Game Notes: #22 Indianapolis On Tap For Women Thursday

2013-14 Truman Women's Basketball Game Notes:
PDF Notes
Live Stats (Fan Stats | Media Stats) (Road Games)
Live Video
Live Audio
GLVC WBB

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Bulldog Women embark on a two-game Indiana road swing this week with hopes of clinching at least a first-round home game for the upcoming GLVC Tournament and possibly securing an NCAA Regional berth. Truman will face the University of Indianapolis on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. (CST) followed by a game against the Saint Joseph's (Ind.) Pumas on Saturday.

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 (16-5; 10-3 GLVC)
Winners of 10 of their last 11 games, the Truman Women's Basketball team sits in third place in the West Division of the GLVC. The Bulldogs trail Quincy (Ill.) by two games and Drury (Mo.) by one game in the standings.

Junior Allie Norton leads a host of Bulldog players in double-figure scoring with a 13.5 points per game mark that jumps to 14.8 in league games only. Truman is the only team in the GLVC that has five players averaging in double-figures in conference games. Senior guard Amy Briggs is second at 13.0/14.2 per game, Nicole Gloor (12.0/12.2, Bianca Szafarowicz (11.3/11.0) and Courtney Strait (10.2/11.4) are the others in double-figures.

As a team, Truman is averaging 81.1 points per game while allowing 67.0. They are shooting 40.1% from three that leads the GLVC and 43.0% in conference games from outside. Truman also is atop the league ledger in free throw shooting at 78.5% overall and 79.9% in conference.

Norton is shooting 53.4% in conference from beyond the arc and leads the league averaging three treys a game. Amy Briggs is shooting 45.6% from three in GLVC action and making 2.8 triples a game, good for third in conference-only stats.

The Bulldogs have one of the toughest schedules remaining in Division II. Truman's five future opponents have a combine winning percentage of .669, ranking 12th toughest in the nation.

Truman vs. Indianapolis (Thursday 4:30 p.m. – Indianapolis, Ind.)
Series History: This is the seventh meeting, first since 1994 between the Greyhounds and the Bulldogs. Indianapolis won the first three meetings in convincing fashion 90-70 in 1987, 88-58 in 1988 and 103-81 in 1991. Truman won the next two in 1993 as they played consecutive games against each other. The Bulldogs won 89-78 in the final game of the Truman Classic and 67-63 in the first game of the IUPU-Indianapolis tournament. They Greyhounds won the last meeting 95-90 in overtime as part of the IUPU-Indianapolis event.

Indianapolis Last Time Out: The Greyhounds ran into an offensive buzz saw at Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday. The Tritons shot 61% in the first half and led by eight then after the Greyhounds closed to within three at 47-44, UMSL went on a 21-2 run to put the game out of reach. Kirsten Gliesmann led Indianapolis with a career-high 20 points while Hazaria Washington poured in 29 for the Tritons. The Greyhounds were beaten on the boards by a 40-18 margin, including 15 offensive boards by the Tritons.

Common Opponents: The Bulldogs and UIndy have 15 common opponents between the two schools with the Greyhounds having a 12-3 record and the Bulldogs an 11-4 mark. In conference games, the Greyhounds have a win at Drury (85-68) but losses to Southern Indiana (88-63) and Missouri-St. Louis (85-64). Truman lost to Drury but defeated by USI and UMSL. They have three non-conference common opponents with the Greyhounds winning against Pittsburg (Kan.) State (82-73), Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) (72-63) and Grand Valley (Mich.) State (91-52) while the Bulldogs lost to the Gorillas in overtime (75-66), defeated Trevecca Nazarene (82-70) and lost to the Lakers (81-68).
About the Greyhounds: The Greyhounds are first in the GLVC and fifth in Division II in field goal percentage (47.6%), second in free throw shooting (77.7%), second in blocks (5.1/g) and second in three-pointers (7.9/g)…senior guard Katy McIntosh leads the team in scoring at 17.3/game but has missed the last three after playing all 50 minutes in a triple-overtime game against Lewis…McIntosh leads the GLVC in assists at 5.3 per game…senior Eliza Wortman is second in field goal percentage (60.2%) while along with teammate junior Kirsten Gliesmann are first and second in the league in blocked shots per game at 2.3 and 2.2 per game respectively…senior Shelby Wall is fifth in GLVC stats in three-point shooting at 48.3% but has enough attempts to qualify for second in Division II...the Greyhounds were ranked 19th in last week's WBCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, it was their fifth straight week in the poll, peaking at a tie for 14…finished 19-10 last season and 11-7 in the conference, as the sixth seed, lost to third-seeded Kentucky Wesleyan 64-63 in the quarterfinals of the postseason tournament…McIntosh is a returning first-team all-GLVC team member…Constantin Popa is in his third season as head coach and seventh season overall with the program.

