Game Preview:
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Women's Basketball team will play their final home game of the season this week then embark on a three-game road trip to close out the 2013 regular season. The Bulldogs will host Lindenwood (Mo.) on Thursday night followed by a road game Saturday afternoon against Lincoln (Mo.).
Truman (17-5; 10-4 MIAA) has already equaled last year's win total with their 78-69 win last Thursday against Southwest Baptist (Mo.) University. In that game, Truman connected on 10 three-pointers and
Nicole Gloor made four of them to score a season-high 20 points.
The Bulldogs will try to complete a perfect season at home when they host the MIAA newcomer Lindenwood on Thursday night. Truman has won 14 straight in Pershing Arena dating back to February 1, 2012.
In the 11 wins at home the Bulldogs are winning by an average of 20.7 per game, making eight three-pointers and shooting 43.8% from behind the arc.
Becka McHenry,
Allie Norton and
Nicole Gloor all average over 11 points per game on the home floor.
McHenry leads the Bulldogs in scoring, rebounding and assists per game. She is scoring 13.2 points and averaging 5.7 boards and 3.6 assists a night. Norton is second in scoring at 10.9 points while shooting 45.8% from three and has knocked down a team-leading 55 three-pointers this season, four off her season total from her freshman year.
Truman is averaging just under 70 points per game while giving up 56.5. They are Division II's top three-point shooting team at 42.2% and make 7.5 per game.
Lindenwood (4-19; 1-14 MIAA) is mired in a 10-game losing streak dating back to a January 12th win at home against Central Oklahoma. They lost 68-62 against Southwest Baptist in their last time out on Saturday afternoon. Sarah Schnieders led the Lions with 15 points against the Bearcats as SBU erased a four-point second half deficit to pick up the win.
Schnieders is second on the team in scoring at 11.0 points per game while Julie Hlinak leads the Lions at 11.6. Marissa Lehnig is the third Lion in double-figures with 10.6 per game. Lindenwood averages 62.9 points while shooting 39% overall and 28% from three.
In the first meeting with the Lions back on January 5th, Lindenwood held a five-point lead with five minutes left in the first half before watching Truman catch fire from the field and score 30 of the next 41 points to take command in an 86-65 win. The Bulldogs shot 70% from the field in the second half as
Becka McHenry scored 20 points and
Amy Briggs added 16. Lindenwood got 15 points from Julie Hlinak.
The Bulldogs are 3-0 all-time against Lindenwood with this being the Lions first trip to Kirksville. Prior to this season, the two previous games against Lindenwood occurred in 1973 and in 1976.
Vs. Lincoln (Saturday)
Truman heads to Jefferson City on Saturday to face the Blue Tigers. It is the end of a four-game road trip for Lincoln that concluded on Tuesday night with a 73-61 victory at Southwest Baptist. Arriana Walker scored 23 points to help Lincoln snap a four-game losing skid.
The Blue Tigers (10-13;5-10 MIAA) are still fighting for one of the final spots in the MIAA tournament as they are a game clear of Nebraska-Kearney but do not have the head-to-head with the Lopers should it come down to tie breakers.
Lincoln's trio of Arriana Walker, Freddie Sims and Dahlia Booker have accounted for the majority of scoring for the Blue Tigers.
Walker leads the team at 14 points per game while Sims averages 13.3 and Booker 11.5. The Blue Tigers average 65.8 points per game and allow 69.2. They are the top stealing team in the MIAA at 11.5 per game and Walker has 73 steals to lead the team.
Lincoln led by four after the first media timeout of the second half in their first match-up on January 3rd in Kirskville but Truman then exploded for 24 straight points over the next seven minutes to put the game away. Five players scored in double figures with
Becka McHenry and
Amy Briggs leading the way with 15 apiece. Lincoln was led by 10 points from Freddie Sims.
It was the 22nd straight victory for the Bulldogs over the Blue Tigers dating back to January 28, 1998. Truman leads the all-time series 44-14.
Coaches:
The Bulldogs are under fifth-year head coach Michael Smith, who has an overall record of 65-65. He is fourth all-time in victories at Truman and is 42-54 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.
Tony Francis is in his third season on the bench at Lindenwood and has compiled a 45-41 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.
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.
Senior Night:
Three seniors,
Jennifer Conway,
Becka McHenry and
Megan Sharpe, have been part of the resurgence of Truman Women's Basketball. The trio has won 57 games entering this week over the past four seasons including the most conference wins during that span of any Bulldog team.
Conway has started 74 of the last 100 games played in her Truman career and can finish 12th all-time in rebounding and third in blocked shots. She has averaged over eight points per game while pulling down five rebounds and had a career high 23 points against Pittsburg (Kan.) State on January 25, 2012. Her single-game career high rebounding mark was 14 on two occasions with the last coming on February 12, 2011 against Nebraska-Omaha. Conway was an honorable mention all-conference pick as a sophomore.
