Women's Basketball 1/13/2021 8:48:00 AM

NOTES: Bulldogs Welcome Missouri S&T & Maryville To Pershing

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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – After an unscheduled off day on Saturday, the Truman women will hope to play three games in six days starting on Thursday with Missouri S&T at home and their first "rematch" of the season with Maryville visiting Pershing Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs got a big night from Katie Jaseckas in a 77-63 triumph last Thursday in Pershing Arena over William Jewell. Jaseckas was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, including four from outside to score 18 points while adding 12 rebounds, two assists and three blocks. Those three blocks pushed her to second on the Truman career list with 120. Ellie Weltha matched her season best with 16 points and Katey Klucking added 14.

Hannah Belanger set a new single-game best with seven assists against William Jewell and continues to lead Truman in scoring at 18.1 points per game. Belanger is seventh in the GLVC in scoring, first in three-pointers per game at 3.43 and 13^th in three-point shooting at 39.3%. She has 24 three-pointers on the season.

Jaseckas is averaging 16.4 points and 8.3 rebounds a game. She is closing in on 1,100 career points (22 shy) and is ninth on the career rebounding list with eight back of passing eighth place Shelley Picha.

Weltha is second in the conference in rebounding at 10.6 per game and is currently leading the league in overall field goal percentage at 64%. Weltha has made 25 of her 39 shots from the floor and has two double-doubles this season. Of her 10 rebounds per game, over eight are coming on the defensive end. Weltha averages nine points per game.

Klucking is second on the team with 18 threes and is fifth in the conference in triples per game with 2.57. She is averaging 12.6 points per game, third most on the team.

The fifth Bulldog starter has been Tiffany Davenport and she leads the conference in assists per game at 7.14. The single-season Truman record for assists/game is 6.9 held by Susan Theroff in the 1990-91 season (27 games). She has not had a game this season in which she had less than five assists. Her 2.78 assist/turnover ratio is second in the conference. Davenport is scoring at a 7.6 points per game clip and averages 33.7 minutes per night.

Three other players have played in all seven games. Allison Thomas, Brioenne Burns and Maya Mouton. Thomas has made 13-of-15 field goal attempts (86.7%) in 8.8 minutes per game. Burns averages 2.7 points and shoots 42% from the floor in 15.2 minutes per game and Mouton averages 2.3 points and 2.9 rebounds in 14 minutes per game.

Truman is third in the GLVC in scoring offense at 74.3 points, first in field goal shooting at 49.7%, first from behind the arc at 40.1% and the only team in the league over a plus-10 in rebounding margin per game (+10.4). In addition, the team is second in blocks per game (3.71), first in assists (18.43) and first in threes per game (9.57).

Schedule Adjustments: Truman's upcoming games with Missouri-St. Louis, Lindenwood and Drury have been affected due to COVID protocols. The Bulldogs and UMSL will move from Jan. 23 to Tuesday, Jan. 19 (4 p.m. ). The game scheduled for Jan. 21 against Lindenwood has been postponed until a later date and the postponed Drury game from January 9^th will now be played in Springfield on Saturday, January 23 (1 p.m.).  Previously, Truman's home game with Quincy scheduled for December 20 has been shifted to Tuesday, February 9 (5:15 p.m.).

Scouting Report: Missouri S&T
The Miners are under the director of new head coach Kira Carter…they have wins this season over Southwest Baptist (79-68) and Quincy (76-61)…four players scored in double-figures in that victory Saturday over the Hawks with Laura Rodriguez leading with 17 points and Alex Kerr scoring 15 with 11 rebounds…Rodriguez and Kerr have been a 1-2 tandem for S&T with both averaging 15 points per night…they are third in the GLVC in three-point shooting defense with opponents only shooting 29.8% from outside per game…the Miners were 8-19 last season and 4-16 in the GLVC.

Last Game w/Missouri S&T: Truman swept the regular season series last year with wins in Kirksville 87-71 and 65-52 in Rolla. Katie Jaseckas scored 23 points with 9-of-11 shooting and four three pointers in the last meeting on February 29. The Bulldogs outscored the Lady Miners 20-5 in the second quarter only for S&T to turn the tables 17-3 on Truman in the third to trim the lead down to six. Mykala Baylor led S&T with 12 points.

In the earlier meeting in Kirksville, Hannah Belanger scored 18 points while three S&T players tallied 11 in the 87-71 Truman win. The Bulldogs raced out to a 17-3 lead and led comfortably throughout the contest.

Series History: This will by the 62^nd meeting between the two schools with Truman holding a 37-24 advantage. The Bulldogs are on their longest winning streak in the series as they have taken the last nine games, all since joining the GLVC. S&T last win came against the Bulldogs in Kirksville when they won 57-55 in overtime back in December 2006.

Scouting Report: Maryville
Since their loss to Truman on New Year's Eve, the Saints are 2-2 with losses to Drury and Lewis and consecutive wins over Illinois Springfield and most recently on Tuesday to Quincy in overtime 74-70…the Saints feature a 1-2 punch in scoring in Antoinette Mussorici (18.3) and Jayda Jansen (17.8)…Mussorici is the team's assists leader while Jansen has knocked down a team-high 15 three-pointers and has 20 steals…as a whole, the Saints average 69 points per game, shoots 40.8% overall and 28.3% from outside.

Last Game w/Maryville: Katie Jaseckas scored 25 points and Truman built up a 20-point first half lead only to have to hold on at the end for a 67-62 victory back on December 31. The Bulldogs led 36-16 at half but were outscored 23-10 in the third quarter as the Saints marched back. Jayda Jansen tied the game with 3:37 to play on a three-pointer but Jaseckas put Truman back on top 59-57. Antoinette Mussocrici led the Saints with 18 points with Jansen and Hunter Stidham scored 17 each.

Series History: While the Bulldogs have won the last four meetings, "Thrillers" has been used to describe the recent matchups between Maryville and Truman. Six of the last seven encounters have been decided by six points or less and two overtimes. In games played in Kirksville, Maryville has had the upper hand with wins in four of the seven games. Truman has scored exactly 78 points, one win and two losses in the last three games played on the Pershing Arena court.

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Players Mentioned

#24 Tiffany Davenport: G; 5' 6"; Junior

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

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

#34 Maya Mouton: F; 6' 3"; Junior

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

#11 Brioenne Burns: G; 5' 10"; Junior

#32 Ellie Weltha: F; 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman

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

Players Mentioned

#24 Tiffany Davenport
: 5' 6"; Junior
: G

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

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

#34 Maya Mouton
: 6' 3"; Junior
: F

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

#11 Brioenne Burns
: 5' 10"; Junior
: G

#32 Ellie Weltha
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman
: F

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