Game Notes: Bulldogs Head To KC Looking To Stay Hot

2013-14 Truman Women's Basketball Game Notes:
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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Riding a conference best five-game winning streak, the Truman Women's Basketball team will roll into Kansas City for a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division games this week. Truman will be at Rockhurst (Mo.) University for a 5:15 p.m. tip on Thursday and at William Jewell (Mo.) at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

Game Coverage
Both games will be on the Bulldogs flagship station, 104.7 FM KRES and available free online through CentralMOInfo.com. Brad Boyer and Hank Janssen will call the action with a pregame show beginning 15 minutes prior to tip and will have Coach Amy Eagan's postgame comments during halftime of the men's game.

Live stats and live video links, if available from the host site, will be available on the women's basketball schedule page on TrumanBulldogs.com

About the Bulldogs (11-4; 5-2 GLVC)
Truman extended their home winning streak to 22 games with a 70-55 victory over Missouri-St. Louis then followed that up with an 87-73 win at Maryville (Mo.) University on Saturday to stay within one game of the GLVC West Division standings.

The Bulldogs trail Drury (Mo.) and Quincy (Ill.) in the West Division with games against the schools upcoming. Truman will face the Panthers on February 1 and the Lady Hawks February 27, both games in Kirksville.

During the present five-game winning streak, the Bulldogs are shooting 46% from three-point range and 83% from the foul line while boasting a plus-15.8 scoring margin. Truman has doubled out the opposition from the three-point line by hitting 50-of-107 shots while opponents have made 25-of-85 (29.4%).

Overall, Truman is fourth in the NCAA in three-point field goal percentage, fifth in free throw shooting and eighth in turnovers per game. They are first in the GLVC in those three catagories in addition to being number one in rebounding margin and three-pointers per game. They are second in scoring offense and fourth in turnover margin.

Truman is the only team in the GLVC with five players averaging double-figures in scoring and one of four schools that have four players averaging double-figures in conference-games only. Truman is led by Amy Briggs (12.6), Nicole Gloor (12.5), Allie Norton (12.1), Bianca Szafarowicz (10.6) and Courtney Strait (10.1).

Truman vs. Rockhurst (Thursday 5:15 p.m. – Kansas City, Mo.)

Series History: Truman leads the overall series with the Hawks 8-4 with the Bulldogs winning the last three games. The last meeting was November 26, 2011 with the Bulldogs prevailing 62-46 at Mason-Haplin Fieldhouse in Kansas City. Truman has won six of the last seven games between the schools. The first meeting was a Truman win in Kirksville by a 75-68 score in 1996. Three of the four losses came in Kansas City with the last being in 2006, 63-54. The 2008 game, a 76-74 win by the Bulldogs, is the lone overtime game in the series. Seven games have been played in Kansas City with Truman leading four games to three.

Last Time Out: Truman won their fifth straight with an 87-73 victory at Maryville on Saturday. Allie Norton led Truman with 17 points followed by Nicole Gloor and Amy Briggs' 16. Mary Dineen scored 17 points and Rockhurst rallied from 10 points down with five minutes to play to defeat Missouri S&T 70-68. Taylor Skala's shot with 5.4 seconds left was the game winner.

Common Opponents: Truman and Rockhurst do not have any common opponents this season so far. The Hawks lost to William Jewell (Truman's Saturday opponent) 81-66. Rockhurst has played three schools from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association this season, losing all three. They played Southwest Baptist (78-54), Missouri Western (63-59) and Missouri Southern (82-56).