McHenry has started the last 73 games and 88 of her 103 overall contests in the Bulldog uniform. She is just the second Truman player to score over 1000 career points, pull down over 400 rebounds and dish out over 300 assists in her career. McHenry recorded the first triple-double since
Amy Eagan when she had 14 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds against Pittsburg State in 2012. She has a single-game high of 24 points scored on four separate occasions and was a second team all-conference selection last year.
Sharpe has been a two-sport standout for the Bulldogs Basketball and Volleyball programs. She was the school's first, four-time All-American on the volleyball court and has played in 76 games, making 30 starts for the basketball team. She has averaged five points and four rebounds per game and has a single-game high of 13 points scored on two occasions and pulled down 15 rebounds against Northwest Missouri in 2011.
Battle For Top Four:
Truman clinched one of the 12 spots available for the MIAA postseason conference basketball tournament and can finish no worse than a home game if needed for the first round of the tournament. The Bulldogs are currently fifth in the MIAA standings, a back of Emporia State but with the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Lady Hornets.
Washburn (Kan.) has just one league loss while Central Missouri has two. Northeastern State and Emporia State have three MIAA losses.
Trailing the Bulldogs, Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State have five losses.
The top four teams in the final regular season standings get a “free pass” to Kansas City and the postseason tournament for the Friday, March 8th quarterfinals. Seeds five through eight will host seeds nine through 12 in a first round game on campus sites on Tuesday, March 5th.
Regional Poll:
The first NCAA Central regional poll will be released on February 20 and the following two Wednesday thereafter. The top eight in the region comprised of the MIAA, Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and Great America Conference may be selected to the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
The NSIC and the MIAA tournament winners receive an automatic berth into the field while the GAC does not have an AQ leaving six of the eight berths at-large. Truman last made the NCAA Tournament in 1999.
WBCA/USA Today Poll:
After spending two weeks within the top 25, Truman remained 27th in this week's poll. Six MIAA schools are getting votes in the poll with Washburn (Kan.) in at five and the University of Central Missouri at seven. Pittsburg (Kan.) State, Fort Hays (Kan.) State and Emporia (Kan.) State are also receiving mentions in this week's survey.
This is the ninth poll this season that Truman received votes. The highest ranking for the Bulldogs all-time was 14th on January 25, 1999.
#Trending:
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Truman remained first in the national statistics in three-point field goal percentage (42.2%). They are 12th in overall field goal percentage (44.2%) and 15th in free throw shooting (75.7%.)
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The Bulldogs are second among all NCAA schools in three-point shooting trailing Duke (N.C.) at 43.1%. Just four schools nationally are shooting above 40% from three with the Bulldogs followed by Division III's DePauw (Ind.) at 41.1% and Division II's Winona (Minn.) St. at 40.3%
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Truman is 21st in the national rankings in scoring margin (+13.2) and 19th in three-pointers per game (7.5/g).
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In conference only statistics, Truman is averaging 65.3 points (4th), allowing 56.8 points (3rd) and posting the top free throw shooting percentage (76.0%) and the three-point percentage (39.8%).
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The Bulldogs have won a school-record 13 straight games in Pershing Arena dating back to February 1, 2012. The previous record for consecutive home wins was nine set during the 2007-08 season.
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Truman has won three MIAA games by a scoring margin of 20 or more points. They have six games of a margin of 20 or more points in conference over the last two years and 25 in the 30 years of MIAA Women's Basketball (since 1982-83).
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Becka McHenry joined Amy Eagan as only the second Truman player to score over 1000 points (1077), have more than 400 rebounds (468) and dish out 300 assists (341). Eagan registered 1527 points, 643 boards and 529 assists from 1995-99.
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Jennifer Conway is nine rebounds away from moving to 12th Bulldog in career rebounds. She is six blocks away from 100 for her career, which she is already third in Truman history.
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Allie Norton leads the team with 55 three-pointers made while Amy Briggs is second with 47. Norton's 114 threes are seventh all-time in Bulldog career as a sophomore and her 42.4% from outside is currently the best all-time among Truman players with at least 50 made.
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Becka McHenry has made 73 straight starts and Allie Norton has started 49 consecutive games. Jennifer Conway has started in 64 straight games she has been available for (missing three due to injury in the past two years). Bianca Szafarowicz has started all 22 this year and 45 for her career and Nicole Gloor all 20 she has been available for and 33 for her career.
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McHenry is listed in seven conference statistical categories this week. She is fourth in assists (3.6/g), first in assist/turnover ratio (1.8) and among the leaders in scoring, rebounding, free throw percentage, steals and defensive rebounds.
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Allie Norton is first in the league in three-point shooting percentage and her 45.8% is good for third overall in Division II.
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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.
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Amy Briggs has two of the team's three double-doubles this season. She had 14 points and 10 assists against Mount Mercy. McHenry had the other with 10 points and 11 rebounds against Pittsburg State.
Up Next:
Following this week's games, Truman will close the regular season by playing the other two original members of the MIAA. The Bulldogs will be at Central Missouri on Wednesday night and be looking for their third straight win over the Jennies in Warrensburg and be at Northwest Missouri on Saturday. This is the Bulldogs final year in the MIAA and has been the remaining charter members of the league along with Central and Northwest.
