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Game Preview:
The Truman women's basketball team will begin an important three-game home stand on Saturday as they host Southwest Baptist University at 1:00 p.m. The Bulldogs will be looking to sweep the season series with the Bearcats after handing SBU a 68-65 defeat in Bolivar back on Dec. 7th.
Truman comes into the game after nearly pulling off the major upset at #14 Emporia State on last Sunday. The Bulldogs lost 69-67 on a pair of late free throws by Alli Volkens with two seconds showing on the scoreboard clock after Breanna Daniels knotted the game with a basket with eight ticks left. The Bulldogs feasted inside with 46 points coming from the paint, which was the highest total this season and scored 18 second-chance points, the second most posted by the 'Dogs this year. The game also featured a season-high seven ties and had four Bulldog starters log over 30 minutes on the court.
Daniels led four Bulldogs in double figures with 16 points with Becka McHenry adding 14, Nicole Gloor 12 and Jennifer Conway dropping in 10. Volkens posted 23 points with 11 rebounds as the Lady Hornets rallied from nine points down with 11 minutes to go for the victory over the Bulldogs.
Truman has lost three straight matching their longest streak of the season and has fallen two games below .500 in both the overall and conference standings. After having the Washburn game on Wednesday postponed due to the winter storm and being rescheduled for Feb. 14th, the Bulldogs are now on the outside looking in for a spot in the conference tournament. Fort Hays State defeated Missouri Western on Thursday night to leapfrog the Bulldogs by a half game and currently are tied for seventh with the University of Central Missouri.
However, Truman has a few things in their favor as we move down the stretch. The Bulldogs are just one game out of sixth place and claimed wins in the first half of the season over both Central Missouri and Fort Hays State. In addition, the Bulldogs have the four teams surrounding them in the standings, Central, Fort Hays, Southwest Baptist and Nebraska-Omaha, all at home.
Southwest Baptist is in “must-win” mode as they are two and a half games out of a playoff spot and games left against the top four teams in the conference among the eight left.
The Bearcats have lost two straight and four of their last five including Thursday night's 67-58 loss at home to Pittsburg State. Four Bearcats scored in double figures with Jaquavia Couch scoring 17 points and adding 10 rebounds and SBU getting 34 of their 58 points inside the paint. Pittsburg State made half of their three-point attempts (14-of-28) while the Bearcats made five of 16 trey tries and were outrebounded by 10 (44 to 34).
No single Bearcat player averages in double-figures in scoring but seven players' average between five and nine points per game. Jacqui Zelenka shoots 56% from the field while averaging 9.8 points per game to pace SBU in scoring. Zelenka and teammate Ashleigh Gallio both are over 80% free throw shooters while Gallio leads the team with 71 assists and is second on the team with 26 three-pointers. Courtney Heady has a team leading 40 triples on the season and Whitney Malone pulls down a team-leading eight rebounds per game.
In the first meeting with Truman back on Dec. 7th, Nicole Gloor came off the bench to score 20 points and Truman built up a 18 point lead only to watch SBU storm back and lead by as many as four points with 1:30 left. Breanna Daniels scored five straight to give the Bulldogs the lead back and Amy Galey and Gloor hit clutch free throws down the stretch to preserve the win for Truman 68-65.
Galey was a perfect 4-for-4 from three for 15 points while Daniels added 11. Kourtni Williams led SBU with 15 points.
A win by the Bulldogs would…
- Move their conference record to 7-8 and their overall record to 9-10.
- Keep the Bulldogs in the MIAA playoff picture as they could move into a tie for as high as sixth place depending on the outcomes of Missouri Southern/Missouri Western, Washburn/Fort Hays State and Lincoln/Central Missouri.
- Give the Bulldogs nine wins on the season and seven in league play. The nine wins would be just two fewer than last year's total of 11 with seven games left on the schedule and the seven conference wins would be the most since the 2007-08 season (7-11).
- Give them two straight wins over SBU for the first time since the 2006/2007 seasons.
A win by the Bearcats would…
- Be their third in eight games away from the Meyer Sports Center in conference play.
