Women's Basketball 11/16/2017 8:23:00 AM

NOTES: Bulldogs Try To Tame Lions Saturday At Home

Truman Women's Basketball Notes (November 18)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TrumanStateWBB || #BewareofDog

Game #3: Truman (1-1) vs. Missouri Southern (0-3)
When: Saturday, November 18, 2017 || 1:00 p.m.
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media) || Live Video (GLVCSN) || Live Audio (KIRK 99.9 FM)

Media Notes (PDF)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Women return to action at home on Saturday afternoon as they welcome former conference mate Missouri Southern State University for a non-league tilt. The Bulldogs are 1-1 on the young season while the Lions enter at 0-3.

Truman won their opener over Missouri Valley 77-65 but dropped their first road game of the season at Augustana (S.D.) on Monday night 72-57. Freshman Katie Jaseckas notched her first collegiate double double with 12 points and 13 rebounds but she was the only Truman player in double-figure scoring. The Vikings opened up an 8-0 lead to start the contest and never trailed.

Through the first two games on Truman's schedule, Brooke Bailey leads the team in scoring at 12 points per game. Bailey has come off the bench in both games and has made six of 11 three-point attempts. Jaseckas (9.5) and Sloane Totta (9.0) are next in scoring with Jaseckas averaging 10 rebounds in the two games. As a team, Truman is shooting 33% overall from the field, 31% from range and 78% at the foul line. Opponents are shooting 46% from the floor, 38% from three and 72% at the line.

The Lions pushed #3 Harding (Ark.) to the brink on Tuesday night before falling 65-63. The game was tied for the seventh time with 2:51 to play after the Lions' Morgan Brightwell knocked down a three-pointer. Harding went back on top with 1:27 left and survived following four misses from the field by Southern, two shot attempts were blocked.

Southern opened up with two losses at home last weekend. They were dumped by Oklahoma Baptist 90-82 and Southwestern Oklahoma 84-70. Chelsey Henry leads four players in double-figures at 21 points per game. Henry is shooting 53% from the field and 46% from the arc. Jenson Maydew (13.3), Jasmine Green (12.0) and Dru Clark (10.5) are the other top scorers for Head Coach Ronnie Ressel.

The overall series has Southern holding a one-game edge over the Bulldogs 24-23. The Lions broke the series tie last year with a 94-88 win over the Bulldogs in Joplin. Rachel Edmundson made eight of 10 three-point attempts, which tied for third most by a Bulldog in a single-game, and finished with a career-high 27 points for Truman. Deb Holcomb poured in one more point (28) than Edmundson to pace the Lions.

The teams have played three non-conference games since Truman joined the Great Lakes Valley Conference in 2013. The Bulldogs won 67-64 in Joplin in 2014 while the Lions have won the last two 58-49 in Kirksville in 2015 and last year's result.

Southern broke a 57-all tie late in the third quarter and followed with a 14-1 run to take their largest lead of the game at 76-62 midway through the fourth. The Bulldogs got back to within five points twice but the Lions were able to answer from the free throw line. Southern went to the stripe 43 times and made 32 while Truman shot 19-of-27 from the line.

Coaches Polls
Truman was picked second in the Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division and had one first-place vote among the five teams. The Bulldogs were 15-13 last season and 10-8 in the conference. Missouri Southern were tabbed 11^th in the 14^th team Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The Lions were 12-17 overall and 7-12 in the MIAA.

Around The GLVC
Seven of the 15 teams that have taken the court this season have not lost. Three reside in the East Division with Bellarmine, Lewis and Southern Indiana all 2-0 while in the West Missouri S&T (3-0) and Rockhurst (1-0) are undefeated. Illinois Springfield (3-0) and McKendree (1-0) are perfect from the Central.

Drury was the only GLVC team ranked in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association preseason poll and after winning their first two games with ease, dropped a 93-82 game on Tuesday night to neighbor Southwest Baptist.

The GLVC Player of the Week, Jessica Kelliher from Lewis, leads the league in scoring at 30.0 points per game.

Returning All-GLVC
Junior forward Rachel Edmundson was a second team all-GLVC player last year and sophomore guard Sloane Totta was named to the All-Freshman team. Edmundson averaged 12.3 points a night and shot 37% from beyond the arc and 76% from the foul line. Totta was the assists' leader for Truman with 81 in 28 games and scored 7.4 points per game.

Academic All-GLVC
Seven Truman players earned the Academic All-GLVC award following last season. They were Rachel Edmundson, Jamie Gleeson, Ashley Hartwig, Taylor Koper, Rachel Steinhoff, Maddie Tharp and Sloane Totta. To earn Academic All-GLVC accolades, a player must have a 3.30 grade-point average over the academic year.
In addition, Koper, Steinhoff and Totta earned the GLVC Brother James Gaffney Distinguished Scholar award for posting 4.0 GPAs during the past academic year.

Up Next
On the original schedule that was released earlier in the fall, Truman had a home game scheduled for Monday night against the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. However due to the hurricanes that ravaged the island, the game had to be cancelled and will not be made up.

Truman will return to a former MIAA haunting spot next weekend for the Washburn/Ramada Inn Thanksgiving Classic in Topeka. The Bulldogs will face Newman (Kan.) University on Friday at 5 p.m. before battling host Washburn at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

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