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Truman State University Athletics

15WBB-a5

Women's Basketball

WBB Notes: Bulldogs Head To Ohio River Valley To Close Out Road Trip

Truman Women's Basketball Game Notes
Thursday, February 5 vs. Bellarmine  ~ 4:45 p.m. (cst) Louisville, Ky.
 
Saturday, February 7 vs. Southern Indiana ~ 1:00 p.m. Evansville, Ind.
Game Notes (PDF)  
 
 
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Bulldog Women's Basketball team continues their four-game road trip with a swing through the Ohio River Valley. The Bulldogs will be at Bellarmine (Ky.) on Thursday evening and Southern Indiana on Saturday afternoon.  

About The Bulldogs (12-7, 6-5 GLVC):
Two weeks of cross divisional play begins as Truman sits in a log jam in the Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division. The Bulldogs are 6-5, tied with Maryville, William Jewell and Missouri-St. Louis for third, one game back of second place Quincy, who is 7-4 in the conference. Drury has a commanding 10-1 league record.
 
The Bulldogs fell to the Lady Panthers last Thursday 74-60 but bounced back to hand Missouri S&T a 70-51 defeat on Saturday. Allie Norton matched her career-high with six made three-pointers and scored 22 points in the rout of the Lady Miners. Norton continues to lead the Bulldogs in scoring at 15.7 points per game and is sixth in the conference in scoring. Norton is eight in the league in assists at 3.58 per game, second in three-pointers made per game with 2.95, fifth in free throw shooting at 87.5% and fifth in assist/turnover ratio at 1.70.
 
Courtney Strait is second on the team and 12th in the GLVC in scoring at 13.7 points per game. She is fourth in free throw percentage at 90.5% and ninth in defensive rebounds at 4.63 per game. Strait is second on the team with 44 assists and leads in steals with 17.
 
The Bulldogs have used the same starting line-up for all 19 previous games with Norton and Strait joining junior Michalina Tomczak, redshirt freshman Ashley Hartwig and true freshman Rachel Steinhoff. Tomczak is ninth in rebounding at 6.8 boards per game, sixth in offensive rebounds at 2.58/game and seventh in blocked shots with 21 on the season and 1.11 per game average.
 
As a team, Truman is second in the GLVC in free throw shooting at 75.6%, they are fifth in rebounding defense and tied for fifth in three-pointers per game at 6.84. The Bulldogs are averaging 67.8 points per game while shooting 40.4% from the field and 34.1% from three. Opponents are averaging 67.9 points against Truman and shooting 42.1% overall, 36.6% from three and 81.0% from the foul line.
 
 
Truman vs. Bellarmine (Thursday 4:45 p.m. – Louisville, Ky.)
Series History: This is only the third meeting between the Knights and the Bulldogs with each team winning on their home court, 30 years apart. The Knights won 98-96 back on November 19, 1994 and Truman returned the favor in a thrilling double overtime victory 100-88 last season in Pershing Arena.  
Bellarmine Last Time Out: The Knights snapped a six-game skid with a pair of road wins last week over Illinois Springfield and McKendree. Four players scored in double-figures with Beth Bowers and Whitney Hartlage tallying 16 apiece in a 67-48 win against the Prairie Stars last Thursday. Mariah Gador was the scoring leader against the Bearcats with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
About the Knights: Bellarmine sits in fifth place in the GLVC East Division with a 10-9 overall record and 5-6 GLVC mark…lead the GLVC in offensive rebounds per game with 14.47 and are fourth in steals per game at 9.11…average 68.4 points per game while giving up 67.5…shoot a league-low 27.1% from beyond the arc but are fifth in three-point defense with opponents shooting 30.5%...Destony Curry leads team in scoring at 10.5 points per game followed by Beth Bowers at 10.1…Sarah Galvin was a second-team all-GLVC player last season but has not played this year…Mackenize Martinez named to the All-Defensive team…finished 13-14 last year with a 9-9 conference record…Chancellor Dugan is in her third season at Bellarmine after stints at Florida Atlantic University and the University of Southern Indiana.

