Notes: Road To Evansville Begins Sunday At Home

2013-14 Truman Women's Basketball Game Notes:
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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Women's Basketball team will compete in their fourth-straight conference postseason tournament, this time under the Great Lakes Valley Conference banner, when they host William Jewell (Mo.) College at 1:00 p.m. in Pershing Arena on Sunday.

Game Coverage
Sunday's game will be on the 104.7FM 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 (18-8; 12-6 GLVC)
This will be the 13th overall conference tournament appearance for the Bulldogs as they enter the tournament as the seventh seed, tying for sixth but losing a tie-break with the University of Southern Indiana. Despite the Bulldogs regular season home win over the Screaming Eagles, they were broke the tie by virtue of their road win at the University of Indianapolis while Truman lost at UIndy.

The Bulldogs broke a two-game losing streak by bouncing nationally-ranked Quincy (Ill.) 70-59 on Thursday night. Amy Briggs notched a career-high and her second-straight 20-point game by scoring 27 to lead Truman to the win. It was the lowest point total on the season for the Lady Hawks. Quincy trimmed a nine-point lead down to two but an 8-0 run sparked by a Bianca Szafarowicz put back held the Lady Hawks off.

Truman entered the week third in the nation and first in the GLVC in three-point shooting at 40.4% and fifth in the country and first in the conference in free throw percentage at 78.5%. They are second in the conference in scoring offense at 81.0 points per game and for the first time in school history, feature five players averaging 10 points or more per game in both overall and league games.

Allie Norton leads the group at 13.4 and 14.1 respectively followed by Amy Briggs (12.8/13.7), Nicole Gloor (12.1/12.4), Bianca Szafarowicz (12.1/12.2) and Courtney Strait (11.0/12.3). The team shoots 43% from the field with opponents shooting 42% overall, 36% from three and 73% from the line.

Truman vs. William Jewell (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. – Kirksville, Mo.)
Series History: The Bulldogs grabbed a 2-1 series lead with their 83-75 victory in Liberty on January 25. Allie Norton scored 21 points and Bianca Szafarowicz had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Truman outscored the Cardinals 14-5 over the final five minutes to grab their first lead and hold on for the win. The 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 other meetings between the two schools.

William Jewell Last Time Out: The Cardinals have dropped three of their last four games including an 87-80 road loss at Rockhurst on Thursday night. William Jewell had eight triples and shot over 60% in the first half but missed all 12 three-point attempts in the second and were held to just 33% in the final 20 minutes in the loss. Chelsea Meeks led a trio of Cardinals in double-figures with 19 points and had seven steals.

About the Cardinals: The Cardinals are 11-15 overall and finished 6-12 in the GLVC…they were 2-7 away from Liberty in conference play…they are 3-11 since January 11 with wins against UW-Parkside, McKendree (Ill.) and Missouri S&T…are last in overall stats in scoring defense (77.2/game), defensive field goal percentage (48.7%), rebounding margin (-7.7) but first in steals (10.3) and turnover margin (+3.92)…in conference only stats, the Cardinals are last in scoring defense (78.7/game), defensive field goal percentage (48.7%) and rebounding margin (-8.9)…Chelsea Meeks leads the team in scoring and is third overall (18.1/game) and second in conference only games (18.4/game)…Aerial Smith is second in field goal percentage with a 61.1% in conference games…Meeks and Smith average over two steals a game…Jill Cress is in her 18th season as head coach of the Cardinals.

Bulldog Notebook:

Second NCAA Rankings Released:
Truman fell out of the second regional rankings after sitting in eighth position last week. Drury maintained their top spot while Lewis (Ill.) moved up to number two followed by the Quincy Lady Hawks and the University of Indianapolis. Missouri-St. Louis jumped into the elusive top eight and is seventh.

There will be one more ranking released on Wednesday prior to selections for the 64-team NCAA Tournament next Sunday evening.

Conference Tournament History:
Sunday's game will be the third postseason home game in Truman history. The Bulldogs lost 71-62 to Southwest Baptist in 2000 and then defeated the Bearcats 65-56 in a game contested in Pershing Arena last year.

Truman has never been to a conference tournament championship game, advancing to the semifinals rounds on two occasions, in 1999 and against in 2008.

The Bulldogs have won two MAIAW State Championships in 1979 and 1982 and finished second in 1980 and 1981.

Winning Season:
The program has clinched their third straight winning season with an 18-8 record. 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. Truman tied for most conference wins with 12 that was last was accomplished last season and again in 1999-2000.

