Women's Basketball 11/13/2014 8:31:00 AM

WBB Notes: Truman Lifts Lid On 2014-15 Season

Truman Bulldogs (0-0) vs. Hannibal-LaGrange Trojans (0-2)
Friday, November 14, 2014 ~ Pershing Arena, Kirksville, Mo. ~ 5:30 p.m.
Game Notes (PDF)	Tickets	Live Stats (Fan)
Live Audio	Live Video	Live Stats (Media)
GLVC Stats	GLVC Standings	NCAA Stats

Game Coverage: Friday's game will be available free of charge on TrumanBulldogs.com. Fans can click on the with "Watch Live" link to view the game through the website or visit the site afterwards for an archive of the broadcast.

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Women's Basketball team will tip off the 2014-15 season with a home non-conference game against Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) College on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. in Pershing Arena.

Game Preview:
The Bulldogs enter the season as the reigning GLVC champions and are coming off their second-straight 20-win season after going 22-9 in Head Coach Amy Eagan's first year at the helm. Truman played a pair of Division I exhibition games last week as tune ups for the season and came away with an 83-53 loss to Arkansas State and a 67-61 victory over Alabama-Birmingham.

Senior guard Allie Norton was a second-team All-GLVC player a year ago and is Truman's career leader in three-point field goal percentage and ranks third in all of Division II in active players at 43% from long range. Norton is third in career three-pointers made at Truman with 201 and averaged 12.8 points per game last season.

Junior center Michalina Tomczak is the other returning starter from last year's squad having played and started in all 31 games, scoring in double-figures six times. Tomczak averaged 5.6 points per game and shot 44% from the field while pulling down 4.5 rebounds per game.

Key returners are junior guards Courtney Strait and Kasey Gassensmith and senior guard Allison Wiese. Strait was also proficient from three with a 38.6% shooting percentage and was 13^th in the nation with an 89.5% free throw shooting percentage. Strait averaged 10.1 points per game and shot 40% from the field overall last season. Gassensmith was a key contributor in all 31 games, making eight starts and shooting a team-high 50% from the floor. Gassensmith averaged 5.4 points last season while Wiese averaged just over two points in the 20 games played after coming off an injury.

Joining those five from last season are juniors Sarah Gaeddert (26 games; 1.4 ppg), Tawny Tucci (5 games) and sophomores Ashley Ploudre (11 games; 2.7 ppg) and Linnea Schmelzer (23 games, 1.8 ppg).

The Bulldogs welcome seven newcomers to the team in 2014. Redshirt freshmen McKenzie Russell and Ashley Hartwig and true freshmen Brooke Bailey, Kennedy Martin, Rachel Steinhoff, Montira Mosby and Sam Andrews.

About the HLG Trojans: The Trojans started the season with two games against Culver-Stockton College. The Wildcats defeated Hannibal-LaGrange 86-69 on November 1 and an 84-54 loss on Wednesday night.

Ashleigh Hurd-Spencer is the scoring leader through the first two games. She scored 26 points on 10-of-25 shooting in the first game against the Wildcats but was held to five points on 2-of-11 shooting in the most recent match-up. Morgan Winkler (20 points) and Sarah Cline (16) paced the Trojans on Wednesday.

Hurd-Spencer was a second-team all-Midwest Conference selection last year averaging 15.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. She has already surpassed 1,000 career points and is third on the Trojan's all-time leading scorer list. She did not play in the Bulldogs 82-54 win over Hannibal-LaGrange last season.

The Trojans were 10-22 overall and 9-13 in the AMC and are under the direction of Kelly Quigle, in her third season.

This game counts as an exhibition on the Hannibal-LaGrange schedule.

Series with Hannibal-LaGrange: The Bulldogs are 4-0 against the Trojans dating back to their first game played against them in 1998. Three of the four games were played in Pershing Arena while the Bulldogs got an overtime victory (67-61) in Hannibal in 1999.

Four players finished in double-figures in last season's 82-54 win over the Trojans. Nicole Gloor scored 16 points, Allie Norton 13 and Ashley Ploudre and Linnea Schmelzer had 10 apiece.