Truman vs. Saint Joseph's (Saturday 1:00 p.m. – Rensselaer, Ind.)

Series History: The two teams have split the two previous meetings with the Pumas winning in 1995, 82-75 and the Bulldogs taking a 99-66 win in 2000. Each team won on their home court.

Saint Joseph's Last Time Out: The Pumas were swept on their road swing through St. Louis last weekend. They lost 88-62 on Thursday to Missouri-St. Louis and 95-83 to Maryville (Mo.) on Saturday. Against the Saints, Saint Joseph's led by one at the half but Maryville poured in 54 in the final 20 minutes for the 12-point win. Courtney Kvachkoff led four Pumas in double-figures with 23 points. Saint Joseph's will open up the weekend with a home game against West Division leading Quincy (Ill.) on Thursday.

Common Opponents: In 12 conference common opponents between the Bulldogs and Pumas, Truman is 10-2 while the Pumas are 3-9. Both teams have wins against Wisconsin-Parkside, Southern Indianaand Rockhurst and both have lost to Drury and Lewis. Saint Joseph's lost 88-63 to Indianapolis earlier in the season while Truman will play the Greyhounds on Thursday.

About the Pumas: Saint Joseph's averages 70.1 points offensively while allowing a league-worst 77.1 defensively…The Pumas are last in the GLVC in free throw shooting at 66.5% and next-to-last in defensive field goal percentage at 46.3%...senior Jasmyne Reynolds is third in the GLVC and leads the team in scoring at 17.3 per game…junior Kiki Lyons and freshman Brittany Morris are third and fourth in the league respectively in assists per game…sophomore Courtney Kvachkoff is fourth in the league in three-point shooting at 48.4%...the Pumas enter the week on a three-game conference losing streak but did pick up a non-conference win over Oakland City (Ind.) 87-62 on February 3…five of their six wins have come at home…were 1-25 and 0-18 in the GLVC last season…Steve Harold is in his first season at Saint Joseph's after spending six seasons as an assistant coach at Drury (Mo.).

Bulldog Notebook:

GLVC Tourney Update:
The race for March Madness begins in earnest with the calendar turn to February. Truman is 10-3 in the conference and in sole possession of third place in the GLVC West Division.

The champion of each division followed by the next two at-large teams with the best record get the first-round bye in the postseason tournament, while seeds five through eight host seeds nine through 12 on campus sites for first round games.

Lewis (Ill.) and Quincy (Ill.) are the respective division leaders with Drury (Mo.) holding down the first at-large bye with an 11-2 record. Truman and Indianapolis, both at 10-3 in the league are tied for the second at-large bye into the GLVC Tournament while Missouri-St. Louis (9-4) and Southern Indiana (8-5) nipping at their heels.

The Bulldogs have clinched a spot into the tournament and have a three and a half game lead with five to play over the ninth place Maryville (Mo.) squad for at least a home game in the first round.

NCAA Regional Rankings:
The first set of NCAA Regional rankings will be published on Wednesday, February 19. The top eight teams in the region, comprised of the GLVC, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Association (GLIAC) and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) are eligible for the NCAA championship tournament.

The GLVC and GLIAC have automatic qualifiers for their postseason tournament champion, while the six other berths are considered 'at-large'.

According to "Massey Ratings", Truman is the sixth ranked team in the region behind Drury, Indianapolis, Wayne (Mich.) State, Quincy, Lewis and Michigan Tech.

Clinch Winning Season:
The program has clinched their third straight winning season with a 16-5 record with five regular season games remaining. It is the third straight year that women's basketball will finish above .500. It is only the second time in program history that the team has had three straight winning seasons as the team strung together five from 1977-1982.

The Bulldogs are 65-38 (.631) over the past four seasons, 43-29 (.597) in league games and 38-11 (.775) in games played in Pershing Arena during that span.

Season of Records:
Truman set a school record with eight straight wins, all in conference, and most recently had a school-long 23-game winning streak, which was the fourth longest active streak in Division II.

The team has two games ranked in the top 10 in field goals attempted, (88 vs. Stephens; 75 vs. Grand Valley St.) three in three-pointers made (15 vs. Illinois Springfield; 13 vs. McKendree and 12 vs. Stephens) and eight of the top 10 in free throws made.

Courtney Strait, Allie Norton and Nicole Gloor added their names to the single-game record book in free throw percentage. Strait was 13-of-13 against Bellarmine (Ky.) last Saturday while Norton was 10-of-10 against Rockhurst and Gloor was 8-of-8 against Illinois Springfield to tie the school record.