- Pull SBU to within a game of the Bulldogs for ninth place in the conference standings and potentially two games out of a tournament berth.
- Potentially drop the Bulldogs two games back of eighth place in the standings with seven games left.
About the Bulldogs:
Truman has lost their last three games and is led in scoring by junior forward Breanna Daniels with 14.0 points per game. Daniels leads Truman in shots taken with 263 this season, three-pointers made and attempted with 32 out of 90 and shoots nearly 79% from the foul line.
Daniels has the high point mark of the season for the Bulldogs with 26 in the second game of the season against Nova-Southeastern (Fla.). She has been in double-figures in scoring in 17 of the 18 games and the team's scoring leader in 13.
Daniels was selected this past week as a third-team Capital One Academic All-District selection by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Sophomore guard Becka McHenry tied for second in shots taken with 137 this season and is averaging 7.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while starting 15 of 18 games. She is shooting 43% from the field and averages just over 24 minutes per game while also leading the team in steals with 25. McHenry scored a career-high 22 in the Bulldogs thrilling comeback against the University of Central Missouri on Jan. 19.
Senior guard Amy Galey is among the conference leaders in assists at 4.3 per game and has the team's best three-point shooting percentage but not enough attempts to qualify for any rankings. Galey has made 15-of-37 triples for a 40.5% mark while also pulling down 4.6 rebounds per game. She is fourth in the conference in minutes played per game at 34.4. Galey has been a staple in the Bulldog starting line-up as she has started all 45 games of her Bulldog career.
Sophomore Jennifer Conway is the team's leading rebounder at 5.3 per game and has 20 blocked shots. She set a career high with 14 rebounds against Northwest and set a new highmark in points scored with 16 against Pittsburg State on Jan. 26th. Since Dec. 29th, Conway has more than doubled her points per game average to 7.1 and is tied for second in shots taken with 137.
Sophomore Megan Sharpe is third on the team in offensive rebounds with 27 despite playing in five fewer games due to her being an two-time All-American for the Bulldog Volleyball program and missing two with an injury. Sharpe is shooting 43% from the field in 16.5 minutes per game and while making starts in seven games.
Senior Malorie Kiecker has made one start in 11 games this season. For her career, she has played in 81 games and has averaged 6.2 points per game. She is the only four-year player for the Bulldogs on the roster.
Sophomore Jenny Dorman has come off the bench in 16 games this season and knocked down eight of her 22 three-point shots. Her season-high is eight points against Lincoln this season.
Senior Cassie Hunt averaged three points per game and nearly two rebounds before leaving a game on Jan. 8th against Northwest Missouri with an injury. Hunt was shooting 60% from the field in just over five minutes per game with a Truman career high of 12 points against Nova Southeastern (Fla.). She was a transfer from North Central Missouri College.
Bulldog Newcomers:
Freshman Nicole Gloor is second on the team in scoring at 9.4 points per game while shooting 49% from the field. Gloor has eight double-digit games this season including a season-high 22 against Maryville University during non-conference play. Gloor leads the team in free throw attempts with 53 trips to the line making 39 for a 73.6% mark.
Freshman Kayla Klopfenstein has appeared in 15 games this season and started three. She has scored a season-high six points in both the season opener against Barry University (Fla.) and against Lincoln University. Six of her eight made field goals have been from behind the arc.
Freshman Kaitlin Stump has played in eight games this season for the Bulldogs and has just three-points in 37 minutes. Stump logged a season-high nine minutes in a Bulldog non-conference victory over Maryville University and had a key five minute span as the Bulldogs railed for 13 down against Lincoln University on Jan. 15th.
Freshman Bianca Szafarowicz has appeared in all 18 games and averages just over 16 minutes per game while making nine starts. Szarfarowicz scored a season-high 10 points against Nova Southeastern (Fla.). She has scored points 16 of the 18 games played and is shooting 42% from the field.
Truman On The Road:
Truman is 5-4 overall on the road this season and has matched the highest win total since the 2000-01 season. The most road wins in a season is eight set on three different occasions (1978-79, 1990-91 and 1998-99. The Bulldogs matched a program best four-game road winning streak from Dec. 4 through Jan. 3 this season. The Bulldogs four conference road wins are the most since the 1999-00 season.