Truman vs. Southern Indiana (Saturday 1:00 p.m. – Evansville, Ind.)
Series History: The series between the Bulldogs and Screaming Eagles is tied at two apiece with each going 1-1 on their home floor. Truman won last year's game in Kirksville 74-57 and will be making their first trip to the USI campus since a 2008 67-50 loss to the Screaming Eagles. The Bulldogs last win in the Physical Activities Center was a 100-87 triumph in which Bulldog Head Coach Amy Eagan set the Truman single-game scoring record with 46 points.
Southern Indiana Last Time Out: The Screaming Eagles swept last week's road trip to Illinois Springfield and McKendree. Anna Hackert earned her third GLVC Player of the Week honor and sixth for her career after averaging 15.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in the wins. She scored 16 with 15 boards in the 67-53 win over the Bearcats and followed it up with a 14 and eight performance in a 70-58 win over the Prairie Stars.
About The Screaming Eagles: Southern Indiana is currently in third place in the GLVC East with a 16-5 overall record and 8-3 conference mark…they are 9-3 at home but lost their last two home games to Wisconsin-Parkside (70-52) and #1 Lewis (83-73)…ranked first in steals per game with 10, second in turnover margin (+4.05) and second in scoring defense (59.8 ppg)…Anna Hackert is returning first-team all-GLVC and one of two players in the league averaging a double-double in 15.1 points and 11.6 rebounds per game…Hackert has a team-leading 29 blocked shots and shoots 81% from the foul line…Autumn Miller was named to the All-Defensive team last season and leads the squad in steals with 41…Mary O'Keefe (10.9 ppg) and Tanner Marcum (10.8 ppg) also average in double-figures…USI was 19-9 last season with a 12-6 GLVC East mark…lost in GLVC quarterfinals to Quincy 75-69…Rick Stein in his 16th season as head coach.

Bulldog Notebook:

Norton Moving Up Charts:
Allie Norton became the 19th Truman player to join the 1,000 point club earlier this season (1,231) and is second in career three-point shooting at Truman with 257 made.

The 257 three-pointers are second among active Division II players and eight among all three NCAA Divisions. Brittany Batts from Gannon leads the DII with 270 and Morgan Eye from Missouri leads all of the NCAA with 339 three-pointers. She is 12 away from Truman's career mark held by Wendi Sobaski at 269.

Norton is third in Division II and seventh overall in career three-point shooting percentage and fifth/21st overall in three-pointers per game.

Strait Shooting:
Courtney Strait is currently the career-leader in Truman free throw percentage at 90.2%. She is shooting 90.5% from the line this season which tenth in Division II and third in the GLVC. Allie Norton is 29th nationally and fourth in the GLVC this season with a 87.5% percentage and is second in career free throw shooting behind Strait at 86.8%.
Megan Kahn's 83.0% was/is the Truman free throw mark.

Double-Figure Games:
Allie Norton has 646 career double-digit scoring nights with 11 20+ point games. She set a new career-high of 29 points against Culver-Stockton earlier this season. Norton has scored in double-digits in 15 of the last 16 games entering the weekend and all but two this season.

Courtney Strait has 35 games in which she scored 10 or more points and nine games of 20 or more, including four this season. Her career-high is 28 against Mount Mercy (Iowa) on December 21, 2012.

Michalina Tomczak has 16 double-figure scoring games with a career-high of 25 against Cameron (Okla.) earlier this season. Tomczak has all of the Bulldogs three double-doubles this year with 14 and 12 against Wisconsin-Parkside, 14 and 10 against Missouri-St. Louis and 12 and 13 against William Jewell.

Kasey Gassensmith has six, Ashley Hartwig has four and McKenzie Russell three of Bulldogs with more than one double-digit scoring games.

