CHAMPIONS

BOX SCORE
Deaconess Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Game

Truman (Mo.) State University 58 (22-8 overall) – Ties school record for wins in a season
Leading Scorer: Nicole Gloor, 16 points, 6 rebounds

Maryville (Mo.) University 45 (20-12 overall)
Leading Scorer: Erica Lorton, 12 points, 11 rebounds

Highlight: Truman holds Maryville to just three points over the final 9:55 to earn first conference tournament title in school history and the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Championships.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Truman Women's Basketball team continued to write their names into the history books by winning their first conference championship by outlasting Maryville (Mo.) 58-45 in the Deaconess Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament title game on Sunday. The Bulldogs earn the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Maryville grabbed an eight-point lead midway through the first half but back-to-back threes from Amy Briggs and a basket by Nicole Gloor erased the deficit and the teams see-sawed back-and-forth the rest of the half.

The Saints led by five at the break and were up 42-39 following Erica Lorton's basket at the 9:56 mark.

Michalina Tomczak pulled the Bulldogs to within one and Courtney Strait knocked down a pair of free throws to give Truman the lead for good. Strait would follow after an Amy Briggs' steal to bury a jumper to put Truman on top 45-42. It was their second 8-0 run of the game.

Shelby Miller heaved in a deep three for the Saints last gasp to make it 47-45 with under five to play but that would be the last points for Maryville as the Truman defense too charge.

The Bulldogs blocked four of their season-high eight shots in the final four minutes and used their conference and school-record free throw shooting to pull away for their fifth-straight double-digit win and fourth of the tournament.

Truman scored the final 11 points of the game and outscored the Saints 19-3 over the final 10 minutes to claim the school's first GLVC team title in any sport and first conference title for the Bulldog Basketball team. The 22 wins matched the 1998-99 school record and Truman will await their seeding for the NCAA Division II tournament that will begin next weekend.

Both teams struggled shooting in their third game in four days. Truman hit just 31% of their field goal attempts while the Saints made a paltry 27.3%. Maryville owned the glass in the first 24-12 but Truman returned the favor, especially late to win the second 29-22. Turnovers were key as the Bulldogs had 11 to the Saints' 23 with Truman having an 18-5 advantage on points off turnovers.

Gloor led Truman with 16 points and was joined in double-figures by Briggs' and Bianca Szafarowicz's 11 apiece and Courtney Strait's 10. The trio of Gloor, Briggs and Szafarowicz was named to the All-Tournament team while Szafarowicz was named the Most Outstanding Player.

Lorton led the Saints with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds in Maryville's third-straight trip to the GLVC title game. The Saints hit three of 19 from three after torching the Bulldogs for 18 triples in Kirksville two weeks ago.

The Bulldogs will make their second NCAA Tournament appearance with the first coming in the 1998-99 season. Selections, pairings and site will be released by the NCAA at 9:00 p.m. on Sunday night.

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