Notes: High Stakes Ahead For Truman Women

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. – Three regular season games left and the Truman Women's Basketball team is jockeying for position or possible first-round bye to the upcoming Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament. Truman will host Maryville (Mo.) on Thursday night and then travel to Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday night in two rematches from January.

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 (17-6; 11-4 GLVC)
Truman has won three of their last four games with two going overtime before being determined, including Saturday's 89-79 victory at Saint Joseph's (Ind.). The Bulldogs sit in third place in the GLVC West Division behind Quincy and Drury but are tied with University of Indianapolis for the critical fourth spot and a first-round bye into the postseason tournament.

The first set of regional rankings will be out on Wednesday afternoon with the top six at-large teams and two automatic qualifiers, the GLVC and GLIAC postseason tournament champions, making the 64-team field. Truman's last NCAA appearance was in 1999.

Five players are averaging in double-figure scoring for the Bulldogs. In the history of Bulldog basketball, the team has never had four, let along five players average above 10 points per game for the entire season. Allie Norton leads the group at 13.6 for the season and 14.8 in GLVC play. Nicole Gloor (12.4/12.8), Amy Briggs (12.3/13.1) and Bianca Szafarowicz (12.0/12.0) are all within 11 points of one another for the season with Courtney Strait at 10.8, 12.1 for conference action.

As a team, Truman is averaging 81.1 points overall and 80.1 in conference which is the third-best offensive output in Bulldog history. The 81.1 points is just four points ahead of Drury for the conference lead in that category. The team is shooting 43% from the floor and 39.8% (second single-season) from three while also hitting 78.5% (first single-season) from the free throw line. Truman is second in Division II in three-point shooting and fifth nationally in free throw percentage.

The defense has allowed 72.5 in league and 68.4 overall. Opponents are shooting 41% overall, 33% from three and 74% from the line.

Truman vs. Maryville (Thursday 5:30 p.m. – Kirksville, Mo.)
Series History: Truman is 4-0 against the Saints including an 87-73 win in St. Louis on January 18. Balanced scoring again by the Bulldogs was the key as five players scored in double-figures led by Allie Norton's 17. Shelby Miller paced the Saints with 27 which is the single-game high allowed by the Bulldogs this season.

Maryville Last Time Out: The Saints defeated McKendree on Monday night 77-67 in a make-up of a snowed out game in early January. Brittany Fish scored 16 points on four triples in 19 minutes to spark Maryville off the bench in the victory. The Saints split their road games over the weekend, winning at Southern Indiana 89-79 behind Miller's 35 points and falling 82-81 to Bellarmine on Saturday. The Knights hit a three-pointer with five seconds left to take the lead.

About the Saints: The Saints are 15-10 overall and 8-7 in the GLVC…they are 6-6 on the road with a 4-3 ledger in away conference games…have won five of their last seven games…they are the number one team in defensive field goal percentage (37.5%) and fourth in blocks at 3.7 per contest…average 76.2 points for and 68.8 points allowed…Shelby Miller is 11th in GLVC scoring at 15.1 per game, 17.3 overall with a season-high 35 against Southern Indiana last week…shoot 32% from three…Chris Ellis is in his 13th season as head coach of the Saints.

Truman vs. Missouri-St. Louis (Saturday 5:00 p.m. – St. Louis, Mo.)

Series History: Truman is 16-13 against Missouri-St. Louis following a 70-55 win by the Bulldogs on January 16 in Kirksville. Allie Norton (Truman ) and Kelly McGovern (UMSL) led scorers with 16 points apiece with Truman outshooting the Tritons 43% to 33%. Truman mad 27-of-32 free throw attempts in the game. The last time the Bulldogs played at the Mark Twain Center was February 17, 1996, a 65-44 Truman win.

UMSL Last Time Out: The Tritons had their six-game winning streak snapped in a 69-57 loss on the road to Southern Indiana on Saturday. After falling to Drury by three (74-71) on the road on January 23, the Tritons defeated Missouri S&T, William Jewell, Rockhurst, Indianapolis and Bellarmine. UMSL will be at Quincy (Ill.) on Thursday night prior to the Bulldog visit on Saturday.

