Women's Basketball 2/26/2016 11:45:00 AM

Women's Basketball Tournament Notes: vs. UMSL (Sunday. 1 p.m. )

Truman Women's Basketball Notes (February 25, 2016)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TrumanStateWBB || #BewareofDog || @TrumanGameday

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Game #29: Truman (19-9, 13-5 GLVC) vs. Missouri-St. Louis (11-15, 6-12 GLVC)
When: Sunday, February 28, 2016 || 1:00 p.m.
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media) || Live Video (GLVCSN) || Live Audio (KRES)
2015-16 Stats: Truman || UMSL || GLVC || NCAA

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The rubber game between the Truman Women's Basketball team and the University of Missouri-St. Louis will open up the Great Lakes Valley Conference Postseason Tournament on Sunday afternoon in Pershing Arena. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m.

The first two meetings, one conference, one non-conference both needed overtime before the home team prevailed in each. On January 2, UMSL led by 12 with 3:06 left in the third quarter and Truman played catch up tying the game at 50 at the end of regulation.

Kasey Gassensmith jumper as time expired knotted the game at 54 at the end of the first overtime. Truman grabbed their first lead in over 16 minutes of game action early in the second OT but a basket by Shea O'Brien and a free throw from Jordan Fletcher lifted the Tritons to a 61-60 victory.

Over two weeks later in Kirksville, Truman held a 10-point lead with 8:19 left in the fourth quarter only to watch the Tritons storm back to tie things up with 2:21 left to play. Truman retook the lead with Gassensmith scoring at 56 seconds left but Amber Daley scored following a steal and timeout for UMSL to make it 69 all heading into overtime.

Truman scored the first four points in the overtime period and never trailed downing the Tritons 78-73.

The Bulldogs enter their third GLVC Tournament and sixth straight conference postseason gala as the number five overall seed with their third place showing in the GLVC West Division. The Tritons are also making their third straight trip to the GLVC. UMSL gained the 12^th and final seed with a 62-60 victory over Maryville on Thursday night, knocking the Saints out of the bracket.

Truman set a new school record for conference wins this past year as they went 13-5 and the top scoring defense in the GLVC by limiting opponents to 55.2 points per game. UMSL was 6-12 in conference play and bring the fifth best scoring defense in the league at 62.1 points allowed per game.

If Truman wins, it will send the Bulldogs to another rubber game with rival Quincy in St. Charles on Thursday (time to be determined). Truman being the fifth seed would get Quincy the fourth seed in the bracket for the third time this year. The Lady Hawks sent the Bulldogs into the first round game with a 65-53 win over Truman on Thursday night in Quincy. Truman won the earlier match-up between the two in Kirksville 65-63.

Post Season Tournament History:
Truman and Missouri-St. Louis have met once in a postseason tournament during their series history. In 1979, the Bulldogs hosted the Missouri Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Tournament in Pershing Arena. Truman defeated the Tritons 67-57 in the first round en route to the MAIAW State Championship.

This is the 14^th overall conference tournament that Truman has played in as either a member of the MIAA or GLVC. It will be the fifth home game that the Bulldogs have hosted with Truman going 2-2 in the four previous games.

In their first GLVC Tournament in 2014, the Bulldogs defeated William Jewell at home as the number seven seed then knocked off Lewis (Ill.), Quincy (Ill.) and Maryville in Evansville, Indiana to claim the school's first GLVC Championship. Last year, Truman was the number six seed and were upset at home by the University of Indianapolis 72-51.

NCAA Regional Rankings:
The second set of NCAA Midwest Regional rankings were released last Wednesday and Truman was once again not in the top 10. It was the second of three rankings that will be out prior to the Division II Women's Basketball Tournament Selection Show on March 6.

The top 10 teams consisting of the GLVC, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC) and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) will be ranked by defined selection criteria for postseason play. The conference tournament champions of all three leagues receive an automatic qualification to the 8-team regional tournament and five at-large bids will be up for grabs.

The Bulldogs last made the NCAA Tournament in 2014 as champions of the GLVC Postseason Tournament.

In Conference Home Games:
The Bulldogs were 7-2 in league home games and average 63.9 points on offense and 57.3 points on defense this season.

