Women's Basketball 1/3/2018 8:28:00 AM

NOTES: Truman Tips Off New Year With Home Games

Truman Women's Basketball Notes (January 4-6)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TrumanStateWBB || #BewareofDog

Game #10: Truman (7-2; 2-0) vs. Missouri S&T (5-5; 0-2 GLVC)
When: Thursday, January 4, 2018 || 5:30 p.m.
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media) || Live Audio (KRES 104.7 FM) || Live Video (GLVCSN)

Game #11: Truman (7-2; 2-0) vs. Lewis (9-4; 2-1 GLVC)
When: Saturday, January 6, 2018 || 1:00 p.m.
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media) || Live Audio (KRES 104.7 FM) || Live Video (GLVCSN)

Media Notes (PDF) – Missouri S&T
Media Notes (PDF) – Lewis

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – After sweeping the month of December, the Truman Women's Basketball team will return to the floor after a 15-day layoff and begin conference season in earnest when they host Missouri S&T on Thursday night in Kirksville.

The Truman enters 2018 with a 7-2 overall record and won all four games played in the month of December. Their last loss was at the buzzer in Topeka against Washburn 68-67 on November 25. The Bulldogs are also 4-0 in Pershing Arena this season with their last home game being an 80-23 throttling over Hannibal-LaGrange on December 4.

In their last outing on December 19, Ashley Hartwig and Katie Jaseckas scored 21 and 20 points respectively as the Bulldogs held off Missouri Western for a 77-68 road win. Truman led by 14 midway through the second quarter but the Griffons chipped away and got within two points on two separate occasions in the fourth quarter. Jamie Gleeson knocked down her first Truman triple to push the lead back to five with 3:33 left and Hartwig found Jaseckas to go back up by four with 47 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs scored the final seven points for the win.

S&T snapped a five-game skid with an 80-54 victory at home over Westminster College on Saturday. Janie Arnad scored 17 points and Ashley Harvey secured a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. The Lady Miners led by six at the half and blew the game open with a 27-18 third quarter.

Truman and S&T have a pair of non-conference common opponents on their schedules, Missouri Valley and Missouri Southern. Truman opened with Valley and defeated them 77-65 then defeated Missouri Southern 67-31 on November 18. S&T defeated Missouri Valley 70-50 on that same date but lost to Southern 77-61 on the road in Joplin on December 19.

Series History with S&T:
This will be the 56^th meeting between Truman and Missouri S&T with the Bulldogs owning a 32-24 advantage in the series. Truman won going away last season 89-56 in Kirksville with Rachel Edmundson leading the way with 19 points followed by Sloane Totta's 14. No Lady Miner player scored in double-figures as Arand led S&T with nine points. Truman put the game away early scoring 10 of the first 12 points and led 25-8 after the first quarter.

Truman had won four straight over the Lady Miners since joining the GLVC in 2014. The closest margin of victory was nine points in 2016 when Truman won 51-42 in Rolla. The last S&T win over the Bulldogs was in 2006, a 57-55 overtime win in Kirksville.

Game vs. Lewis:
Truman and Lewis will meet in Pershing Arena for just the third time when the two teams hook up on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers played at home on Thursday against Central Division leading Illinois Springfield.

Lewis entered the week with a 9-4 overall record and 2-1 in the GLVC. Their conference wins came at Bellarmine 81-55 and at home against Indianapolis 65-49 with their loss coming at Southern Indiana 67-56. The Flyers defeated Saginaw Valley State 74-45 on Saturday in a post-holiday game and avenged a loss by the Cardinals that knocked them out of the NCAA Division II tournament last season.

Lewis has been to five straight NCAA Division II Tournaments and advanced to the Final Four in 2015.
They are led by the nine-time and current GLVC Player of the Week Jessica Kelliher. The junior averages a league best 24.8 points per game.

Series History With Lewis:
This is only the sixth meeting between Truman and Lewis with the series staring in 2014. The Flyers have won three straight and five of the six games played including last year's 73-66 win at home against Truman. In that game, Jessica Kelliher scored 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting while Truman's senior Cassidy Clark scored 25 points. Lewis led by eight at the end of the first quarter and by as much as 15 with 3:01 left in the third before Truman cut it down to two with 1:58 to play. Kelliher converted on a three-point play to extend the lead back out to five and Lewis then kept the Bulldogs at arms length the rest of the way.

Truman's lone win in the series came in the GLVC Tournament when they knocked off the Flyers 84-70 en route to the 2014 GLVC Tournament Championship.

About the Bulldogs:
Truman is third in Division II in fewest turnovers with 111 (or 12.3/game). Only Chaminade (82) and Hawaii Hilo (105) have fewer turnovers but each has only played six games compared to Truman's nine. Michigan Tech has the fewest turnovers per game at 10.5 while Truman is 15^th in Division II and third in the GLVC.

The Bulldogs are also second in the GLVC in Assist/Turnover ratio (1.23), fewest fouls (156) and third in free throw percentage (76.9%), scoring defense (58.2), scoring margin (+13.7).

Truman averages 71.9 points per game while allowing 58.2. They shoot 42% overall, 33% from three while opponents shoot 37% overall and 33% from range.

