NOTES: Second Go-Around For Truman Against Rockhurst And William Jewell

Complete Notes (PDF)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The 16-team, 20-game Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule has Truman play five teams twice during the regular season. The Bulldogs will look for season sweeps over Rockhurst and William Jewell when they start a four-game homestand on Thursday night in Pershing Arena.

Truman is 13-4 overall and 9-1 in the GLVC, good for third place in the league's point rating system at the halfway pole of the league season. The Bulldogs are coming off a three-game road trip last week with wins over Quincy (64-57), Southern Indiana (89-59) and McKendree (77-60).

The common thread between the three wins was strong second quarter performances by the Bulldogs in each game. Truman outscored their three opponents last week by 43 points (77-34) and shot over 55% overall and 59% from three (16-of-27). The team made a total of 34 three-pointers last week with close to 50% of them occurring in the second 10 minutes of the game.

For the week, Sloane Totta led the Bulldogs in scoring at 15.7 points per game as she inches closer to 1,000 points for her career. Totta sits at 951 points as the week begins and will look to become the 21^st member of the 1,000-point club at Truman and first since Courtney Strait hit the mark during the 2016 season.

Totta is first in the GLVC in assists per game with 5.18 and second in conference games at 4.70. She is second on the team in overall scoring at 13 points per game and 14 in league games. She is also seventh in career assists with 317.

Katie Jaseckas had a notable week as well for the Bulldogs. The junior tied a school-record with seven blocked shots in the win over McKendree on Saturday and vaulted into the top five for blocks in a career with 13 last week. She is now in the single-season top 10 in season blocks with 36 and fifth in career blocks with 83. Jaseckas scored her season-high 21 points in the win over Southern Indiana on Thursday and notched her first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds against McKendree.

Freshman Hannah Belanger leads the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game and is fourth among all Division II players in three-point shooting percentage. Belanger has knocked down 43-of-89 long-range shots (48.3%) and is making 2.53 triples per game. In conference games, Belanger is averaging 14.7 points, good for 12^th, hitting 50.9% of her three-point attempts and 2.90 three-pointers per game.

Maddie Re and Katey Klucking have rounded out the starting five this season and both have found themselves among league leaders. Re in second in conference games in rebounding at 10.5 per game and fifth in shooting at 57.9%. Re has six double-doubles this season and averages 9.1 points overall and 10.7 in conference games.

Klucking has had four 20-point games this season and is ranked in three GLVC-only stat categories. Klucking averages 3.0 assists per game (T14), 2.1 three-pointers per game (9^th) and has a 1.8 assist/turnover ratio (4^th). She averages 11.6 points overall and 11.7 points in the conference.

Truman has averaged 80.9 points at the halfway point of the conference season and has scored over 80 in five league games thus far. Truman hit 80 or more points in five league games total the past three seasons and six in the past five.

The Bulldogs are the top rebounding team in the league with a +11.2 margin in conference games, first in assist/turnover ratio and fourth in scoring defense at 66.5 points allowed.

Against Rockhurst:
The Bulldogs broke open their first game against Rockhurst in the third quarter by outscoring the Hawks 27-12 out of the break. Truman led 42-37 at half but a 17-5 run over a five-minute span of the third quarter gave Truman a 23-point lead at 67-44. Six Truman players scored in double figures led by 18 and a career-high from Allison Thomas. Paige Pendley paced the Hawks with 13 points. Truman has won the last three and five of the last six over Rockhurst.

About the Hawks:
Rockhurst has hit one more three-pointer in conference games than Truman (94-93) and averages a league-best 9.40 triples per game this season…they have taken the second most threes in league games this year with 245 and are fourth in percentage made at 38.4%...Madeline Ronshausen is one of five GLVC players to average over 20 points in league games this season (20.3), she is fourth in threes made with 34…Rockhurst has lost four of their last five conference games but made a valiant effort in Saturday's loss at home against Maryville…The Hawks trailed by 22 points at half (37-15) and still down by 19 at the start of the fourth quarter but outscored the Saints 35-15 to force overtime…Rockhurst led by four as late as 38 seconds to play only to lose on three foul shots made by Mary Barton with second seconds left.

Against William Jewell:
Truman won by their largest margin of 27 points over William Jewell when they downed the Cardinals 89-62 back on January 2. Katey Klucking knocked down four three-pointers and scored 20 points to lead five Bulldogs in double-figures. Truman raced out to a 13-2 lead to start the game. The Bulldogs had a +29 advantage on rebounds (53-24) and Maddie Re had seven of the team's 12 offensive rebounds during the game. Ainsley Tolson led the Cardinals with 12 points off the bench. Truman has never lost in six games played at Pershing Arena to William Jewell but have won twice by a single-point including last year's meeting in Kirksville.

About the Cardinals:
Following a seven-game losing streak, the Cardinals have won two of their last four including Saturday's 88-82 home win over Missouri S&T…Jewell led by two with 33 seconds to play but Ainsley Tolson and Claire Burch knocked down free throws down the stretch to preserve the win…Tolson has been the leading scorer for Jewell in three of the last four games and is coming off her season-high of 18 points…Kiara Bradley is the leading scorer for the Cards at 15.3 points per contest and has a team-high 31 three-pointers made…Jewell is last in the conference in shooting percentage at 37.3% and 14^th in league games scoring at 64 points per game.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will have only three home dates left following this weekend with two of the last three home games coming next weekend. Truman will welcome GLVC newcomer Lindenwood University to Pershing Arena next Thursday and renew their rivalry with Missouri-St. Louis the following Saturday.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#42 Allison Thomas: C; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#4 Sloane Totta: G; 5' 9"; Senior

#13 Hannah Belanger: G; 5' 8"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#42 Allison Thomas
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: C

#4 Sloane Totta
: 5' 9"; Senior
: G

#13 Hannah Belanger
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: G