Game Notes: Women Host Lincoln Before Heading To Lindenwood

Truman Women's Basketball Thursday, January 3, 2013 vs. Lincoln University (Kirksville, Mo. 5:30 PM) Saturday, January 5, 2013 @ Lindenwood University (St. Charles, Mo. 1:00 PM)
Truman Game Notes	Truman Live Stats
Lincoln Web Site	Web Audio (104.7 FM KRES)
Lindenwood Web Site	Lindenwood Live Stats
MIAA Standings	Watch Live (America One)

Game Previews:
Coming off one of the most prolific shooting performances in school history, the Truman Women's Basketball team will begin conference play in earnest by hosting Lincoln (Mo.) University on Thursday night and then travelling to Lindenwood (Mo.) University on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs (8-2; 1-1 MIAA) made 22 of 31 three-point attempts in a 110-43 rout of Mount Mercy (Iowa) on Monday afternoon. The team set school and conference records with 22 triples and broke an NCAA Division II record with 13 straight three-pointers. In addition, the Bulldogs set school records for three-point field goal percentage (.710), overall field goal percentage (.650), free-throw percentage (1.000) and assists (33). Every player on the active roster scored against the Mustangs with Courtney Strait pouring in 28 points while going 8-of-10 behind the arc.

Truman comes into the weekend games as one of the top three-point shooting teams in Division II. The Bulldogs are shooting 45% from beyond the arc and making eight three-pointers a game. They have made 80 this season with sophomore Allie Norton leading the way with 31. Norton is shooting 49% from outside (31-of-63).

Senior Becka McHenry leads Truman in scoring at 12.6 points per game while Norton (11.7) a close second and junior Nicole Gloor third at 10.9. The Bulldogs average 75.4 points per game and have outscored opponents on average by 17.4 points per game.

Lincoln (6-4; 1-1 MIAA) has been idle since a December 17th victory over Missouri-St. Louis by a score of 73-68. They split their two conference games in December, loosing at Nebraska-Kearney 79-62 but defeating Northeastern (Okla.) State 54-49.

Seniors Arriana Walker (15.3ppg) and Freddie Sims (14.3) lead the Blue Tigers in scoring. Walker, Sims and junior Jackeya Mitchell all averaged over 30 minutes on the floor per game as Lincoln scores 67.8 points per game and allows 64.9 points per contest.

Truman leads the overall series with the Blue Tigers 44-14 and have won the last 22 straight. The Bulldogs won both games last season 82-53 in Kirksville and 70-48 in Jefferson City. The last Lincoln win in the series came in January 1998 and last win in Kirksville was in February 1989.

Lindenwood (Saturday 1:00 p.m.)
The Lions (3-7; 0-1 MIAA) are in their first season in the MIAA and are in the probationary period as an NCAA Division II member. They defeated Benedicine-Springfield (Ill.) 96-71 on Monday afternoon behind 27 points and 16 rebounds from Julie Hlinak. They lost 82-65 in their conference debut against Pittsburg (Kan.) State on December 8.

Hlinak leads the Lions in scoring at 11.4 points per game while Tori Kuhn second at 10.9. Senior Sarah Schnieders eclipsed 1,000 career points for the Lions in Monday's game against Benedictine-Springfield and averages 9.8 points/game and is tied for the team lead in steals with 12.

The two previous meetings with the Lions occurred during the 1970s. Truman won 64-23 in the inaugural 1972-73 campaign and then set a school record for margin of victory over an opponent in a January 10, 1975 game in which the Bulldogs won 110-17 (+93).

The Lions are in their first year in the NCAA from the NAIA and are not eligible for the MIAA postseason and NCAA tournaments.

Coaches:
The Bulldogs are under fifth-year head coach Michael Smith who has an overall record of 56-62. He is fourth all-time in victories at Truman and is 33-51 in conference games. Smith was previously at Division I, Arkansas-Little Rock is a graduate of Central Methodist (Mo.) and a graduate assistant at Northwest Missouri State.

Nicole Collier begins her first season as head coach of the Lincoln Blue Tigers after serving as the team's assistant coach the three previous years. Collier is no stranger to the MIAA after earning all-region and all-conference honors for Missouri Western as a player and working as a graduate assistant at the University of Central Missouri.

Tony Francis is in his third season on the bench at Lindenwood and has compiled a 41-27 record during that time period. The Lions were 17-10 last year. Francis spent the previous eight years as an assistant coach for the Saint Louis University Billikens.

#Trending:

The Bulldogs concluded the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 7-1 record. They are 23-11 in non-conference games under Coach Michael Smith and have won 12 straight non-conference home games dating back to the 2008 season.
Truman received votes in two WBCA/USA Today Division II Coaches Polls this season but has not been listed in the last two surveys. The Bulldogs received votes in three polls last season. The last national ranking was in 1999-2000 season.
Truman's 49.4% field goal percentage would be tops in Division II based on the last set of national rankings released on December 16. The Bulldogs had the top spot in three-point shooting percentage of 43% in the last set of stats and has since increased their percentage to 45.7%. New national rankings will be out on January 4.
The Bulldogs have won seven straight games in Pershing Arena dating back to February 1, 2012. The school record for consecutive home wins is nine set during the 2007-08 season.
Becka McHenry became the sixth Bulldog to achieve 300 assists for her career in last week's game. She is only the third Truman player to score over 900 points (912), have more than 300 rebounds (392) and dish out 300 assists (302). The other two are Amy Eagan (1527 pts, 643 reb, 529 assists) and Angie Gum (1467 pts, 303 reb, 360 assists).
Allie Norton has led the team in scoring in five games this year and has averaged 52% (20-of-38) from beyond the arc during that span. She has 90 treys for her career, two away from moving into the Bulldog career top 10. Jennifer Fisher and Katie Fowler are tenth with 92.
Truman has used the same starting lineup for all 10 games this season (McHenry, Gloor, Conway, Norton and Szafarowicz). McHenry has made 61 straight starts, Conway has started in 54 straight games she has appeared in (she missed a game on Jan. 7, 2012 against Northwest Missouri) and Allie Norton has started all 37 games of her college career.
Courtney Strait's 28 points against Mount Mercy was the most by a Bulldog since Georgia Mueller scored 29 against Missouri Western on Feb. 21, 2009 and the second most by a freshman since Mueller scored 29 against Upper Iowa in January 2006.
The Mount Mercy game altered nine of 14 single-game record lists. The Bulldogs set new school records in three-pointers made (22), three-point field goal percentage (.710), overall field goal percentage (.650), free-throw percentage, minimum 10 made (1.000) and tied assists (33). The 110 points were the fourth most, 39 field goals made was tied for fourth, 31 threes attempted tied for fourth most and the 16 steals tied for seventh most all-time single-game.
Truman is averaging 75.4 points and shooting 49% from the field and 45% from three. Last year, they averaged 70.9 points and shot 41% from the field, 37% from the arc and 71% from the line last season.

Amy Briggs has both of the team's only double-double this season. She had 14 points and 10 assists against Mount Mercy.

Up Next:
Truman will play five of their next seven games in Pershing Arena and will host conference newcomer Central Oklahoma on Thursday, January 10 followed by a home visit by Emporia (Kan.) State on Saturday, January 12. The Thursday game tips off at 5:30 p.m. while the Saturday contest is slated for a 1:00 p.m. start.

Print Friendly Version