NOTES: Big Night Of Basketball Tips Off With Women Hosting Hawks

Truman Women's Basketball Notes (February 23)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TrumanStateWBB || #BewareofDog

Game #27: Truman (14-12; 9-8 GLVC) vs. Quincy (5-22; 2-15 GLVC)
When: Thursday, February 23, 2017 || 5:30 p.m.
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media) || Live Video (GLVCSN) || Live Audio (KRES)

Media Notes (PDF)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – There are two "sure things" on the Truman Women's Basketball schedule this week. The first is they will host Quincy University in the regular season finale on Thursday night in Pershing Arena. The second is that they will play Sunday in the first round of the GLVC Postseason Tournament. However, who and where will be decided following Thursday's game with the Lady Hawks.

The Bulldogs have won three straight and are in a four-way tie for sixth place in the GLVC standings, third in the West Division. That's where the uncertainty of Sunday comes into play. A myriad of tie breaking scenarios will have to be applied following the conclusion of all eight GLVC games on Thursday night to figure out opponents and sites of the first round games on Sunday.

The task at hand is Quincy. The Lady Hawks have lost four straight and are 5-22 this season after going 24-4 last year. The Bulldogs won by 20 in Quincy back on December 10. Truman held the Lady Hawks to 28% shooting for the day and 15% (2-of-13) from distance. Cassidy Clark (18), Brooke Bailey (16) and Ashley Hartwig (15) led Truman in scoring. Alexa Low (12) and Nikia Edom (11) paced Quincy. The game was tied at the half at 20 apiece but the Bulldogs outscored Quincy 22-7 in the third quarter to take control.

Truman swept William Jewell and Rockhurst at home over the weekend behind two, 20-point performances by Clark. The lone senior scored 26 and pulled down 10 rebounds in a 67-51 win over the Cardinals and scored 21 in an 87-61 victory over Rockhurst on Saturday. For her efforts, Clark was named the GLVC Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the second time this season. She is the first Bulldog to win the award multiple times in a season since Georgia Mueller accomplished it twice during the 2007-08 campaign.

The Lady Hawks hold a three-game lead (26-23) in the all-time series with the Bulldogs. Truman is 13-9 in Pershing Arena and has won the last four over the Lady Hawks in the building. Since becoming conference mates, Truman has a 5-4 lead in games played with two coming in the GLVC Postseason Tournament.

The Starting Five:
The Bulldogs have used the same starting five for all 17 conference games and 25 of the 26 games this season. Senior Cassidy Clark, junior Ashley Hartwig, sophomores Rachel Edmundson and Brooke Bailey and freshman Sloane Totta.

Clark is the lone senior on the Bulldogs and is a two-time GLVC Player of the Week winner this season. She is the Bulldogs leading scorer this season at 15.2 points per game and is shooting 54% from the field and 76% from the foul line. She also leads Truman in rebounds at 7.2 per game and in both steals and blocks with 23 and 38 respectively. Clark is averaging 16.2 points in conference games. She has three double-doubles this season and has Truman's single-game high in points with 29 against Emporia State. Clark is four points shy of 400 for the season which would be the 25^th Bulldog player to accomplish that feat.

Edmundson is second in scoring and is the only other Bulldogs with over 100 field goals made this season with 112. Edmundson averages 12.5 points a night and 4.7 rebounds. She is second in three-pointers made with 45 with 30 (34%) coming in league games this season. Edmundson set a career-high with 27 points on eight three-pointers against Missouri Southern back in November. She had 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting against Rockhurst on Saturday.

Hartwig has three double-doubles this season, the last coming on February 11 against UW-Parkside. She averages right at 10 points per game while shooting 42% from the field and 81% from the line. She has been to the line the most of any Bulldog this season and has knocked down 81 of her 100 free throw attempts. In conference games, Hartwig is averaging 10.5 points and 6-1 rebounds per night.

Sophomore Brooke Bailey is Truman's leading three-point shooter in terms of baskets made from distance with 50 this season. Bailey averages 9.4 points per game and is second in assists with 67 and in steals with 31. She set her career high of 18 points on six three-pointers in a victory over Indianapolis on February 2 and pulled down nine rebounds in the season opener against Northern Michigan. She scored in double-figures for the 13^th time this season with 14 against the Rockhurst Hawks on Saturday.

Freshman Sloane Totta leads the Bulldogs in assists with 74 and has 23 steals and five blocks to go with her seven points per night average. She has knocked down 13 three-pointers in league games this season and has scored over 10 points in six games including a season-high 16 in a victory over nationally-ranked Grand Valley State on November 13. She has Truman's season high of nine assists in a win over Maryville on January 19.

Off The Bench:
Freshman Eleanor Lueke has come off the bench in all 26 games and made one start. She has knocked down 26 three-pointers and averages 4.7 points per game. Lueke has been in double-figures four times this season with 11 points in games against Central Christian and Upper Iowa. Lueke averages 17.0 minutes per game.

Junior Jamie Gleeson has appeared in 23 games and 11.4 minutes per. She has averaged 3.3 points per game and has pulled down 36% (28 of 76) of her rebounds in the last five games. Gleeson had six rebounds in 14 minutes against UW-Parkside but missed both games last week.