The Bulldogs are 4-3 in conference road games. Truman shoots 44.5% from the field while their opponents have shot just 41.2%. Behind the arc, the Bulldogs have made just 19 three-pointers for a 27.1% average while the home team has made 42 triples. Breanna Daniels and Nicole Gloor both average over 11 points per game on the road with Daniels getting the slight edge 11.7 to 11.4.
Bulldogs At Home:
The women are 3-5 in games played in Pershing Arena this season. Breanna Daniels leads the team with 14.3 points per game and Nicole Gloor adding 9.5 a contest. Jennifer Conway averages 6.9 rebounds a game and as a team, Truman is a plus 4.1 in rebounding margin.
Shooting, the Bulldogs shoot only 36% from the field in home games and 34% beyond the arc.
Around the MIAA:
Mother nature played havoc with the league schedule this past week as all games were canceled on Tuesday and Wednesday night including the Bulldogs vs. Washburn game. All but Truman's game was made up on Thursday with Northwest, Emporia State, Missouri Southern, Pittsburg State and Fort Hays State winning their games.
The race for the top has tightened a bit as the top five teams are within three games of each other. Four teams are in position to take the final three spots in the conference tournament with Missouri Western (7-7), Fort Hays State (7-8), Central Missouri (7-8) and Truman (6-8) vying for the berths.
Southwest Baptist is in “must-win” mode while Nebraska-Omaha and Lincoln are on the verge of being eliminated from postseason play.
Of Truman's remaining eight games, four are at home and four are on the road.
Bulldog Tip-Ins:
- In conference only statistics, the Bulldogs are second in scoring defense (62.6), and third in both rebounding defense (35.5/g) and offensive rebounds 13.3 per game.
- Breanna Daniels is ranked in four overall MIAA stat categories. She is tenth in scoring (14.0/g), seventh in three-point field goal percentage (35.6%), tied for ninth in three-pointers made (1.8/g) and ninth in minutes played at 33.2/g. In conference only stats, Daniels is 12th in scoring (12.6/g).
- Amy Galey is fifth in assists per game at 4.3/g, seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.4) and fourth in minutes played at 34.4. In conference only contests, she is sixth in assists (4.2/g), eighth in the assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and third in minutes played (35.1/g).
- Jennifer Conway is ninth in blocks per game at 1.1/g and eighth in conference stats at 1.1/g.
- Becka McHenry is tenth in conference only stats with 1.6 steals per game.
- The Bulldogs have the highest single-game field goal percentage so far this season. Truman shot 60.9% (28-of-26) against Southwest Baptist on Dec. 7th. Truman also registered the best three-point shooting by percentage that game with a five of eight performance for 62.5%.
- Truman has posted the most field goal attempts than any team in the MIAA in a single game with 87 against Northwest Missouri and also the most rebounds by a conference team this season with 60 against the Bearcats, 27 on the offensive end.
· Truman is averaging 61.3 points per game, last season the Bulldogs averaged 61.6.
· Other key stat comparisons from this year to last year include:
o FG% .405 from .403
o 3FG% .319 from .356
o FT% .702 from .779
· Breanna Daniels leads the team with 17, 10-point plus games this season and has 49 for her career. She is the active leading scorer with 838 points and has been the team's leading scorer in 13 of the 18 games.
· Seven different Bulldogs have been single-game leaders in rebounding with Jennifer Conway leading the way with six games with the most boards.
· Three Bulldogs have recorded double-doubles this season with two 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 14.6 per game. Eight points by the bench against Pitts State was a season low while the season high was 50 against Maryville and 33 against Missouri Southern in conference.
Up Next:
One of the biggest games of the season will be played next Thursday at home when Fort Hays State comes to Kirksville for the 5:30 tip. The Bulldogs and Tigers are among the group of teams in the hunt for the final playoff spots. Truman handed the Tigers a 54-45 victory in Hays back on Jan. 3rd.