Saturday Postgame Notes:
  • The Bulldogs 19-point victory was their largest in conference play this season and second biggest overall behind a 41-point win in the opener against Hannibal-LaGrange.
  • Truman held the Lady Miners to 18 points in the second half which is the lowest half point total allowed in either half this season.
  • Allie Norton tallied all six of Truman's made three-pointers which matched her career high and the ninth most in a single Truman game. Her previous six three-pointer game was against Drury in 2014.
  • Ashley Hartwig pulled down a season-high nine rebounds and had a high of seven free throws made. Hartwig was 7-of-10 from the line and had four offensive rebounds.
  • The Bulldogs improved to 30-24 against Missouri S&T and have won 17 out of the past 23 games against the Lady Miners.
  • For the eighth time this season, Truman shot above 80% from the foul line making 20-of-24 while S&T was seven of nine.
  • The Bulldogs committed 11 personal fouls which were the fewest since nine against Quincy back in early December.  
Truman's Tough Schedule:
The Bulldogs have played a one-fourth of their games this season against nationally-ranked opponents.  Entering game 20 this week, Truman has played five ranked opponents thus far in #21 Drury, #1 Lewis, #7 West Texas A&M, #9 Pittsburg State and then #18 Missouri Southern. Truman is 1-4 against the group with the win coming against Missouri Southern.
 
Tip-Ins:
  • The Bulldogs are 70-34 (.676) over the past four seasons, 41-26 (.615) in league games and 39-9 (.813) in games played in Pershing Arena during that span.
  • The Bulldogs have used the same starting lineup for all 19 games played this season. Allie Norton, Courtney Strait, Michalina Tomczak have been joined by redshirt freshman Ashley Hartwig and true freshman Rachel Steinhoff.
  • Senior Allison Weise, junior Sarah Gaeddert and redshirt freshman McKenzie Russell have appeared off the bench in all 19 games played.
  • Tomczak is averaging 10.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in conference play while Hartwig is fourth in 8.7 points and third in boards at 4.3 in conference only games.
  • The largest margin overcome for victory was eight points in the second half against Quincy (Ill.) while the largest lead lost was just three points against West Texas A&M.
  • Off the court, Truman had three players, Michalina Tomczak, Nicole Gloor (Student-Assistant Coach) and Tawny Tucci, earn Academic All-GLVC.
 
Up Next:  
The Bulldogs will return home for a pair of cross-divisional games between Saint Joseph's (Ind.) on Thursday, February 12 and the University of Indianapolis on February 14.  
 
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Players Mentioned

Nicole Gloor

#32 Nicole Gloor

F
5' 10"
Senior
Sarah Gaeddert

#24 Sarah Gaeddert

F
6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
Kasey Gassensmith

#30 Kasey Gassensmith

G
6' 0"
Junior
Allie Norton

#12 Allie Norton

G
5' 6"
Senior
Courtney Strait

#23 Courtney Strait

G
5' 10"
Junior
Michalina Tomczak

#44 Michalina Tomczak

C
6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
Tawny Tucci

#10 Tawny Tucci

G
5' 6"
Junior
McKenzie Russell

#03 McKenzie Russell

G
5' 8"
Redshirt Freshman
Ashley Hartwig

#42 Ashley Hartwig

F
5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
Rachel Steinhoff

#32 Rachel Steinhoff

G
5' 7"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Nicole Gloor

#32 Nicole Gloor

5' 10"
Senior
F
Sarah Gaeddert

#24 Sarah Gaeddert

6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
F
Kasey Gassensmith

#30 Kasey Gassensmith

6' 0"
Junior
G
Allie Norton

#12 Allie Norton

5' 6"
Senior
G
Courtney Strait

#23 Courtney Strait

5' 10"
Junior
G
Michalina Tomczak

#44 Michalina Tomczak

6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
C
Tawny Tucci

#10 Tawny Tucci

5' 6"
Junior
G
McKenzie Russell

#03 McKenzie Russell

5' 8"
Redshirt Freshman
G
Ashley Hartwig

#42 Ashley Hartwig

5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
F
Rachel Steinhoff

#32 Rachel Steinhoff

5' 7"
Freshman
G