About the Hawks: Snapped a five-game losing streak with their 70-68 win over Missouri S&T on Saturday…last four games have all been played on the road…Rockhurst is 3-4 at home falling by two to Bellarmine (76-74) on January 5…Mary Dineen leads Rockhurst in scoring at 15 points per game overall and in GLVC games…Dineen shoots 37% from three and Rockhurst as a team is fourth in the GLVC in three-point field goal percentage at 35.8%...Dineen had a season-high 31 points in loss to Bellarmine at home…Kendall Hart and Truman's Allie Norton are tied in league play with 21 three-pointers apiece…Hawks were 7-19 overall and 4-14 in the GLVC last season…Taylor Skala was named to the GLVC Defensive team…Larry Park is in his fourth season on the bench at Rockhurst as head women's coach…was an assistant on the men's side since 1996.

Truman vs. William Jewell (Saturday 1:00 p.m. – Liberty, Mo.)

Series History: The two teams split a pair of games in 1988 and 1989 while playing at the Washburn Thanksgiving Tournament in Topeka, Kan. The Cardinals won in 1988 86-69 with the Bulldogs returning the next year to win 82-73 in the only meetings between the two schools.

Last Time Out: William Jewell has fallen in four of their last five games heading into Thursday night's date with Quincy. They lost 69-67 at Missouri S&T last Thursday then lost 94-74 to conference leading Drury on Saturday. The Cardinals fell behind 39-20 at half but scored 54 points in the second half with Hayli Jo Smith leading the way with 17.

Common Opponents: The two teams have three common opponents entering the week. Truman and William Jewell each played at the Northwest Missouri tournament in November and both came away with victories against Lincoln (Mo.) and the host Bearcats. Truman won their games 83-60 over Lincoln and 91-71 over Northwest while the Cardinals defeated Lincoln 86-70 and 84-82 over Northwest. Both teams lost games at Pittsburg State, Truman in overtime 75-66 and William Jewell 81-66.

About the Cardinals: William Jewell enters the week with an 8-7 overall record and a 3-4 mark in GLVC games…led in scoring by Chelsea Meeks at 16.4 points per game, Cassy Nicolay at 12.3 and Hayli Jo Smith at 11.1 per night…Cardinals are ninth nationally and first in the conference in turnover margin at +6.2 and 11th nationally and second in the GLVC in turnovers per game at 13.5…Meeks (2.8/g) and Aerial Smith (2.6/g) are one-two in GLVC games in steals and as a team, the Cardinals are 13th nationally and first in the league in steals per game at 12.0…Meeks is ninth in conference-only scoring at 15.3 points per game…William Jewell is third in conference-only stats in three-point field goal percentage at 37% and second to the Bulldogs in three-pointer per game at 7.1…Truman's 64 triples in conference play leads the league followed by 50 from William Jewell…Cardinals were 18-10 (11-7) last season and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the GLVC tournament before falling to Maryville 62-61…Chelsea Meeks and Aerial Smith are returning members of the GLVC Defensive Team…Jill Cress is in her 18th season as head coach of the Cardinals.

Free Throw Shooting:
In 11 of the 15 games played, Truman has shot over 20 free throws and in seven games shot 30 or more free throws. Last year, Truman had 11 games over 20 and just one over 30.
Truman is shooting 78.3% from the line with the bench mark of the program for a season being 77.9% in 2009-10. That season, Truman had the third lowest free throw attempts with 412.

The record for free throws attempts and makes for a season came in the 1998-99 season with 787 attempts and 567 makes in 31 games. The Bulldogs are averaging 27.6 attempts per game this year and 21.6 makes.

All five Bulldogs with over 30 free throw attempts are shooting at nearly 80%. Nicole Gloor as the most attempts at 102 and shoots 80.4%. Courtney Strait is tied for second in the GLVC at 87% from the line and Allie Norton is ninth at 84.2%.

As a conference, the GLVC is second in the nation in free throw shooting at 73.2% while the national Division II average is 69.4%.

Behind the Arc:
Junior Allie Norton is second in Division II and eighth among all Divisions active career three-point shooting percentage. Norton's career mark is 43.0% and she had made 166 three-pointers, good for third in Bulldog history behind Wendi Sobaski (269) and Candace McGee (230).