Strait's 13 made free throws against Bellarmine were the sixth most made in a single-game. Strait made her first free throws of the game in the final seconds of regulation against the Knights and made 11 more free throws in the two overtime periods.
Norton has other single-game top 10 mentions this season in three-pointers made (6 vs. Drury) and Gloor in free throws made and attempted (12-16 vs. Pittsburg State).

Kasey Gassensmith and Bianca Szafarowicz both have top 10 games in field goal percentage with a minimum of eight made. Gassensmith went 9-of-11 against Stephens (Mo.) College while Szafarowicz finished 8-of-10 against Southern Indiana. Szafarowicz had seven steals against Stephen's, which was good for a sixth place on the single-game list.

The 81.1 scoring offense is currently the third best in single-season history. The other three seasons above 80 points per game were 84.4 in 1989-90, 81.9 in 1990-91 and 81.0 in 1998-99.
Truman has made 170 three-pointers, already good for sixth most in a season and can move to fourth with three made. The record is 202 set last year.
The 40.1% three-point shooting percentage is second-best all-time behind last year's 41.6%.
The 471 free throws made already is second most in single-season history. The record is 567 in 31 games played in 1998-99.
The current 78.5% free throw shooting mark is tops with the 2009-10 total of 77.9% second.
The Bulldogs currently have the best scoring margin in school history at +14.0, last year's high was 11.4.

Being Charitable:
The Bulldogs have shot over 30 free throws in six of the last eight games and 11 total games this season. Last year, Truman had 11 games over 20 and just one over 30 free throws attempted.

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 28.5 attempts per game this year and 22.4 makes.

All five Bulldogs with over 50 free throw attempts are shooting at nearly 80%. Nicole Gloor as the most attempts at 129 and shoots 77.5%. Courtney Strait is second in the GLVC at 92.2% from the line and Allie Norton is third at 89.2%. Amy Briggs' 79.4% and Bianca Szafarowicz's 80.5% round out the group.

As a conference, the GLVC is second in the nation in free throw shooting at 73.5% while the national Division II average is 69.6%.

Notable National Rankings:
Truman is second in Division II in three-point field goal percentage at 40.1%. Saginaw Valley (Mich.) is first at 40.2%.

The Bulldogs are seventh in Division II in turnovers per game at 12.8/g.

Truman is fifth in Division II in free throw percentage at 78.5%.

Allie Norton is ninth is three-point field goal percentage at 44.6% and second in Division II and seventh all-divisions in career percentage at 43.3%.

Amy Briggs is 10th in Division II in three-point field goal percentage at 44.4% and 19th in assist/turnover ratio at 2.07.

Courtney Strait is fourth nationally in free throw percentage at 92.2% and five Bulldogs are ranked in the top 250 in free throw shooting percentage (Allie Norton – 17, Amy Briggs – 146, Bianca Szafarowicz – 174 and Nicole Gloor – 223).

The GLVC boasts to top overall shooting conference in Division II with the 16 teams averaging 43.0% from the field and 34.2% from behind the arc. The league is second in overall free throw percentage at 73.5%. The national averages are 40.1% field goal, 31.3% three-points and 69.8% from the line.

Career Milestones:
Nicole Gloor is Truman's active leading scorer with 959. She is sixth on Truman's career lists in free throws made (296) and attempted (406). She is also the active leader in steals with 116 and blocks with 29.

Allie Norton has 211 assists for her career and has started and played in all 76 games. Norton is first in career three-point percentage (43%), third in three-pointers made (184) and thrid in attempts (425).

Bianca Szafarowicz is the active career leading in rebounds with 435 and in games played at 98.

Trending:

The bench is averaging 26.6 points per game while Truman is also averaging 16.7 points per game off of turnovers and 13.0 points per game in second chance points. Opponents are averaging 7.8 second chance points.
The largest deficit overcome this season by the Bulldogs is 12 points against Bellarmine and has overcome two 10-point deficits to Wisconsin-Parkside and William Jewell. The largest lead lost was six to Quincy.
Senior Bianca Szafarowicz has four of the Bulldogs' five double-doubles this season. The last came on January 25 against William Jewell when she tallied 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bulldogs have trailed at the half in nine games and have come back to win four of them.
Truman averages 8.1 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, while opponents have not had 10 in a game this year (9 by Drury).
The Bulldogs are 48-9 (.842) in games decided by 10 points or more over the past four seasons and 14-1 this year.

Up Next:
Truman's final three games regular season games will all be against teams they have played earlier this season. The Bulldogs will welcome Maryville (Mo.) on Thursday night to Pershing Arena before travelling to Missouri-St. Louis next Saturday night.

The Bulldogs defeated the Saints 87-73 on January 18 in St. Louis and won 70-55 over Missouri-St. Louis on January 16 in Kirksville.

Print Friendly Version