About the Tritons: UMSL is 17-6 overall, 10-5 in conference and 10-2 in games played on their home court…have clinched a spot in the GLVC tournament are entered the week just one game back of the Bulldogs for third in the West Division…have the top scoring defense in the GLVC as they limit opponents to 59.2 points per game and 62.9 in the GLVC…they are first in defensive rebounds and rebounding margin overall and second in offensive boards per game…the Tritons are the best three-point defensive team in the league at 28.6% shooting…Hazaria Washington paces the Tritons in scoring at 13.6 per night with Devonna Smith trailing at 12.1 per game…Katie Vaughn is in her second season at UMSL after head coaching stints at Lincoln (Mo.) and Moberly Area Community College..

Bulldog Notebook:

GLVC Tourney Update:
The race for March Madness begins in earnest with the calendar turn to February. Truman is 11-4 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 13-2 record. Truman and Indianapolis, both at 11-4 in the league are tied for the second at-large bye into the GLVC Tournament while Missouri-St. Louis (10-5) and Southern Indiana (9-6) lurking behind.

The Bulldogs have clinched a spot into the tournament and have a three game lead with three 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'.

Clinch Winning Season:
The program has clinched their third straight winning season with a 17-6 record with three 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 team's current .739 winning percentage is the best in school history, ahead of the 22-9 (.710) mark set in 1998-99 season. Truman is one conference win away from tying a program high in that regard which was accomplished last season and again in 1999-2000.

The Bulldogs are 66-39 (.631) over the past four seasons, 44-30 (.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' 185 three-pointers is tied for third most in school history. They are tied with the 2005-06 team and 14 back of the 2007-08 squad. The record is 202 set last year.
The 39.8% three-point shooting percentage is second-best all-time behind last year's 41.6%.
The 507 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 +12.7, last year's high was 11.4.

Being Charitable:
The Bulldogs have shot over 30 free throws in six of the last 10 games and 11 total games this season. Last year, Truman had 11 games over 20 and just one over 30 free throws attempted.

Truman has been to the line (434 times) in league play, 46 times more than second-place Lewis and still has the free throw percentage in league-only games at 79.7%.

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 28.0 attempts per game this year and 22.0 makes.

All five Bulldogs with over 50 free throw attempts are shooting at nearly 80%. Nicole Gloor as the most attempts at 138 and shoots 78.3%. Courtney Strait is first in the GLVC at 92.3% from the line and Allie Norton is third at 89.2%. Amy Briggs' 78.6% and Bianca Szafarowicz's 80.3% 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 39.8%. Saginaw Valley (Mich.) is first at 40.4%.

The Bulldogs are seventh in Division II in turnovers per game at 12.9/g.

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

Courtney Strait leads five Bulldogs ranked in free throw percentage are fourth in Division II. Strait's 92.3 trails Sam Price of Saint Cloud (Minn.) State's 94.1%. Allie Norton is 16th, Bianca Szafarowicz is 140th, Amy Briggs is 189th and Nicole Gloor is 211th.

Briggs is fifth in Division II in three-point field goal percentage at 44.5% and 21st in assist/turnover ratio at 2.07. Brittany Batts from Gannon (Pa.) leads the three-point shooting at 47.8%.

Norton is 10th in three-point shooting for the season and second in Division II among active career leaders at 43.1%. That percentage is seventh among all active NCAA players.

The GLVC boasts to top overall shooting conference in Division II with the 16 teams averaging 43.0% from the field and 34.3% from behind the arc. The league is second in overall free throw percentage at 73.5%. The national averages are 40.5% field goal, 31.3% three-points and 69.9% from the line.

Career Milestones:
Nicole Gloor is Truman's active leading scorer with 992 points. She will be the 18th player in Truman history to hit that 1,000 point mark. She is sixth on Truman's career lists in free throws made (304) and attempted (415). She is also the active leader in steals with 119 and blocks with 29.

Allie Norton has 225 assists for her career and has started and played in all 78 games. Norton is first in career three-point percentage (43%), third in three-pointers made (188) and third in attempts (437).

Bianca Szafarowicz is the active career leading in rebounds with 450 and in games played at 100.

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 five of the Bulldogs' six double-doubles this season.
The Bulldogs have trailed at the half in 10 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 & Saint Joseph).
The Bulldogs are 49-10 (.842) in games decided by 10 points or more over the past four seasons and 15-2 this year.

Up Next:
The last regular season game will bring the nationally-ranked Quincy Lady Hawks to Pershing Arena next Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. Quincy has rolled through the conference season to a 12-1 league record, including 79-75 win over the Bulldogs back on December 7.

Print Friendly Version