Women's Basketball 1/27/2021 8:24:00 AM

NOTES: Bulldogs Swing Through McKendree & Southern Indiana This Week

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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Boasting a five-game winning streak, the Truman State women's basketball team will embark on a two-game road trip to McKendree and Southern Indiana this weekend.

The Bulldogs will face 4-8 McKendree for their one and only scheduled time this season on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. before trying to avenge one of their two losses this season that came at the hands of Southern Indiana on Saturday afternoon.

Truman is third in the GLVC points rating system with a 4.41 score. Drury is first despite only playing eight games with a 4.81 and Southern Indiana is third at 4.50. The top eight at the end of the regular season will make the conference's postseason tournament. This year's tournament will be hosted on campus sites with the four highest seeds hosting the four lowest seeds on Tuesday, then the highest remaining seed hosting the semis and championship on the following Saturday/Sunday.

Hannah Belanger carried the team to a win on Saturday as she scored nearly half the team's points in a 51-46 road tilt at William Jewell. Belanger dropped in 25 points for her eighth 20+ plus game of her career and fifth this season. Belanger is fourth in the GLVC in scoring at 18.5 ppg and fifth nationally in both three-point attempts (90) and three-pointers made (36).

Katie Jaseckas has recorded double-doubles in four of her last five outings and six overall to sit fifth in Division II in double-doubles this season. She is shooting 57% from the field and averaging 16.3 points and 8.7 rebounds while also sixth nationally in blocks with 25.

Katey Klucking is the third Bulldog in double-figure scoring at 11.3 per night, has the second most threes with 22 and joins Belanger and Tiffany Davenport as three starters averaging over 34 minutes per game. Klucking had a season-high 22 points in the earlier season loss to Southern Indiana on January 3. She knocked down five triples in that game.

Davenport is the team's assist leader with 70 and that ranks third among all Division II "dealers". Her game average of 6.4 leads the GLVC and she is sixth in the conference in assist/turnover ratio at 2.0. Her totals have helped the Bulldogs as a team lead the conference in assists (201) and assists per game (18.3) which are good for third and eighth respectively in Division II. Davenport averages 7.6 points per game.

Ellie Weltha rounds out the starting five and had her monster game of the season last week against Missouri-St. Louis. Weltha scored a season-high 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting in the victory over the Tritons. She is the team's leading rebounder at 9.4 per game and is shooting 66.2% from the field, including 6-of-8 from three. Weltha is averaging 9.9 points per game.

Post players Allison Thomas and Maya Mouton have come off the bench in all 11 games. Thomas is shooting 75.9% with 4.8 points per game and Mouton has averaged 2.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Hannah Pinkston has emerged in the last five games and has knocked down 5-of-7 field goal attempts but has also added five offensive rebounds and three steals in 13.2 minutes per game.

Schedule Adjustments: The Truman/Drury matchup has been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 16 at 4 p.m. in Springfield. The only other game needing a date as of now is the home rematch with Lindenwood.

Scouting Report: McKendree
McKendree has dropped five of their last six, with the last three all coming on the road…the Bearcats wins this season have come at Missouri S&T, Southwest Baptist, at Lewis and at Indianapolis…three players average in double-figure scoring with Sydney Diekhoff averaging 12.5, Christy Fortune at 12.3 and Madison Jones 10.1 per game…Fortune has the single-game high for McKendree this season at 33 points…McKendree averages 64.4 points offensively while allowing 69.6 defensively…they are 14^th in the GLVC in opponent shooting at 44.7% and 13^th in rebounding margin at -5.6…the Bearcats make 5.17 three-pointers per night.

Last Game w/McKendree: Truman won their 11^th straight over McKendree last January with a 77-60 win in Lebanon, Illinois. Katie Jaseckas matched her school record with seven blocked shots and scored 15 points with 10 rebounds. The Bulldogs led 49-45 entering the fourth quarter but closed the game 28-15.  McKendree got 14 points from Jordan Heberg and 13 points from Callie Pohlman.

Series History: Overall, this will be the 17^th meeting between McKendree and Truman and ninth trip to Lebanon. Since joining the GLVC, the two teams have never met more than once during the regular season with Truman taking all seven conference matchups since 2014. Six of the seven wins have been by 10 points or more with the outlier being a nine-point Truman win in 2017. McKendree's lone win in the series was in 1988 when they won in overtime 71-64.

Scouting Report: Southern Indiana
The Screaming Eagles have won four straight and are the first GLVC team to hit the 9-win plateau…since coming out of quarantine on January 21^st, USI has won at Lewis (64-59), at Illinois Springfield (77-71) and at home against Indianapolis (56-51)…they will host Quincy on Thursday night…Emma DeHart is the team's leader in points and assists per game, DeHart averages 14.9 points and 3.3 assists while Hannah Haithcock leads in boards at 6.8 per game…USI is the number one scoring defense in the GLVC allowing 58 points per game and hold opponents to 36% shooting overall, they are also tops in blocked shots per game at four and average 5.4 three-pointers per outing.

Last Game w/Southern Indiana: The Bulldogs raced out to a huge lead over Southern Indiana, leading by 19 points in the first quarter but the Screaming Eagles dialed in the long ball and reeled in the Bulldogs to win 83-78 in Pershing Arena on January 3. Truman was 12-of-16 and 6-of-10 from distance to start things off while leading 30-11. USI then drilled six of seven from three in the second quarter to flip the script. The Bulldogs led 66-62 heading to the fourth quarter but did not hit a field goal for the final 8:15 of the game. USI took the lead with 1:27 to play. Hannah Belanger scored 25 points and Katey Klucking scored 22 to lead Truman while Ashlynn Brown led four USI players in double-figures with 17 points.

Series History: This is the first time that these two schools will play twice in the GLVC regular season with the conference series tied at four games apiece. Overall, USI leads 6-5 while Truman leads 4-3 in games played in Evansville. The Bulldogs won in their first visit to the new Screaming Eagles Arena last January 89-59, the largest win be either team in the series.

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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

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

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

#10 Hannah Pinkston: G; 5' 10"; 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

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

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

#10 Hannah Pinkston
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: G