Women's Basketball 11/26/2019 12:21:00 PM

NOTES: Four NCAA Regional Teams Meet In Springfield For Thanksgiving Classic

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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Four NCAA Tournament teams from this past March will reconvene in Springfield, Missouri for the Drury University Thanksgiving Classic. The Truman Bulldogs will play Northern Michigan and the 2018 Division II national champion, Central Missouri in their two games during the classic.

The Bulldogs (3-1) will open with the Wildcats (3-3) on Friday night at 7:45 p.m. in the O'Reilly Family Events Center. NMU was the fifth seed in last year's regional held in Springfield and knocked off #4 Ashland 64-57 before falling to the host Lady Panthers 78-56 in the regional semis.

Saturday will see a reunion of former MIAA league mates as the Bulldogs and Jennies will tangle for the first time since 2013. UCM won the national championship in 2018 and also lost in the regional semis to Southwestern Oklahoma 75-72 last March in defense of their title.

Truman took care of business last Friday with a non-conference 78-74 win at home over Avila University. The Bulldogs had two players with double-doubles as Maddie Re scored 12 points and added 16 rebounds and Sloane Totta scored 16 points with 10 assists. For Re, it matched her career high in boards in a game and was her second double-double and seventh of her career. Totta notched her first double-double in her 89^th career game and was the first Bulldog since Amy Briggs in 2012 to have 10 assists in a game.

The Bulldogs shot 53% for the game but needed Totta's clutch free throws (7-of-8) in the final minutes to hold off the pesky Eagles. Avila made eight three-pointers in the second half, including seven in the fourth quarter to get as close as three points with 3:34 left to play. The Eagles finished with 13 triples on the night.

This will be Truman's third trip to Springfield for the Drury Thanksgiving Classic. The Bulldogs have gone 1-1 in the two previous tournaments. In 2018 they defeated Davenport 81-66 before falling to Lindnewood 94-83. In 2016, Truman dropped the opener to Emporia State 89-68 but bounced back with a 94-49 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State.

The Bulldogs are averaging 77.2 points per game this season while allowing 75.8. They are shooting 47.8% overall with 23.8% from three and 58% from the line. Katey Klucking leads three players in double figure scoring at 15 points per game. Klucking has the most three-pointers on the squad with nine (39.1%). Katie Jaseckas is second in scoring at 13.8 per game and shoots 63.2% from the field to go with six blocks and 6.5 rebounds per game. Her four blocks against Avila were also a single-game high. Finally, Totta is scoring 11.3 points per game and averaging seven assists per night. She also has seven steals in four games.

About Northern Michigan:
The Wildcats are 3-3 and have won their last two games. They defeated St. Cloud St. 55-53 and Concordia St.-Paul 65-60 for those victories. Northern Michigan averages 51.7 points per game while allowing 56.5. NMU has three scorers averaging over eight points per outing. Jessica Schultz (8.8), Erin Honkala (8.7) and Lexi Smith (8.3) are the top scorers with Honkala leading in rebounding at 6.5 per game. The Wildcats were 23-10 overall and 15-5 in the GLIAC.

History with NMU:
The two teams have met three previous times with the last two occurring in the 2015 and 2016 seasons respectively. The Wildcats won 59-56 in 2016 in a game played in Allendale, Michigan. Sloane Totta, the only returner for the Bulldogs to play in that game had eight points and five rebounds while Erin Honkala had 13 points and four blocks for NMU.

The Bulldogs won in 2015 71-54 in Quincy, Illinois and the first meeting was back in 2001 with NMU winning 93-82 also in Quincy.

About Central Missouri:
The Jennies are 2-2 on the young season after going 25-7 defending their national championship last year. One of their two defeats came at the hands of GLVC member Southern Indiana 62-50 in Evansville on November 13. UCM averages 57.5 points per game and is shooting 35% overall, 23% from three and 74% from the line. Morgan Fleming is the top scorer at 16.5 points per game while Nija Collier has a team-high 11 blocks and 8.0 rebounds per game and Megan Skaggs has 12 steals to go with her 13.5 points per game.

History with UCM:
Truman has played only two other schools more times than Central Missouri. This will be the 69^th meeting between the former charter members of the MIAA while Truman has played Missouri Western 69 games and Northwest Missouri 70 games.

The Jennies have a commanding lead in the series at 58-10 but the last six games have been split at three wins each.

Up Next:
Truman will get a taste of conference play when they open the GLVC slate on Tuesday, December 3^rd at home against Quincy University. After that, Truman will play one other game (at Sioux Falls, S.D. on December 18) before playing league games full time starting on January 2^nd at William Jewell. Tip off against the Hawks is scheduled for 5:30 p.m

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Players Mentioned

#54 Katie Jaseckas: F; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#23 Maddie Re: F; 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman

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

#33 Katey Klucking: G; 5' 9"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#54 Katie Jaseckas
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: F

#23 Maddie Re
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman
: F

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

#33 Katey Klucking
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: G