Amy Briggs is 17th nationally and third in the GLVC in season three-point shooting percentage at 44.4% making 36-of-81 attempts.

Norton and Briggs are first and third respectively in Truman's career three-point shooting percentage with Briggs bringing a 40.6% mark. Courtney Strait is one three-pointer away from having enough to qualify for the list (minimum 50 made) and she would rank fourth all-time at 40.5% (49-of-121).

The Bulldogs led all three NCAA Divisions in three-point shooting last season. Truman set a season record with 202 treys and shot 41.6% from the arc last year to lead Duke (40.5%), Penn State (39.2%) and Northwest-St. Paul (39.2%) in three-point shooting.

Truman makes 9.1 three-pointers per game while opponents make 3.7 per outing against the Bulldogs, a scoring margin of roughly 15 points.

More Shooting:
Truman is ranked fourth in Division II in three-point shooting (39.4%) and fifth in the nation in free throw shooting (78.3%). As a conference, the GLVC is number one in the nation in field goal percentage at 42.6%, second in free throw shooting at 73.2% and third in three-point shooting at 33.1%. The national averages are 40.1%/69.4%/31.1%

Tough Road Ahead:
According to the NCAA, Truman's past 15 opponents have a .483 winning percentage while the next 12 games, the opponents have a .589 winning percentage.

The Bulldogs have games coming up against #9 Drury and #16 Quincy as well as the University of Southern Indiana that is receiving votes in this week's poll.

Career Milestones:
Nicole Gloor is six points away from 900 for her career. She is Truman's active leading scorer. She is sixth on Truman's career lists in free throws made (278) and attempted (379). She is also the active leader in steals with 106 and blocks with 27.

Allie Norton seven assists away from 200 for her career and has started and played in all 70 games during her Bulldog career. Norton is first in career three-point percentage (43%), third in three-pointers made (166) and fourth in attempts (386).

Bianca Szafarowicz is seven rebounds away from 400 for her career. Szafarowicz averages 4.3 boards per game and has played in 92 games during her career and has 161 offensive rebounds and 232 defensive boards.

Trending:

Truman is averaging 81.1 points per game. The Bulldogs have averaged over 80 points for a season three other times, 1998-99 (81.0), 1990-91 (81.9) and 1989-90 (84.4). Last season, Truman averaged 68.5 points per game.
Truman has had five games this season rank in the top-10 single-game free throws made category. Truman made 31 (second all-time) against Trevecca Nzarene (Tenn.), 29 against Wisconsin-Parkside (fourth all-time), 28 (T-5th) against Grand View (Iowa) and 27 (T-7th) against Illinois Springfield and Missouri-St. Louis.
The bench is averaging 29.8 points per game while Truman is also averaging 17.8 points per game off of turnovers and 15.1 points per game in second chance points. Opponents are averaging 7.9 second chance points.
The largest deficit overcome this season by the Bulldogs is 10 points against Wisconsin-Parkside while the largest lead lost was six to Quincy.
Amy Briggs leads the team with three, 20-point plus games and overall five Bulldogs have tallied over 20 points. Allie Norton has the team's single-game point high of 25 against Stephens (Mo.).
The Bulldogs are 6-0 in Kirksville this season and have won the past 22 games played in Pershing Arena which is the fourth longest streak in Division II women's basketball. Colorado Mesa has the longest home court winning streak at 30 games followed by Western Washington (24) and Gannon (23). Chattanooga (Tenn.) has the longest home court winning streak in Division I at 33 games and Amherst College (Mass.) of Division III has the longest overall winning streak at 94 straight games.
Senior Bianca Szafarowicz has three of the Bulldogs' four double-doubles this season. The last came on January 5 against Wisconsin-Parkside when she tallied 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Up Next:
Truman returns home for an important four-game stretch beginning last Thursday with Missouri S&T and continuing on Saturday against division leader and nationally-ranked Drury.

The Miners and Panthers are playing host to Missouri-St. Louis and Maryville this weekend.

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