The team has shot 40.8% overall and 34% from three in home games while opposing teams shoot 36.5% from the field, 27% from three and 62% in Pershing Arena. The Bulldogs have a +3.1 rebounding margin and have 41 blocks compared to the opponents 22. The Bulldogs have outscored their opponents in the second quarter by a 129-92 margin (+37) in league home games.

Courtney Strait (11.3) and Kasey Gassensmith (10.7) lead Truman in scoring at home. Strait is averaging nearly eight rebounds per conference home game this season.

Truman has won seven of their last eight conference home games with the only loss coming against nationally-ranked Lewis on February 13. Since joining the GLVC, Truman is 21-6 in conference home games and 30-10 overall.

Last 5 Games:
Truman is 3-2 in their last five outings with a +2.8 points scoring margin. The team has shot 35% overall and 36% from three but are averaging 14.2 turnovers per game. Opponents are shooting 35% from the field and 31% from three.

The most telling stat has been in the third quarter as Truman in their last five has outscored their opponents by 18 points. They have also been to the free throw line 113 times, making 74 while their opponents have been to the line 76 times, making 50 a +24 point spread from the foul line.

The other eye-popping stat has been the Bulldog bench. Over the course of the last 5 games, have shot 49% from the field (47-of-95) and outscored the opposing bench by a 122 to 62 (+60) point margin.

In Conference Games:
The Bulldogs 13 wins in conference this season set a new school record. The previous mark of 12 wins in league play was accomplished three times (2000,2013 and 2014).

The Bulldogs have reached 10 conference wins in each of the last five seasons and have had a winning record in conference games the past four years.

Block Party:
Truman has broken the single-season blocks record and now sit at 123 this season. The previous mark was 103 set in 2007-08. The team is second behind Rockhurst in blocks per game at 4.26.

Michalina Tomczak has accounted for 54 of the 123 blocks this season which is good for second on the single-season block charts. She is 17 back of Georgia Mueller's 2006-07 total of 71 set in 2007-08. Cassidy Clark is second on the team with 24 blocks.

Tomczak is one of three Bulldogs all-time to block 100 shots. She is second overall with 114 blocks and joined Jennifer Perkins (107 from 1998-2002) and Georgia Mueller (195 from 2005-09) in that century club.

The Starting Five:
Amy Eagan has used Michalina Tomczak, Courtney Strait, Rachel Steinhoff, Kasey Gassensmith and Ashley Hartwig as her starting five for the majority of the season. Tomczak, Strait and Gassensmith have each started all 28 games, Steinhoff has started 27 and Hartwig has started 14.

Other Bulldogs with starts this season are Cassidy Clark with 10, Brooke Bailey and Sam Andrews with two and Tawny Tucci with one.

Career starts is led by Tomczak with 84 followed by Strait with 57 and sophomore Steinhoff with 54. Steinhoff did not start and missed her first collegiate game against Rockhurst on February 20.

Gettin It Done With D:
The Bulldogs are currently on pace to set a new defensive scoring mark. Truman enters the week allowing 55.2 points per game and would be only the second Truman team to have a defensive scoring average under 60 points. The school record is 57.1 points in 28 games played during the 2012-13 campaign.

Truman is ninth in the latest NCAA Division II rankings in scoring defense and leads the GLVC in that category. The Bulldogs have held opponents to under 50 points in 10 games this year. The program benchmark for most games holding an opponent under 50 goes back to the first year 1972-73 when they held the opposing teams to under 50 in 10 of the 15 games played. Truman has had 10 seasons in which they didn't hold anyone under 50 points in a game and another nine, including last year where it occurred just once in a season. In the post shot clock era, the record for holding opponents under 50 is five games set in 2012-13.

Strait Shooter:
Senior Courtney Strait is fourth among NCAA active free throw shooters. Strait's 86.2% from the line trails She is also among the Division II career leaders in points scored (92nd) and free throws made (44th).

Strait became the 20^th Truman player to score 1,000 career points when she scored 14 in Truman's win over Maryville. She is now 18^th on the scoring chart having passed teammate Nicole Gloor on Thursday in Quincy and went over the 1,100 point total. She is 27 points back of Angie Griffin (1977-82) for the 17^th spot on the list.