The Bulldogs are 67-41 (.631) over the past four seasons, 45-32 (.597) in league games and 39-12 (.775) in games played in Pershing Arena during that span.

Season of Records:

The Bulldogs have broken last season's record for three-pointers in a year with 210. The previous record was 202 set in 28 games in 2012-13. Truman has 412 three-pointers over the past two seasons.
The 516 three-point attempts are fifth single-season. The record is 607 set in 2007-08.
Truman has made 550 free throws, good for second single-season. The record is 567 (in 31 games) set during the 1998-99 season.
The record for free throw attempts is 787, also in 1998-99 while this year's team has the second most at 699 in 26 games played.
The .787 free throw percentage is currently the best single-season mark. Second is a .779 percentage set in 2009-10.
Truman's 80.6 scoring average is tied for third best in school history behind the 1989-90 84.4 mark and the 1990-91 average of 81.9.
Allie Norton's and Courtney Strait's 88.9% is tied for seventh in free throw percentage with a minimum of 30 made in a season.
Amy Briggs' 66 three-pointers is ninth best in a single-season. She is 10 away from Susan Theroff's 1990-91 record of 76.
Briggs' 45.5% from beyond the arc is just ahead of Allie Norton's school record of 45.2% set last season.
Bianca Szafarowicz and Nicole Gloor are in the top 10 in free throws made. Szafarowicz is eighth with 116 while Gloor is ninth at 115.

Other Season Notables:
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.

National Rankings:
Truman is third in the nation in three-point shooting percentage at 40.4%. They trail West Texas A&M (41.5%) and Philadelphia (Pa.) (40.5%) for the top spot.

The Bulldogs are fifth in free throw shooting at 78.5% while St. Cloud (Minn.) State leads Division II with an outstanding 84.2%.

Truman is 11th in turnovers per game (13.1), 1th in three-pointers per game (8.1), 12th in scoring offense (81.0/g) and 19th in assist/turnover ratio at 1.13.

Amy Briggs has the top individual national ranking for the Bulldogs at fifth in three-point shooting at 45.3%. Catherine Noack of Bloomsburg (Pa.) leads Division II at 47.8% from outside. Allie Norton is 11th at 44.6%. Both are 1-2 in the GLVC rankings.

Norton and Courtney Strait are 15th and 19th respectively in free throw shooting. Four Bulldogs are ranked in the top 200.

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 40.1% field goal, 31.4% three-points and 70.0% from the line.

Career Milestones:
Nicole Gloor is Truman's active leading scorer with 1,017 points. She became 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 (311) and fifth in attempts (424). She is also the active leader in steals with 120 and blocks with 29.

Allie Norton has 232 assists for her career and has started and played in 80 of 81 games. Norton is first in career three-point percentage (43.3%), third in three-pointers made (192) and third in attempts (443). Norton is second in free throw percentage at 87.2%

Bianca Szafarowicz is the active career leading in rebounds with 474 and in games played at 103. Szafarowicz's 46.6% career field goal percentage is ninth all-time with a minimum of 200 made.

Amy Briggs is seventh in three-pointers made at 119 in her two seasons as a Bulldog. She is eighth in attempts with 283, second in percentage at 42.0% and fifth in assists average with 3.4 per game.

Courtney Strait has the top career free throw percentage with a minimum of 100 made. Strait is 105-of-117 (89.7%). She is third in three-point percentage at 41.0% with 71 treys on 173 attempts.

Trending:

Nearly 75% of Truman's scoring comes from five players. Kasey Gassensmith (5.9), Michalina Tomczak (5.3) and Megan Walsh (4.9) are the next three scorers for the Bulldogs this season.
Tomczak and Briggs have started each game this season with Szafarowicz starting 25 and Gloor 18. Gassensmith is the only other Bulldog to appear in all 25 games so far. Allie Norton missed her first game as a Bulldog against Quincy on Thursday, breaking a streak of 80 consecutive games.
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 eight to Missouri-St. Louis.
Szafarowicz has five of the Bulldogs' six double-doubles this season.
The Bulldogs have trailed at the half in 12 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.
The Bulldogs are 50-10 (.842) in games decided by 10 points or more over the past four seasons and 16-2 this year.

Up Next:
The all-GLVC team will be announced on Tuesday followed on Thursday by quarterfinal games. The tournament shifts to the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. The bracket is re-seeded in Evansville with the top seed Drury facing the highest advancing team. Lewis (Ill.), Quincy (Ill.) and Indianapolis are seeds two through four. Quarterfinal games will be played on Thursday starting at noon.

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