Women's Basketball 1/8/2019 1:43:00 PM

NOTES: Truman Faces Southern Indiana/Bellarmine In Final Leg Of Road Swing

For More Info, click on the PDF version of the game notes.

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Thursday/Saturday swing for the Truman Women's Basketball team will take them to the banks of the Ohio River. The Bulldogs will play Southern Indiana in Evansville on Thursday before trekking east to Louisville and Bellarmine University on Saturday.

The Bulldogs are 12-2 overall and 3-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and split last week's trip through Chicago and Indianapolis. Truman was thumped by #20 Lewis 86-56 last Thursday but did the thumping on Saturday to the Greyhounds by a 73-51 margin.

Junior Sloane Totta tied a Truman single-game record by going 8-of-8 from the field in the win over UINDY and notched her first 20-point collegiate game. Totta hit all eight field goal attempts, including two from beyond the arc and both at the free throw line while adding three assists and two steals to her stat line. Sarah Sommer was the last Bulldog player to go at least 8-for-8 from the field doing it in a game against Westminster (Mo.) College in November 2002. Other top shooting performances in Truman history were Jeanette Cleven (10-11) against McKendree in 1987 and most recently Cassidy Clark (8-9) against UW-Parkside in 2016.

Totta is among four players that have started all 14 games this season and are hovering right around 10 points scoring per night. Senior Brooke Bailey, who has played in 98 career games entering the week, leads the team at 10.8 points per game, assists with 46 and steals with 18. Katie Jaseckas averages 10 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and is the leader in field goal percentage (.529) and in blocks with 10. Rachel Edmundson averages 9.6 and has played in 97 career games. Edmundson is the leader in three-pointers made with 26.

The fifth starting spot has had three players occupy it. Tiffany Davenport started the first seven games and is the fifth in minutes played per game at 20.6. Maddie Re started the next six games and is the leading rebounder at 8.2 per night. Re has three of the team's four double-doubles and a single-game high 16 boards against Kentucky Wesleyan. Mackenzie Bray started her first game on Saturday at UINDY. Bray scored 10 points, her third double-figure game of the year, and added seven rebounds in 25 minutes.

Southern Indiana, like the Bulldogs, is one of four GLVC teams that have double-digit wins overall. The Screaming Eagles are 10-3 and 3-0 in conference. Drury is 13-0 and Lewis is 11-1. USI swept through the Gateway City with a 84-77 win at Maryville and a 62-60 victory over Missouri-St. Louis last Saturday. Southern Indiana was 26-5 last season and 16-2 in the GLVC while advancing to the GLVC tournament title game and their second NCAA Tournament in the last five years. The Screaming Eagles were picked third in the preseason coaches poll with 155 points and nabbed one first-place vote.

Bellarmine is 7-4 overall and 1-2 in the league and will host Quincy on Thursday night prior to Truman's visit on Saturday. The Knights split their road weekend in St. Louis with a 54-50 win over UMSL and a 92-81 loss at Maryville. Bellarmine was 16-12 last season and 11-7 in the GLVC and were tied with Truman at fourth in the preseason coaches poll with 135 points.

Polls
The Bulldogs were ranked nationally last week in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 poll for the first time since February 26, 2013. They were ranked 24^thlast week but dropped out of the top 25 following their 1-1 weekend split. The team that defeated them, Lewis, moved up from 20 to 17.

Truman has been ranked in four weekly polls since 2004, peaking at 19 on February 5, 2013. However, the team is 2-5 in games played following a top 25 national ranking.

The Bulldogs received votes for the sixth straight poll this week. The most weeks Truman has received votes in a poll during a season was 11 during the 2012-13 season.

Century Club
The number 100 has and will be pretty noticeable in the game notes over the next couple of editions. Head Coach Amy Eagan won her 100^thcareer game at Truman on Saturday at Indianapolis and will become the school's all-time leader in coaching wins with her next one. She is currently tied with Mary Jo Murray atop the list.