Junior Sam Andrews has played in 23 games this season and averages 8.5 minutes and 3.1 points. Her season high is eight points against Iowa Wesleyan and has a career high of 12 against Culver-Stockton College.

Juniors Kennedy Martin has been in 21 games and Montira Mosby in 19. Martin has notched 6.5 minutes per game and had a career-high 19 points last season at Rockhurst. Mosby has not played in the last four games but has averaged 11 minutes and 3.3 points in the games she has been in.

Maddie Tharp has made appearances in 17 games as a freshman this season. Her single-game high is six points against Central Christian College.

Sophmore Mackenzie Jerks missed the first 11 games this season but has scored points in the last seven games. In her last 10, she has averaged 9.7 minutes while shooting 41% from the field. Jerks played a season-high 23 minutes against Rockhurst on Saturday.

Freshman Taylor Koper has played in seven games this season with her last action including Saturday's win against Rockhurst where she did not score.

About Quincy:
The Lady Hawks have three of their five wins against Division II teams by a total of 10 points…the other two wins were over Hannibal-LaGrange (+38) and Missouri Valley (+9)…they are 2-12 since the calendar turned to 2017, a 64-61 win at McKendree and a 84-80 overtime victory at home over Indianapolis…they have topped 70 points in three games this season and have been held below 60 in 17 of their 27 contests…Nikia Edom leads the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game and shoots 42% from three with 66 made triples…Anika Webster is second in scoring at 9.7 points…Quincy's defense has given up 72.5 points in 17 conference games this season, which is ranked 16^th out of 16 teams…they are last in scoring margin, field goal shooting, steals and defensive rebounds in league-only games.

Rockhurst Recap:
Truman lit up the scoreboard on Senior Day and picked up a big conference win 87-61 over Rockhurst on Saturday. It was the 72^nd Bulldog win for Head Coach Amy Eagan moving her past her coach Karin Nicholls into third place on the Truman coaching lists. She now trails Mary Jo Murray (100) and John Sloop (87) in victories.

Cassidy Clark, tallied her second straight 20-point game pouring in 21 on 9-of-16 shooting. Rachel Edmundson and Sloane Totta both chipped in 15 and Brooke Bailey added 14.

Rockhurst had their four-game winning streak snapped. Mary Dineen led the Hawks with 16 points. Marisa Lowe scored 14. Rockhurst falls to 17-8 overall and 11-6 in the GLVC.

With the visitors up 9-7 early, Truman went on a 12-2 spurt with three-pointers by Eleanor Lueke and Sam Andrews. The Bulldogs tallied 25 first quarter points and led by 11 after the first 10 minutes.

Truman kept the pressure on in the second growing the lead out to 19 points at 35-16 on a triple from Bailey. The Hawks scored nine straight before Clark and Totta scored on consecutive trips to restore order.

A three by Lowe midway through the third cut the lead before double-digits at 52-43 and after the teams exchanged turnovers, Maddie Tharp converted on one of two free throws to get the lead back to 10.

That would be as close as Rockhurst would get as Truman expanded the lead to over 20 points in the fourth quarter and never looked back.

The Bulldogs shot over 50% for the game and were 25-of-32 from the foul line. They forced 22 turnovers, scoring 24 points off of them while committing just seven. Truman outscored Rockhurst 38-10 in the paint.
Around the GLVC:
The field is set but the order of teams needs to be determined following Thursday's games. Drury should be the number one overall seed at 16-1 followed by East champion Southern Indiana at 15-2. The next three seeds are set with Bellarmine and Lewis earning first round byes and Rockhurst clinching the fifth spot with a 11-6 league record.
The logjam occurs from six through 12. Indianapolis, Truman, William Jewell and Missouri-St. Louis are tied at 9-8, one of those teams will be on the road Sunday. UW-Parkside and Maryville are 8-9 and Saint Joseph's is 12^th at 7-10.
The GLVC priority is to break ties within divisions before comparing teams across divisions. When three or more teams are tied within a division, a comparison of records of the tied teams are used to try to figure out a natural order of finish. Also, when teams play just once during a season, a road win would break a tie whereas a home win would not. Since so many tiebreakers will be in play, we will not speculate on order of finish and wait until the league unveils the tournament bracket on Thursday night.
For reference, Truman has a 5-4 Division record and has five road wins at Quincy, Illinois Springfield, McKendree, Maryville and UW-Parkside.
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Players Mentioned

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

#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

#01 Mackenzie Jerks: G; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#20 Kennedy Martin: F; 5' 10"; Junior

#35 Montira Mosby: F; 5' 10"; Junior

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

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

#10 Taylor Koper: G; 5' 10"; Freshman

#15 Maddie Tharp: F/C; 6' 3"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

#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

#01 Mackenzie Jerks
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: G

#20 Kennedy Martin
: 5' 10"; Junior
: F

#35 Montira Mosby
: 5' 10"; Junior
: F

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

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

#10 Taylor Koper
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: G

#15 Maddie Tharp
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: F/C