Tip Ins:

Allie Norton is 67 points away from joining the 1,000 point club at Truman. She had 933 points in 85 games played for the Bulldogs. She has made a three-pointer in 77 of 85 games played and her most consecutive games with a three-pointer is 21. Last season, she had 15 games straight in which she connected from downtown. There have been 18 previous players to score 1,000 career points for the Bulldogs with Nicole Gloor being the last in 2014.
The Bulldogs are 71-42 (.633) over the past four seasons, 45-32 (.597) in league games and 40-12 (.775) in games played in Pershing Arena during that span.
Truman finished fifth in the final Division II national rankings in free throw percentage last season (77.9%) and was fourth nationally in three-point field goal percentage (39.0%) and turnovers per game (12.2/g).
Top individual national rankings were 12^th for Allie Norton in Three-Point field goal percentage (43.6%) and Courtney Strait 13^th in free-throw percentage at 89.5%.
Truman averaged 7.6 three-pointers per game with a season-high 15 against Illinois-Springfield and a low of three against Grandview (Iowa). They have made over 10 threes in a game seven times last year.
The Bulldogs are 54-10 (.843) in games decided by 10 points or more over the past four seasons were 20-2 in 2013-14.
Off the court, Truman had three players, Michalina Tomczak, Nicole Gloor and Tawny Tucci, earn Academic All-GLVC.

GLVC Preseason Coaches' Poll: The Truman Women's Basketball team was picked fourth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division in the preseason coaches' poll and picked up two of the available 16 first-place votes.

Drury (Mo.) University nabbed 12 first-place votes in the West and earned 115 points to sit atop the division according to coaches who were not allowed to vote for their own teams and voted in both the East and West Divisions. The Lady Panthers were the overall top seed for the postseason tournament last year and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight after downing the Bulldogs 74-68 in overtime in the first round of the regional.

Quincy (Ill.), Maryville (Mo.) and Truman were separated by five points in the poll. The Lady Hawks got 94, Saints picked up 93 with each getting a first-place nod and the Bulldogs had 89 points with the two first-place tallies.

Lewis (Ill.) garnered the most overall points with 118 and had 13 first-place votes to claim the top spot in the GLVC East Division. The Flyers knocked off three Division I teams during the exhibition season, defeated Loyola (Ill.) 83-61, Northern Illinois 60-49 and Marquette 75-72.

Up Next: For the second straight year, Truman will participate in the Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) Tournament next weekend. The Bulldogs will face the host school on Friday, November 21 at 5:30 p.m. and then take on Kentucky Wesleyan at noon on Saturday, November 22.
Last season, Truman defeated TNU 82-70 and has never played Kentucky Wesleyan. Ferris (Mich.) State is the fourth school involved in the tournament.

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Players Mentioned

#32 Nicole Gloor: F; 5' 10"; Senior

#24 Sarah Gaeddert: F; 6' 0"; Redshirt Junior

#30 Kasey Gassensmith: G; 6' 0"; Junior

#12 Allie Norton: G; 5' 6"; Senior

#13 Ashley Ploudre: G; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#21 Linnea Schmelzer: G; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#23 Courtney Strait: G; 5' 10"; Junior

#44 Michalina Tomczak: C; 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior

#10 Tawny Tucci: G; 5' 6"; Junior

#05 Allison Wiese: G; 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior

#03 McKenzie Russell: G; 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

#02 Brooke Bailey: G; 5' 6"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#32 Nicole Gloor
: 5' 10"; Senior
: F

#24 Sarah Gaeddert
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Junior
: F

#30 Kasey Gassensmith
: 6' 0"; Junior
: G

#12 Allie Norton
: 5' 6"; Senior
: G

#13 Ashley Ploudre
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: G

#21 Linnea Schmelzer
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: G

#23 Courtney Strait
: 5' 10"; Junior
: G

#44 Michalina Tomczak
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior
: C

#10 Tawny Tucci
: 5' 6"; Junior
: G

#05 Allison Wiese
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#03 McKenzie Russell
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

#02 Brooke Bailey
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: G