Strait became the all-time leader in games played when she started Thursday night at Quincy. She has taken the floor 113 times in her four-year career, one game better than her former teammate Allie Norton and Truman Hall of Famer Carol Jarrard (1978-82).

Upcoming Strait Milestones:
        Three-Pointers Made: 150 –sixth all-time (Next: 152 Angie Gum)
        Three-Pointers Attempted: 440 – fourth all-time (Next : 662 Allie Norton)
        Free Throws Made: 307 – eighth all-time (Next: 316 Kristy Brown)
She is the career leader in free throw shooting percentage at Truman at 86.2%

Quarter Scoring:
Under the new quarter system, put in place this year for Women's Basketball. The Bulldogs are averaging 15.7 points per quarter while allowing 13.7. Truman has scored 20 points or more in a quarter 21 times and has given up 20 in a 10-minute span on 14 occasions. On the flip side, the Bulldogs have not scored 10 points in a quarter 10 times and have held opponents less than 10 points in 23 separate quarters.

The most points scored in a single quarter are 29 against Central Christian and 28 by Bellarmine. The fewest points scored was six against Missouri Southern and two by Illinois Springfield.

Up Next:
Truman's postseason fate will be decided by Thursday's result at Quincy. A win over the Lady Hawks will have the Bulldogs next play in St. Charles, Missouri next Thursday at the Family Arena in the quarterfinal round of the GLVC Postseason Tournament. A loss will have the Bulldogs at home against an opponent to be determined, the 12^th seed in the bracket, at 1:00 p.m. in Pershing Arena.

#TSUvsUMSL
This will be the 36^th meeting between Truman and Missouri-St. Louis all-time with the Bulldogs holding an 18-17 advantage. UMSL has won three of the last five games with Truman winning both games played in Kirksville.

Truman has won the last four dating back to 1996 in Pershing Arena.

Since joining the GLVC, the teams have played six times with all of them being won by the home team.

In six career games played against the Tritons, Courtney Strait has averaged 12.7 points with a high of 18 and shoots 85% from the free throw line. Michalina
Tomczak has averaged 10.2 points and shoots over 53% from the field with six blocks.

The Tritons ended the regular season on the road for five straight games, winning two (against Missouri S&T and Maryville). UMSL was 4-9 overall on the road this year.

Kelly Kunkel and Jordan Fletcher have started all 26 games for UMSL this season and both average over 11 points per game. Kunkel has taken the bulk of shots for the Tritons with 281 and has 35 three-pointers. Fletcher shoots 56% from the field and leads the team with 30 blocked shots.

Kunkel averaged 14.5 in the two games against Truman this season with a 54% shooting percentage and was 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. She led the team with four steals. Fletcher has averaged 13 points (9-of-18) from the field and along with Amber Daly grabbed seven rebounds per game.

Fletcher had a two-game span during the season where she scored 22 against Saint Joseph's and 31 at Indianapolis.

Shea O'Brien has been the leading scorer the last three games for the Tritons with 22 against Missouri S&T, 16 against Drury and 18 against Maryville.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Allie Norton: G; 5' 6"; Senior

#40 Sam Andrews: F; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#02 Brooke Bailey: G; 5' 6"; Redshirt Freshman

#30 Kasey Gassensmith: G; 6' 0"; Senior

#42 Ashley Hartwig: F; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#32 Rachel Steinhoff: G; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#23 Courtney Strait: G; 5' 10"; Senior

#44 Michalina Tomczak: C; 6' 3"; Redshirt Senior

#10 Tawny Tucci: G; 5' 6"; Senior

#34 Cassidy Clark: C; 6' 2"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#12 Allie Norton
: 5' 6"; Senior
: G

#40 Sam Andrews
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: F

#02 Brooke Bailey
: 5' 6"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

#30 Kasey Gassensmith
: 6' 0"; Senior
: G

#42 Ashley Hartwig
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: F

#32 Rachel Steinhoff
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: G

#23 Courtney Strait
: 5' 10"; Senior
: G

#44 Michalina Tomczak
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Senior
: C

#10 Tawny Tucci
: 5' 6"; Senior
: G

#34 Cassidy Clark
: 6' 2"; Junior
: C