Game Preview:
The Truman women's basketball team returns to the floor for the second time in four days to host William Penn (Iowa) at 5:30 on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs are 1-0 on the season following a 79-55 win over Lindenwood-Belleville while the Lady Statesmen are looking for their first win in their seventh game.
The Bulldogs never trailed and used a big first half run to pick up a win in their season opener against Lindenwood University-Belleville (Ill.) on Saturday afternoon. Becka McHenry led three Bulldogs in double-figures with a game-high 15 points.
Sophomore Bianca Szafarowicz triggered the run with six straight points after the Lynx had pulled to within three midway through the first frame. Junior Jennifer Conway and Breanna Daniels added hoops and Truman closed the first half on a 27-9 run.
The Bulldogs would lead by as many as 31 points with 12:55 left in the game following senior Jenny Dorman's three successful free throw attempts.
Truman took 84 field goal attempts and shot 40% from the floor while pulling down 14 more rebounds than Lindenwood-Belleville.
Daniels finished with a double-double as she scored 13 points and grabbed 12 boards while Conway added 14 points. Szafarowicz scored eight and had nine rebounds.
The visitors were paced by Ashley Will's 13 points.
The Lady Statesmen were 23-10 a season ago before bowing out in the Midwest Collegiate Conference tournament finals to St. Ambrose 79-72.
However William Penn has started slow in 2011-12 with an 0-6 record. They lost a pair of games this past weekend at the Concordia Cattle Classic in Seward, Neb. William Penn fell 86-70 to host Concordia on Friday and 66-55 to Doane (Neb.) on Saturday.
Orielle Thomas leads the Lady Statesmen in scoring at 16.3 points per night and had a season-high 26 in an overtime loss to Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) to start the season.
Bulldogs In the Non-Conference:
Truman has played 19 non-conference games under Coach Michael Smith and are 11-8. All but three games have been against Division II opponents. Seven of the games have had final margins of five points or less and 10 of them have been decided by 10 points or less.
The largest margin of victory in non-conference games was a 56-31 (+25) win over Maryville University in 2009 while the largest deficit was 63-44 (-19) to Barry University in 2010.
The Bulldogs are 5-1 in non-conference home games under Smith with the only loss coming in the first home game back in 2008 to Quincy 76-58.
MIAA Coaches/Media Poll:
In the annual conference coaches' and media polls that were released on Oct. 25th, the Bulldogs were picked seventh in the coaches and 9th in the media out of 11 teams. Washburn (Kan.) and Emporia St. (Kan.) were the unanimous top two choices in both polls.
The seventh selection of the Bulldogs is the highest for the program since the 2000 season.
Chasing 1,000
Senior Breanna Daniels is 53 points away from 1,000 for her career. She would be the 16th Truman women's basketball player to eclipse 1,000 for a career and first since Georgia Mueller did so in 2009.
Daniels has started 69 of 82 games played during her Bulldog career and is shooting nearly 40% from the field with 110 made three pointers. Her single-game high in points is 27 against Northwest Missouri on Feb. 17, 2010. She is averaging 11.5 points per game.
Carol Jarrard (1978-82) is the Bulldogs all-time leading scorer with 2,066 points in 112 games played.
Bulldogs Among Nations' Best Programs:
The Truman women's basketball team topped the MIAA and ranked sixth throughout Division II in team grade-point average logging a cumulative squad GPA of 3.571 last season. The Women's Basketball Coaches Association named the Bulldogs to their Academic top-25 this past summer.
All 13 team members posted a cumulative GPA of 2.95 or higher through the 2010-2011 academic year with nine players surpassing the 3.30 mark.
The WBCA Academic top-25 annually recognizes NCAA Divisions I, II, and III; NAIA; and junior college teams across the nation that carry the highest combined GPAs inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season.
Bulldog Tip-Ins:
· Truman averaged 62.7 points per game last season while shooting 39% from the field, 33% from beyond the arc and 66% from the free throw line.
· The Bulldogs won the rebound battle by grabbing 37.5 each night and allowing 35.6 for a +1.9 margin.
· The team was outscored by 27 points overall in the first half but outscored their opponents by 14 in the second.
· Truman was involved in two overtime games last season, winning 78-74 at the University of Central Missouri and falling in double OT to Northwest Missouri, the MIAA champion, 73-72 at home.
· Breanna Daniels had the single-game high in points scored last season with 26 in a non-conference game against Nova-Southeastern (Fla.).
· Daniels led the team with 24, 10-point plus games last season and has 56 for her career. She is the active leading scorer with 947 points and was the team's leading scorer in 15 of the 27 games.
· Eight different Bulldogs have been single-game leaders in rebounding with Jennifer Conway leading the way with 11 games with the most boards.
· Three Bulldogs recorded double-doubles last season with five coming from Jennifer Conway and one apiece from Amy Galey and Megan Sharpe. Galey's was the only one that was for 10 assists and not rebounds.
· The Bulldog bench has averaged nearly 21 points per game compared to the opposion's 14.1 per game.
Up Next:
Truman will continue the home stand with a 1:30 p.m. game Saturday against Central Methodist University (Mo.) before rivals Quincy University (Ill.) comes to town on Tuesday, Nov. 22 for a 5:30 p.m. tip.