Three players will be playing in their 100^thcareer games over the course of the next three. Rachel Steinhoff will play in game 100 on Thursday night in Evansville. In her 99 previous games, Steinhoff has scored 550 points with 185 assists and has started 64 games. Brooke Bailey has started 52 of 98 career games entering the week and is in the top 10 in three-pointers made with 113 and has scored 672 career points. Rachel Edmundson is the active leading scorer with 767 points in 97 games played and 61 starts.

A total of 30 players have played at least 100 career games in the Bulldog uniform. Courtney Strait has the most career games at 115 and Carol Jarrard and Allie Norton have the most career starts at 112.

Bulldog Bites:

Truman is averaging 72.0 points per game with a high of 93 against Barry on December 18 and a low of 59, twice.
Truman has won the glass in all but three games this year and has a rebounding margin of +6.0. In their two losses, they have lost the rebounding battle by 10 or more boards.
The Bulldogs are eighth in the conference in scoring offense and sixth in scoring defense. They are third in
Ten players have played in all 14 games and all have averaged near or over 10 minutes per game.
Only four previous times in Truman history have they played this deep into a season without picking up their third loss. The latest in a season was in 1999 when they went 15-2 before falling to Missouri Western on January 30. January 16 has been a stumbling block, in 2013 and in 2008 the Bulldogs picked up their third loss of the season on that date. They lost in 2013 to Washburn when they were 12-2 and in 2008 they lost to Emporia State at 11-2.
Sloane Totta has started all 68 games in her Bulldog career and has the most career starts of any active Truman player. Totta averages 7.5 points per game and has 510 career points and 179 career assists.
Maddie Re has three of the four double-doubles this season and has pulled down 8.2 rebounds per game, good for sixth among all GLVC rebounders. She is the only freshman in the top 15 in the conference rebounding race.
The Bulldogs have won two games this year when entering the fourth quarter trailing. Since the quarter system started in 2014-15, Truman is 5-31 when trailing entering the fourth quarter. When leading entering the fourth, Truman is 57-6.
Brooke Bailey is in the Truman top 10 in three-pointers made with 113 and is ninth overall. Amy Briggs is eighth at 133 and Allie Norton is the career three-point leader at Truman with 277.
Truman has won 12 of their first 14 games for the third time in school history. They have had a six-game winning streak and are currently on a five-game streak. The longest winning streak in school history is eight set back in the 2014 season.

About Southern Indiana:

Southern Indiana has won eight of their last 10 games with their two losses coming to Division II heavyweights in Central Missouri and Ashland. The Jennies are the defending Division II champions and held off Southern Indiana 74-71 in Warrensburg on December 18. Then at home on December 30, defending regional champion Ashland squeaked out an 86-82 win over USI.

The Screaming Eagles are third in the conference in scoring offense at 75.1 per game and seventh in defense at 63.7. They are last in free throw shooting at 64% but in the top four in steals per game (10.54) and third in blocked shots at four per night.

A pair of seniors are their leading scorers. Alex Davidson is averaging 13.3 points per game and is the leading outside threat with 25 makes this year. Kacy Eschweiler is second in scoring at 12.5 and first in borads at 7.8. Sophomore Emma DeHart is second in the conference in three-point shooting with 23 makes out of 43 attempts and a 53.5% mark. Last year, Kaydie Grooms (17.8 ppg) and Morgan Dahlstrom (16.5 ppg) were the top scorers for USI while a third senior, Randa Harshbarger led the team in assists and steals with 117 and 74 respectively.

History with Southern Indiana:
The Screaming Eagles have won the last two meetings with the Bulldogs and three of the last four.

The Bulldogs lost by 20 last season in Evansville on January 20 by a score of 70-50. USI held a two-point lead heading into the fourth quarter but blitzed Truman 29-11 in the final 10 minutes for the victory. No Truman player scored in double figures with Katie Jasekcas scoring nine and adding 10 rebounds. Meanwhile Kaydie Grooms scored 18 and Alex Davidson added 17 for the Screaming Eagles.

