Women's Basketball 1/4/2017 10:59:00 AM

NOTES: Truman Women Square Off Against Illinois Springfield Thursday

Truman Women's Basketball Notes (January 5)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TrumanStateWBB || #BewareofDog || @TrumanGameday

Game #13: Truman (6-6; 1-2 GLVC) vs. Illinois Springfield (6-4, 0-2 GLVC)
When: Thursday, January 5, 2017 || 5:30 p.m.
Where: Springfield, Illinois || The Recreation & Athletic Center (TRAC)
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media) || Live Video (GLVCSN) || Live Audio (KRES)

Media Notes (PDF)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Women's Basketball team will begin the conference season in earnest with a two-game jaunt into the Land of Lincoln this weekend. The Bulldogs will open things up at Illinois Springfield on Thursday night at 5:30 p.m.

The Bulldogs will be looking to string back-to-back wins for the first time since the opening week of the season when they travel to the Prairie Stars on Thursday. Truman is coming off a 65-50 New Years Eve victory over Iowa Wesleyan and has not won consecutive games since winning three of their first four in mid November.

After just five games in the month of December (2-3), Truman will get back into the conference routine of Thursday/Saturday contests from here on out. Following Thursday's game in Springfield, the team will head south to Lebanon and face McKendree on Saturday afternoon.

Truman is 18-2 all-time against both the Prairie Stars and Bearcats and registered double-digit wins against both clubs at home last season.

Senior Cassidy Clark leads Truman in scoring at 14.3 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per night. Clark is shooting 53% from the field and also leads the team in blocks (11), steals (14) and offensive rebounds (29). Clark is 11^th in the GLVC in scoring, sixth in rebounding and 9^th in field goal percentage. She is also 15^th in blocks, eighth in offensive rebounds and fifth in defensive boards. She has been the team's leading scorer in six games thus far and has been in double figures in nine games, seven straight with a team high 29 against nationally-ranked Emporia State (Kan.) on November 25.

She is joined in double-figure scoring by Rachel Edmundson (11.8 ppg) and Ashley Hartwig (10.8 ppg). Edmundson is second on the team in three-pointers (16) and in field goal percentage (45.6%), she is ranked 22^nd in the conference in scoring. Hartwig is the top free throw shooter at 89% and is second on the team in steals with 11. She is ranked 28^th in scoring, 15^th in rebounds and second in the league in free throw percentage.

Brooke Bailey is eighth in the conference in three-pointers made with two per game and had a team-leading 24 on the season. Bailey is averaging 9.6 points per game and along with freshman Sloane Totta, has started all 12 games in the back court for the Bulldogs.

Truman, as a team, is averaging 71.7 points per night while allowing 63.1. They are shooting overall 41.2% from the field and 30.2% from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs make 6.4 three-pointers per game. Truman is shooting 74% from the foul line with Clark and Hartwig getting to the line the most at 40 and 38 times respectively.

Opponents have shot 39.7% from the field against Truman this year and 30.4% from three.

The Bulldogs are in the middle of the pack in most GLVC statistical categories. Their highest rankings are fifth in Free Throw Shooting, Turnover Margin and Offensive Rebounds.

About Illinois Springfield:
The Prairie Stars possess one of the top rebounders in the GLVC in Syerra Cunningham. She is averaging 11.8 boards per game to go along with 12.4 points per game. She had two games this season with 19 rebounds, the top single game high in the GLVC. Cunningham is fifth in field goal percentage at 59% and averages a conference leading 4.20 offensive rebounds and 7.60 defensive rebounds per night.

Shelbi Patterson has the slight lead over Cunningham in scoring at 12.7 points per game. Patterson is shooting 45% from three (10-22) and leads the team in assists with 30. Tehya Tortune has a team-leading 19 three-pointers on 45 attempts.

UIS is third in the conference in blocked shots (4.40/g), rebounding offense (43.4/g) and defensive field goal percentage (35.4%) but last in the conference in free throw shooting (63.1%). They average 73.3 points per game while allowing 61.7 points.

They defeated Blackburn (Ill.) 69-34 on Saturday and are 3-2 at home. UIS lost both of their league games in early December at home to #4 Bellarmine (66-63) and Southern Indiana (89-62).
Truman and UIS share one common non-conference opponent, Missouri Southern. The Prairie Stars defeated the Lions 73-69 at home on November 25 while Truman lost 94-88 in Joplin on November 22.

Series History:
The schools first met in 1997 with the Bulldogs winning the first six games. The first five meetings were contested in Kirksville. UIS won in the last game played in Springfield, a 72-57 win on January 10, 2015 while Truman won 67-48 in Kirksville last year.

In last year's game, UIS led 18-16 after the first quarter but the Bulldogs won the second quarter 19-2 to lead by 15 at the break. The Prairie Stars whittled the lead down to five with five minutes to play but the Bulldogs finished the game on a 13-0 run to win going away. Courtney Strait (17), Kasey Gassensmith (16) and Rachel Steinhoff (12) led Truman in scoring while UIS got 13 from Shelbi Patterson and 11 from Ashley McHenry.

Overall, the series record is 8-1 in favor of Truman but they are 1-1 in Springfield.

Iowa Wesleyan Highlights:
Cassidy Clark scored the first seven Truman points and her and Brooke Bailey had 15 of Truman's 30 points at halftime…the Bulldogs had 21 points off of 23 Iowa Wesleyan turnovers and had 21 second chance points off of 23 offensive rebounds…Truman had more offensive rebounds (23) and defensive rebounds (20) and held a +15 margin in total rebounds…freshman Eleanor Lueke made her first collegiate start and pulled down a season-high seven rebounds to lead Truman while also dishing out four assists…the 17 assists were the most by Truman this season on 23 made field goals, the previous high was 13 on 27 field goals in a loss at Rockhurst…it was the third game this season that Truman shot below 40% from the field and sixth time this year that an opponent shot below the 40% threshold…the 57% was the second lowest free throw percentage this year and the team shot below 70% in four of the last five games…Brooke Bailey set a new career high with four made three-pointers and matched her career high with four assists.

Around the GLVC:
Rockhurst (8-2) and McKendree (9-3) have the longest winning streaks going in the GLVC right now. The Hawks have won their last six games while the Bearcats have won their last five. The Hawks have a showdown with the GLVC's top ranked team nationally in #4 Bellarmine on Thursday night. The Knights are 10-1 overall with their loss coming against the #1 team Ashland last week.

Drury (#12 – 11-2) and Lewis (#16 – 11-2) are the other two GLVC schools currently ranked in the Division II Top 25.
The Flyers' Jessica Kelliher and Jamie Johnson are the top two scorers in the GLVC at 19.5 and 19.3 points per game respectively. Rockhurst Mary Dineen is third at 19.2 points per night.

Southern Indiana (10-2) has the top scoring team in the GLVC at 82.8 ppg and McKendree has the best defensive team in points allowed at 54.8.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will play at McKendree on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The Bearcats host Quincy (3-10/0-3 GLVC) on Thursday night.

#BewareofDog

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

#31 Rachel Edmundson: F; 6' 0"; Sophomore

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

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

#04 Sloane Totta: G; 5' 9"; Freshman

#05 Eleanor Lueke: G; 5' 10"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

#31 Rachel Edmundson
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: F

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

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

#04 Sloane Totta
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: G

#05 Eleanor Lueke
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: G