Head Coach Amy Eagan has used the same starting lineup for all nine games this season. Freshman Katie Jaseckas leads the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game and rebounding at 5.8 per night. Sophomore Sloane Totta has started all 37 games in her Bulldog career and averages 4.7 points and 1.8 assists per game. Junior Rachel Edmundson has started the last 37 games and scores 6.6 points per game. Seniors Ashley Hartwig has started the last 25 games and is second in scoring at 11.6 points per game and rebounds at 5.4 and Remy Davenport has started all nine games as a Bulldog and the past 69 games she has played in. Davenport is a transfer from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and averages 5.8 points this season and 9.1 for her career.

Off the bench, the Bulldogs bring a plethora of experience. Junior Brooke Bailey has started 30 games and averages 6.6 points this season with 11 three pointers. Junior Rachel Steinhoff has 56 starts in 69 games as a Bulldog and has 50 career steals while averaging 6.2 points per game. Senior Sam Andrews has played in 75 games with three starts and is averaging 4.7 points per game this year. In 32 games off the bench, transfer senior Jamie Gleeson averages three points per game and shoots 57% from the field. Freshman Maya Mouton has played in all nine games with six blocks and 3.9 points per game. Junior Mackenzie Jerks has 46 games of experience and is shooting 46% from beyond the arc this season.

More Truman Tidbits:
Ashley Hartwig has the highest single-game point total this season with 21 in her last outing against Missouri Western. Hartwig has 32 double-figure scoring nights as a Bulldog and a career high 23 coming against Maryville last season.

Freshman Katie Jaseckas is shooting 66% from the field through the first nine games which is tops among all shooters in the GLVC. Only three players in the conference are above 60% shooting, Jessica Kelliher from Lewis at 63.9% and Liza Tibbs from Bellarmine at 60.5%. Jaseckas is coming off her season-high 20 points against Missouri Western.

Freshman Tiffany Davenport is currently the top three-point shooter in the GLVC at 55.6%. Davenport has made 10 of 18 attempts. Her sister Remy has the most three-pointers with 13 followed by Brooke Bailey with 11.

Speaking of Remy, the senior transfer is playing in her 100^th collegiate game on Thursday night and has 207 made three-pointers, 206 assists, 101 steals and 51 blocked shots.

Truman Against The GLVC:
Truman is 47-27 in conference games since joining the league in 2013-14. They are 27-10 in conference home games during that span. In Thursday GLVC games, the Bulldogs are 23-14 and are 15-4 having won their last three Thursday GLVC contests.

Lady Miner Musings:
Missouri S&T started the year with a 4-0 record after wins over Lemoyne-Owen College (93-84), Purdue Northwest (88-80), Lincoln (72-57) and Missouri Valley (70-50)…they dropped their next five before ending December with an 80-54 win over Westminster College on Saturday…Janie Arand (14.5 ppg) and Maddie Raley (13.7 ppg) lead the team in scoring and are the primary three-point threats…Arand has 18 triples and shoots 41% from outside while Raley has 19 treys on 52 attempts (36%)…Michelle Borgen has the most single-game points this season for S&T with 24 coming against Purdue Northwest…as a team, S&T shoots 42% overall, 38% from three and 66% at the foul line while scoring 70 points per night…defensively they allow 72.9 points and opponents shoot 43% overall, 35% from three and 69% at the line.

Flyer Follies:
The Flyers are led by one of the top players in the GLVC in junior Jessica Kelliher…Kelliher averages 24.8 points per game to lead the GLVC while also bringing down 7.4 rebounds per game…she is second behind Truman's Katie Jaseckas in shooting percentage at 63.9%...she was named the GLVC Player of the Year and earned All-American accolades from three different voting groups…Kelliher came into her junior season with 1,197 points and a 62% field goal percentage…The Flyers are averaging 71.8 points per game while allowing 64.5…they shoot 45% overall, 27% from three and 75% at the line…they are 5-4 away from home this season and are under the direction of first-year head coach Samantha Quigley Smith…Lewis was 23-9 last season…they lost to Drury 67-63 in the GLVC semifinals and 70-66 to Saginaw Valley State in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Coaches Polls
Truman was picked second in the Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division and had one first-place vote among the five teams. Missouri S&T received 23 points and one first place vote to finish fifth out of five teams in the West Division. Lewis got 51 points and five-first place votes to finish three points behind Southern Indiana for second place in the East Division.

Around The GLVC
Three GLVC teams enter the week with only one loss, Southern Indiana (10-1), Drury (11-1) and Illinois Springfield (7-1). The Bulldogs are the only two-loss team overall in conference and join those three other schools as the only undefeated teams in conference play.

Lewis' Jessica Kelliher (24.8 ppg) and Indianapolis' Martha Burse (23.3 ppg) lead the league in scoring while UMSL's Alex LaPorta leads in rebounding at 10.3 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
After this weekend at home, Truman heads out for two road games starting with Missouri S&T on Thursday and at Rockhurst on Saturday. It will be a quick turnaround, as the Bulldogs will then host Drury on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

#25 Jamie Gleeson: F; 6' 0"; Senior

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

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

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

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

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

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

#33 Remy Davenport: G; 5' 9"; Senior

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

#25 Jamie Gleeson
: 6' 0"; Senior
: F

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

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

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

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

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

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

#33 Remy Davenport
: 5' 9"; Senior
: G