Seniors Show The Way To First Round Win

Box Score | Season Stats
Truman (20-7) 65, Southwest Baptist (11-16) 56

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – For just the third time in school history the Truman Women's Basketball program reached the 20-win plateau as they advanced to the quarterfinals of the MIAA postseason basketball tournament. The Bulldogs won 65-56 over Southwest Baptist (Mo.) University on Tuesday night. Truman will take on fourth seeded Emporia State (Kan.) at 2:15 p.m. on Friday from Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium.

The Truman seniors led the way as the trio of Megan Sharpe, Becka McHenry and Jennifer Conway scored 46 of the team's 65 points and 20 of the 33 rebounds en route to the win.

Conway, who finished with a season-high 16 points, scored six in the early goings of the second half to put the Bulldogs up by eight at 31-23. Truman (20-7) then went on a 13-2 run capped off by a three-pointer from Allie Norton to take their largest lead of the game at 14 points with 11:04 showing. It was Norton's 70th three-pointer of the season.

However, Chasity Prince answered with a trey on their next possession and the Bearcats went on their own 13-2 run to pull within three at 50-47 with five and a half left to play.

The key sequence of the ball game came with just over four minutes left. Following a missed three-pointer by SBU, Truman nearly threw the ball away as McHenry corralled it in the left corner. With the shot clock winding down, she flung a pass to Conway with a step inside the arc and the senior rattled it home to put Truman up by five.

Later, McHenry recovered her own blocked shot and got a putback with 3:50 left to keep it a five-point game.

Following a miss by SBU, Conway was fouled and drilled both free throws to make it 56-49. Sharpe, McHenry and Norton all converted from the line down the stretch to preserve the win.

McHenry notched her second double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds while also dishing out five assists. Conway finished with 16 and Sharpe and Norton had nine apiece. The Bulldogs shot 45% for the game and 45.5% from three, going 5-of-11. They outscored the Bearcats 18-5 from the foul line as well.

Jacqui Zelenka also had a double-double for SBU with 16 points and 13 rebounds. She was joined in double-figures by Prince's 13 and Brittney Dukes' 12. The Bearcats managed just three makes out of their 15 three-point attempts.

The Bulldogs matched the 1998-99 and 1978-79 teams as the only squads to win 20 games in a season with the victory. It also was their 16th straight home win dating back to 2012.

Truman moves on to face Emporia State in the conference quarterfinals. The Lady Hornets ended the Bulldogs season a year ago in the conference tournament on a buzzer beater, however the Bulldogs won 78-58 in the lone match-up this season in Pershing Arena back on January 12.

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