Tim Barcus - University Photographer

Women's Basketball 2/8/2017 8:31:00 AM

NOTES: Truman Looks To Ground Flyers Thursday In Romeoville

Truman Women's Basketball Notes (February 9)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TrumanStateWBB || #BewareofDog

Game #23: Truman (11-11; 6-7 GLVC) vs. Lewis (18-5; 10-3 GLVC)
When: Thursday, February 9, 2017 || 5:30 p.m.
Where: Romeoville, Illinois || Neil Carey Arena
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media) || Live Video (GLVCSN) || Live Audio (KRES)

Media Notes (PDF)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The longest conference road trip will also be the last conference road trip for the Truman Women's Basketball team. They will close out their regular season road slate starting on Thursday in Romeoville, Illinois against Lewis University.

The Bulldogs are 11-11 overall and 6-7 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with five league games left in the regular season. The Flyers have won four straight and are 18-5 overall and 10-3 in the league. They currently sit in second place in the GLVC East Division tied with Bellarmine. Truman is tied for fourth in the West with the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The Bulldogs are only two games behind Rockhurst for second place and will host the Hawks next week in Kirksville.

A cold shooting afternoon led to a loss at home against Saint Joseph's College on Saturday. The Bulldogs got 19 points from Rachel Edmundson but managed only 33% from the field while the Pumas got 27 points from Kalea Parks and made 50% of their shots. Truman came into the contest hitting 24 of their previous 44 three-point attempts (54%) but on Saturday the tables turned and Truman was 4-of-24 (16%).

Truman comes into the game averaging 70.5 points per game. They shoot 41% from the field, 33% from three and 73% from the free throw line. On the defensive side, Truman gives up 64.5 points and opponents shoot 41% overall, 29% from distance and 74% at the line.

The Flyers feature two of the top three scorers in the GLVC in Jessica Kelliher and Jamie Johnson. Kelliher is averaging 20 points per night and for the season makes 67% of her shots from the field. Johnson is second in the league with 60 made three-pointers and averages 17.8 points a game. Lewis is returning home after surviving a pair of upset bids last week. They won by six 58-52 at William Jewell last Thursday and by five 71-66 at Rockhurst on Saturday.

Lewis scores on average 71.7 points a game and allows 60. Behind Kelliher 67% shooting, Lewis makes 48% overall from the field. They make 36% from long range and 72% at the line. They are first in the GLVC in both field goal and defensive field goal percentages and first in rebounding defense at 30.1 boards per game.

Truman and Lewis will be meeting for the fifth time overall and second time in Romeoville. The Flyers have won the last two games played, both in Kirksville and the other game played on their home court in 2014. The Bulldogs victory in the series came in the GLVC Quarterfinals in Evansville, Indiana when Truman bounced the Flyers out of the tournament 84-70.

Last year, Lewis outscored the Bulldogs 18-5 in the second quarter to lead 38-21. Truman turned the tables and scored 17 of the 26 points in the third quarter to close the margin down to single digits at 47-38. The Bulldogs would get as close as three at 54-51 with 1:27 left however the Flyers would score the final five points to win 59-51. Former Lewis standout Mariyah Brawner-Henley scored 26 and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Flyers while Truman got 11 points and 10 rebounds from Courtney Strait.

The Starting Five:
The Bulldogs have used the same starting five for all 13 conference games and 21 of the 22 games this season. Senior Cassidy Clark, junior Ashley Hartwig, sophomores Rachel Edmundson and Brooke Bailey and freshman Sloane Totta.

Rachel Edmundson has been Truman's leading scorer in the last three games with 19, 20 and 19 points in each game respectively. She has averaged 13.8 points over the last five games and is second on the team in scoring at 12.5 points per night. She had made 15 of her last 30 three-point attempts and is also shooting near 50% overall from the field. She has scored in double-figures 13 times this season with a career-high of 27 against Missouri Southern with eight made three-pointers.

Cassidy Clark leads the Bulldogs at 14.3 points per game and 7.3 rebounds. She is 11^th in the league in overall scoring, 10^th in rebounding and eighth in field goal percentage. She has been in double-figures 22 times for her two-year career at Truman and has the Bulldogs benchmark game this season at 29 points against Emporia State.