USI won by five in Kirksville in 2017 72-67. The last Truman win came in Evansville by a score of 60-42 in 2016.

Overall, USI leads the all-time series 5-3.

About Bellarmine:
The Knights won their first five games out of the gate but has since lost five of their last seven. In conference they have lost to Southern Indiana (77-70) and Maryville (92-81) and have a victory over Missouri-St. Louis (54-50). The Knights are second in the GLVC in scoring at 76.3 points per game but last in defense at 71.3 points allowed per night. They have hit the fewest three-pointers of any GLVC team thus far with 45 and have the lowest shooting percentage from outside at 26%. In the Knights' favor is steals as they are second in the conference with 12.1 per game.

Sophomore Lauren Deel and junior Mikayla Berry are the top two scorers for the team. Deel is shooting 54% from the floor and averages 12.3 points per game and Berry averages a dozen with a team-high 12 three-pointes. The Knights have four players with over 20 assists and six players with more than 10 steals.

Last season, Raven Merriweather was their go-to scorer with 17.8 points per game and 42 three-pointers made. She also led the charge in steals with 63.

History With Bellarmine:
Truman downed Bellarmine 75-67 at home last season as the Bulldogs trailed by as many as 11 before firing back with a big second half to win. Katie Jaseckas notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, Sloane Totta scored 14 points, Rachel Edmundson added 12 and Ashley Hartwig scored 11 for the Bulldogs. Beth Bowers led all scorers with 20 points for the Knights. Truman dominated the glass 47-29.

That win snapped a three-game losing streak against the Knights, two by double figures.

Truman has not won in three games played in Knights Hall. They lost 92-74 in 2016, 61-58 in 2015 and 98-96 back in 1994.

The Bulldogs have only played Bellarmine six times (4-2 BU) in the past, the fewest of any active GLVC school. The next closest is Lewis with seven games and Southern Indiana with eight.

Chicago Blues/Indy Speedway Rewind:
The Bulldogs split last weekend with two distinctly different games. In a Top 25 showdown with Lewis, the Flyers raced past the Bulldogs early in the third and outscored Truman in the quarter 27-8 and cruised to only the second 30-point loss in GLVC history for the Bulldogs. The other 30-point loss in conference also came against Lewis in Kirksville in 2015 at 36 points. The Flyers hold four wins over Truman by 15 or more points, the most by any GLVC school.

Fortunes changed on Saturday and Sloane Totta couldn't miss. Totta scored 20 points for a new collegiate high and went 8-of-8 from the field matching the best field goal percentage in a game at the university. Truman led wire-to-wire and by as many as 26 points in the 73-51 rout over UINDY. Totta is the only GLVC player this season were a perfect shooting percentage when taking eight or more shots.

In the two games combine last week, Truman shot 38% from the field while their opponents shot 49%. The Bulldogs attempted 21 more three-pointers, hitting on 15-of-45.

Truman Individual Conference Rankings:
Scoring: Brooke Bailey (10.8/29^th)
Rebounding: Maddie Re (8.2/6th); Katie Jaseckas (6.3/12^th)
Field Goal Percentage: Katie Jaseckas (.529/8th)
Assists: Brooke Bailey (3.29/12^th)
Free Throw Percentage: Allison Thomas (.851/6th)
Three-Point Field Goals Made: Rachel Edmundson (1.86/13^th)
Assist/Turnover Ratio: Brooke Bailey (1.24/13^th)
Offensive Rebounds: Maddie Re (2.43/8^th); Katie Jaseckas (2.14/14^th)
Defensive Rebounds: Maddie Re (5.79/4th)

Up Next:
Truman returns home for their longest home stand of the season with four straight in Pershing Arena. That stretch will start on Thursday, January 17 with Missouri-St. Louis with Maryville, Illinois Springfield and McKendree to follow.

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