 14 points.

The key to the game with the Bearcats will be turnovers and steals.  The Bulldogs have a league-worst minus five turnover margin while the Bearcats are tied for first at a plus 8.3.  SBU averages 11.5 steals per game, good for fourth in the MIAA with Whitney Malone leading the team at 3.3 per game, second in the conference. 

Southwest Baptist is 4-2 on the young season and 1-1 in conference play.  The Bearcats have wins against Drury (57-49), Missouri Baptist (71-61), Central Methodist (78-57) and most recently at Lincoln on Saturday (67-47).  Their two losses have come against Division I Cincinnati (55-40) and Central Missouri (63-61).

A big start against the Lincoln Blue Tigers put their last game away early.  The Bearcats went on a 39-14 run from the 15 minute mark on and put away Lincoln by 20 on Saturday.  Jaquavia Couch came off the bench to lead SBU with 16 points while Courtney Heady finished with 14 and Ashleigh Gallio finished with 12.  The Bearcats were 6-of-24 from three-point land and had 14 steals.

The Bearcats have the top scoring defense in the MIAA at 55.3 points per game but do not have a player that averages in double-figures in scoring.  Jacqui Zelenka leads the team with a 9.7 ppg average and seven players average more than five points per game.

Last Year's Recap:

SBU swept both meetings last season and have won four of the last five match-ups. 

In the last meeting on Feb. 6 in Bolivar, Courtney Heady scored 18 points on five, three-pointers and the Bearcats ran away with a 67-51 victory over the Bulldogs.  Laura Joya came off the bench to lead the Bulldogs with 10 points.

In the first meeting a year ago in Kirksville, Heady again scored 18 points on five, three-pointers and SBU connected on 14 treys out of 25 attempts in a 77-73 SBU win.  Breanna Daniels had 21 points on four triples for the Bulldogs as both teams shot over 55% from beyond the arc.

Bulldog Coaching Staff:

Head Coach Michael Smith enters his third year at the helm of the Truman Women's Basketball program.  Smith was 8-19 in his first season and improved by three games last year to 11-16.  The Bulldogs won six of their first 10 games and four of their last five in 2009-10.

Smith took over the program in April of 2008 and was previously the assistant coach at Division I University of Arkansas-Little Rock.

Joining Smith in her first year on the Truman bench is Lora Westling as the new assistant coach.  Westling was a two-time all-MIAA performer and helped Washburn University to the 2005 Division II National Title.  She served the previous three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Bulldogs In the MIAA:

• Truman is first in the conference in free throw shooting percentage (81.3%), second in Nebraska-Omaha at 80.2%.
• Truman is second in field goal percentage (42.1%), first is Emporia State at 44.6%.
• Breanna Daniels is ranked in six categories in the MIAA:
  • Tied for third in scoring 17.8ppg
  • Seventh in field goal percentage 40.8%
  • Tied for first in Free Throw percentage 93.8%
  • Third in three-point field goal percentage 42.9%
  • Sixth in three-pointers made per game 2.4
  • Fourth in minutes played 34.8
• Amy Galey is second in the conference with 4.8 assists per game and has had games of eight and nine assists through five contests.  Galey is also sixth in minutes played at 33.6 and seventh in defensive rebounds at 5.0 per game.
• Nicole Gloor is tied for eighth in free throw percentage at 78.3%
• Jennifer Conway is sixth in blocks per game at 1.8

Overall Key Stats from 10-11:

·         Truman is averaging 62.0 points per game, last season the Bulldogs averaged 61.6.

·         Other key stat comparisons from this year to last year include:

o   FG% .421 from .403

o   3FG% .279 from .356

o   FT% .813 from .779

·         The Bulldogs are just one win away from 400 in the program's history.  The 'Dogs enter Tuesday's game with 399 wins in 39 years of college basketball.

·         Truman has been outscored 96-72 in points off of turnovers.

·         The team has nearly double the number of bench points than their opponents.  The Bulldogs have 135 points from their bench for a 27.0 ppg mark while the opposion has 69 bench points.  In the last two games, Truman has 105 bench points or 35.0 per game.

·         Breanna Daniels leads the team with five 10-point plus games this season and has 37 for her career.  She is the active leading scorer with 673 points.

·         Truman is shooting 81% from the foul line overall and 87% in the final five minutes of games.

·         The Bulldogs have won six of their last seven MIAA regular season games, only Washburn (7-0) and Central Missouri (6-1) have been hotter than or as hot as the Bulldogs in the conference.

·         Just four conference schools, including the Bulldogs have played all their games against Division II opponents.  Pittsburg State, Lincoln and Missouri Western are the other three schools.  Emporia State has played three Division II opponents and one Division I opponent.

Up Next:

Historically the toughest two games on the Bulldog schedule are next as Truman will host Washburn University and Emporia State on consecutive Saturdays.  The two schools are the league's last two national champions (Washburn in 2005 and Emporia in 2010).  Tip off against the Lady Blues is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Due to the current construction project going on in the Pershing Building, no admission will be charged for either game.