EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.—The Truman Women's Basketball team entered the GLVC Tournament the fourth seed, taking on the fifth seed Lindenwood Lions in the first round of the conference tournament. The Lions started fast and then pulled away late to down the Bulldogs 79-59.
Truman got the first bucket of the game as Maddie Re got a layup in the post to put the Bulldogs up 2-0. Over the next two minutes, Lindenwood went on a 10-0 run to take an eight point lead, snapped by a three by Hannah Belanger from the right corner. Jaseckas made her first basket to make it 10-7, but as would be the case throughout the game; each time Truman would make a run Lindenwood would answer. A 10-2 spurt by the Lions gave them their first double digit lead at 20-9 with 3:55 left in the first quarter. From there they extended their lead to 25-11 at the first quarter break.
In the second quarter, Truman finally looked like momentum was swinging their way when Jaseckas completed a three point play at 5:29 to cut the Truman deficit to 11. It got to as low as ten after a layup from Re at 2:47, but Truman couldn't trim the LWU lead to single digits and the Bulldogs trailed 39-27 at half.
Truman began the third quarter on a 5-0 run, capped off by another three pointer from Belanger from the top of the arc to make it 39-32. It was the first time Truman had gotten within single digits since 3:55 left in the first quarter. LWU scored five straight right after to push their lead back up to 12, but Truman was not fazed and got it back to single digits at 45-36 with 6:13 left in the third. LWU fought back and pushed the lead to as many as 14, but Truman closed the quarter on a 5-0 run to make it 56-47 heading into the fourth. Maya Mouton made a turnaround jumper and Belanger made her third three of the game, tying a freshman record for threes made in a season.
In the fourth, Truman would not go down easily. With 6:42 to go, Katey Klucking pulled Truman to within six with a fast break layup off a steal to make it 58-52. Later a three pointer from Jasceckas made it 63-57, but the Bulldogs could not get any closer as the Lions pulled away over the last few minutes.
Jaceckas led the way for Truman with 25 points and five rebounds, Belanger added 15 points while Re and Klucking tied for the lead with nine rebounds. Klucking led the way with four assists.
Truman finishes the season at 20-8 and awaits its NCAA Tournament fate to be announced this Sunday.