Brooke Bailey and Ashley Hartwig each have averaged 9.6 points per game this season. Bailey has the team lead with 44 three-pointers made and is second on the team in assists with 54. She scored her career-high 18 points last Thursday against Indianapolis. Hartwig is the active career leader in games played, points and rebounds. She leads the team in free throw shooting with the most attempts (79) and percentage (79.7%).

Sloane Totta has stepped in as a true freshman to start all 22 games thus far. She leads the team in assists with 58/2.6 per game and averages seven points per night. Totta had nine assists in a victory over Maryville University earlier in January.

Off The Bench:
Freshman Eleanor Lueke has appeared in all 22 games and made one start. In her 17.3 minutes per game, Lueke shoots 35% from the field with 21 three-pointers, 20 assists and 15 steals. She averages 4.8 points per game.

Another newcomer, junior transfer Jamie Gleeson has come on of late and been the top rebounder for the Bulldogs in two of the last three games. She scored a season-high eight points on Saturday against Saint Joseph's and has pulled down seven rebounds in each of the last three games. In 21 games and 11.8 minutes per, she averages 3.4 points.

Montira Mosby and Sam Andrews have played in 19 games apiece. Mosby shoots 39% from the field in 11 minutes per night and Andrews shoots 42% in 8.7 minutes. Kennedy Martin had come off the bench in 18 games, Maddie Tharp in 13 and Mackenzie Jerks in seven.
About Lewis:
Lewis had been ranked nationally for the bulk of the season and sits just outside the WBCA/USA Today Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll this week…the Flyers were 28-3 last season and 18-0 in conference play, they lost in the semifinals to Quincy 59-54 and in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Grand Valley State 72-70…that was following a 31-3 year in 2014-15 and a trip to the NCAA Elite Eight…since an 8-20 season in 2011-12, the Flyers have gone 124-23 (.843) over the past five years…Jessica Kelliher and Jamie Johnson have made 320 field goals this season, the rest of the team has made 290…both have been to the line over 100 times apiece and Kelliher has added 34 blocks to go with 32 steals in the post…Johnson has accounted for over half (60) of the team's 118 three-pointers after missing most of last season with an injury.

Saint Joseph's Recap:

Saint Joseph's broke a four-game skid to Truman with a 65-55 victory over the Bulldogs on Saturday.
Kalea Parks had game-high honors with 27 points and 12 rebounds and was also named the GLVC Women's Basketball Player of the Week.
Parks was 9-of-17 from the field and 9-of-12 at the line adding two blocks, three assists and four steals.
She became the 13^th opposing player to score over 20 points against Truman this season. Four players in the last five games have gone over 20 points individually and six of the last eight, dating from January 7^th have had 20 points or more.
The Pumas led by three at the end of one and one at the end of two.
Rachel Edmundson was the only Bulldog in double-figures with 19 points and was 7-of-14 from the floor and a pair of three-pointers. She added six rebounds and two assists.
Ashley Hartwig added eight points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes before joining Cassidy Clark as foul outs in the game.
Jamie Gleeson scored a season-high eight points in 24 minutes and pulled down seven rebounds for the third consecutive game.
Truman forced 19 Puma turnovers but managed six points off of them while SJC turned 10 Truman giveaways into 11 points.
The Pumas outboarded the Bulldogs 38-25 and held leading rebounder Cassidy Clark without a rebound. It was the second time in her Truman career that Clark did not pull down a rebound in a game (William Jewell – 2016).

Around the GLVC:
The two division champions followed by the next two best conference winning percentages get first round byes in the GLVC Tournament. The next four teams (5-8) will host 9-12 in on-campus games on Sunday, February 26.

Southern Indiana handed Drury their first league loss on Saturday and both sit atop their respective divisions with 12-1 records. Lewis and Bellarmine, both from the East have the next two top marks at 10-3. The next eight places are separated by only three games in the standings. Indianapolis and Rockhurst are in front of that group at 8-5, Maryville is next at 7-6, Truman, Missouri-St. Louis and Saint Joseph's are next at 6-7. William Jewell is at 5-7 and UW-Parkside at 5-8. The bottom four teams in danger of the league tournament are Missouri S&T (3-10), Illinois Springfield & Quincy (2-11) and McKendree (1-11).

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will journey farther north on Saturday to the state of Wisconsin to play the Rangers of UW-Parkside. The Rangers are 7-14 overall and 5-8 in the GLVC and will host Quincy on Thursday night.
#BewareofDog

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Players Mentioned

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

#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

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

Players Mentioned

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

#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

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