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Game Preview:
Final exam week will begin early and end late for the Truman women's basketball team as they have a pair of major tests upcoming. The Bulldogs will take their first test on Saturday at home when they face #4 ranked and undefeated Washburn University at 1:00 p.m. followed by next Saturday's visit by the defending Division II National Champion, Emporia State Lady Hornets.
Truman and Washburn enter Saturday's clash as one of only three unbeaten conference teams. It is the first time since the 1999-2000 season that the Bulldogs have started league play with a 3-0 record and Truman is winners in seven of their last eight regular season conference games.
The Bulldog's latest win came Tuesday night when they scored the final seven points to take a 68-65 win on the road in Bolivar against Southwest Baptist University. Amy Galey connected on all four three-point attempts while freshman Nicole Gloor continues to make an immediate impact with 20 points on the bench in Truman's win.
Gloor has moved her scoring average up to 12.5 for the season after averaging 17.7 over the past four games. Meanwhile, Truman's leading scorer, junior Breanna Daniels is fourth in the MIAA in scoring at 16 points per game and has scored in double-figures for 11 straight contests dating back to last season.
Truman is the top field goal shooting team in the conference at 44.5% and fourth in three-point field goal shooting at 31.9%. The Bulldogs are second in both defensive three-point shooting (26.9%) and second in free throw marksmanship (77.4%).
The Lady Blues have won seven straight to open the season and have won their last 13 straight MIAA regular season games. Washburn is the top defensive scoring team at 55.7 points allowed per game, top three-point shooting team at 8.7 per game and also first in defensive rebounding (30.4), rebounding margin (+13.9), assists per game (17.3) and assist/turnover ration (1.1).
Cassie Lombardino is sixth in the conference in scoring at 14.4 points per game while Stevi Schultz is tied for fourth in rebounding at eight per contest.
On Wednesday night, Washburn raced out to a 35-15 halftime lead and never trailed while defeating Fort Hays State 71-42 in Lee Arena. Schultz made four of six three-point attempts in leading the Lady Blues with 26 points while Lombardino added 14. Schultz had five of the team's 15 offensive rebounds.
Washburn has played five of their first seven games in Topeka with only a two-game jaunt after Thanksgiving down to Phoenix, Ariz for a pair of games at the Grand Canyon University tournament. The Lady Blues played two exhibition games against Big 12 opponents, loosing 80-46 to the University of Kansas and 91-47 to Kansas State University.
The Lady Blues lost all five leading scorers including MIAA tournament MVP Hope Gregory and Defensive MVP Brette Ulsaker from last year's squad.
Last Year's Recap:
Washburn swept both meetings with the Bulldogs last season. The Lady Blues won 75-56 in Topeka on Dec. 12th behind Dayna Rodriguez's 19 points and 10 team, three-pointers. Jenny Dorman led Truman with 13 points, her career high, with three triples.
Both offenses struggled in Washburn's 50-38 victory in Kirksville on Feb. 3. Neither team shot over 35% for the game but Rodriguez scored 22 of the Lady Blues 50 points and was 9-of-18 from the field. Breanna Daniels led Truman with 11 points.
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 field goal percentage (44.5%), Emporia State is second at 42.9%
- Truman is second in free throw percentage (77.4%), first is Nebraska-Omaha at 79.6%.
- Breanna Daniels is ranked in six categories in the MIAA:
- Fourth in scoring 16.0 ppg
- Eighth in field goal percentage 40.0%
- Second in Free Throw percentage 94.1%
- Tied for third in three-point field goal percentage 40.0%
- Eighth in three-pointers made per game 2.0
- Fifth in minutes played 34.0
- Amy Galey is third in the conference with 4.2 assists per game and has had games of eight and nine assists through six contests. Galey is also fourth in minutes played at 34.2 and eighth in defensive rebounds at 4.8 per game.
- Nicole Gloor is 16th in scoring at 12.5 per game and 10th in free throw percentage at 74.1%
- Jennifer Conway is eighth in blocks per game at 1.5.
Overall Key Stats from 10-11:
· Truman is averaging 63.0 points per game, last season the Bulldogs averaged 61.6.
· Other key stat comparisons from this year to last year include:
o FG% .445 from .403
o 3FG% .319 from .356
o FT% .774 from .779
· Truman has been outscored 117-82 (35 pts) in points off of turnovers.
· Breanna Daniels leads the team with six 10-point plus games this season and has 38 for her career. She is the active leading scorer with 684 points.
· Truman is shooting 77% from the foul line overall and 83% in the final five minutes of games.
· The Bulldogs have won seven of their last eight MIAA regular season games, only Washburn (8-0) and Central Missouri (6-2) 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:
The defending Division II National Champs will be welcomed into Pershing Arena by Coach Smith and the Bulldogs next Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Hornets will make their first trip outside of Emporia for a conference game when they head to Warrensburg on this Saturday to face the University of Central Missouri.
Due to the current construction project going on in the Pershing Building, no admission will be charged for either game.
