NOTES: GLVC First Round Starts Sunday For Truman Women

Truman Women's Basketball Notes (February 26)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TrumanStateWBB || #BewareofDog

Game #28: Truman (15-12; 10-8 GLVC) vs. Maryville (12-13; 8-10 GLVC)
When: Sunday, February 26, 2017 || 1:00 p.m.
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media) || Live Video (GLVCSN) || Live Audio (KRES)

Media Notes (PDF)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The "Second Season" begins on Sunday and the first opponent on the "Road to Evansville" will be the Maryville Saints. The GLVC Postseason Tournament will tip off in Pershing Arena at 1 p.m. for the Truman Women's Basketball team.

The Bulldogs are hosting a first round game for the fourth straight year and qualified for their seventh straight conference postseason tourney. They enter this year's bracket as the number six seed while the Saints come in as the number 11 seed. The two teams played on January 19 in St. Louis and the Bulldogs won going away 69-54.

Truman won their fourth straight for the first time this season in holding on to defeat Quincy Thursday night 68-63. Cassidy Clark scored 26 points, her fourth straight game over 20, and the Bulldogs held off a late charge by the Lady Hawks for their 15^th win of the season.

Maryville lost to Missouri-St. Louis 79-45 in their regular season finale on Thursday. The Saints were outrebounded by 30 (51-21) by the Tritons with 17 offensive boards. UMSL scored 23 second chance points. Mary Barton led MU with 12 points.

This is the 11^th all-time meeting between Truman and Maryville and fifth game played in Pershing Arena. Truman has won the last three matchups with the Saints. Maryville's last victory in the series was in 2015 in Pershing Arena 72-64. The teams have postseason tournament history as well. They squared off in the 2014 GLVC Championship game in Evansville, in which the Bulldogs won 58-45 to win their first league title.

If the seeds hold on Sunday in the other three first-round games, Truman will play third seed Lewis on Friday at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. If there is an upset in any of the first round games, the bracket will be reseeded to give the number one overall seed (Drury) the lowest remaining seeded team. The GLVC Tournament returns to Evansville and the Ford Center after spending the last two years at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri.

The Starting Five:
The Bulldogs have used the same starting five for all 18 conference games and 26 of the 27 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 15.6 points per game and is shooting 54% from the field and 75% from the foul line. She also leads Truman in rebounds at 7.1 per game and in both steals and blocks with 24 and 38 respectively. Clark is averaged 16.8 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 the 25^th player in Truman history to score over 400 points (422) in a single-season. She has scored over 20 points in three straight games and four of her last five.

Edmundson is second in scoring and is the only other Bulldogs with over 100 field goals made this season with 115. Edmundson averages 12.4 points a night and 4.7 rebounds. She is second in three-pointers made with 46 with 31 (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 and added 11 with five boards against Quincy.

Hartwig has three double-doubles this season, the last coming on February 11 against UW-Parkside. She averages 9.7 points per game while shooting 41% from the field and 80% from the line. Hartwig and Clark have accounted for over 200 of the team's 542 free throw attempts this season. In conference games, Hartwig is averaging 10.1 points and 5.9 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 32. 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 78 and has 24 steals and five blocks to go with her seven points per night average. She has knocked down 15 three-pointers in league games this season and has scored over 10 points in seven 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 27 games and made one start. She has knocked down 27 three-pointers and averages 4.6 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 Sam Andrews has played in 24 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.

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 the last three games.

Juniors Kennedy Martin has been in 22 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 five games but has averaged 11 minutes and 3.3 points in the games she has been in.

Maddie Tharp has made appearances in 18 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 eight 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 Maryville:
The Saints are 1-4 in their last five outings with the victory coming against Missouri S&T on Saturday 80-67 to split the season series with the Miners…that 1-4 stretch came after the Saints had won five in-a-row from the game after they played the Bulldogs on January 21 (vs. Quincy) through a victory against Illinois Springfield on February 4…they are 7-5 in games played away from home this year…three players average 11 points a night for Maryville, including Stephanie Sherwood (11.7), Ali Ringering (11.2) and Mary Barton (11.1)…all three have hit over 30 three-pointers this season with Sherwood leading the charge with 49…Ringering and Barton connect from distance on 48% of their shots…as a team, the Saints were fourth in GLVC games in three-point shooting at 36% and second in three-point defense at 29%...they averaged 6.7 three-pointers per league game.

Quincy Recap:
Cassidy Clark scored over 20 points for the third straight game and the Truman Women's Basketball team survived a scare from rival Quincy 68-63 in the regular season finale. The Bulldogs won their fourth straight game for the first time this season.

Clark scored seven of Truman's first 14 points and the Bulldogs led by two at 14-12 at the end of the first. A 9-0 run by Quincy pushed the Lady Hawks on top during the second quarter and they led 31-26 at the halftime break.

The Bulldogs had only two three pointers in the first 20 minutes but Sloane Totta changed that in a span of 30 or so seconds in the third quarter. Totta knocked down triples on consecutive trips to put Truman on top for good at 35-31.

The third quarter belonged to the Bulldogs as they outscored the Lady Hawks 22-9. Truman shot 46% in the quarter compared to Quincy's 19%.

Truman led by eight to start the fourth and expanded the lead to 12 with 7:34 to play. The Lady Hawks chipped away and Selina Barnes made it four points with 3:51 to play.

Quincy couldn't capitalize on a turnover and Totta found a wide open Brooke Bailey under the hoop for an uncontested layup to give Truman some breathing room.

That didn't last long. Lauren Gronewold buried a three to make it 62-59 with under two minutes to play. Quincy got a stop on the defensive end but an offensive foul coupled with a technical foul on Gronewold gave Rachel Edmundson some free throws to extend the lead back out to five.

Nikia Edom scored to bring it back to three with 45 seconds left.

Truman worked both the game clock and shot clock down before Edmundson's putback with 16 seconds left put the Bulldogs up again by five. Totta would seal the win with two late free throws.

Clark, the reigning GLVC Player of the Week, scored 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting and added five rebounds. Totta added 11 points and Ashley Hartwig pulled down nine boards.
Truman/GLVC Tournament:
Since Truman joined the league in 2013-14, the Bulldogs had made the conference tournament in each season. They have hosted first round games in each and have advanced to the neutral site of the tournament in three of the four years.
The Bulldogs are 5-2 in tournament games played with six of the seven being decided by more than 10 points. The only game less than 10 was last year's 59-51 win over Missouri-St. Louis.
Following the first round games on Sunday, winners will move on to play in Evansville, Indiana on Friday. To win the GLVC Tournament and get the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, teams will have to win three games in three days.
#BewareofDog

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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