Women's Basketball 10/28/2021 9:59:00 AM

Truman Women's Basketball Picked To Repeat As Division Champs

INDIANAPOLIS – The Truman Women's Basketball team was the consensus choice of Great Lakes Valley Conference coaches to win the league's central division championship in the preseason poll released by the league on Thursday.

The Bulldogs nabbed all four possible first-place votes as coaches could only vote within their division and could not vote for their own team. Truman posted a 17-5 record and a 14-3 conference mark last season in winning the central division last year, advancing to the championship game of the GLVC postseason tournament and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Midwest regional tournament.

The second place selection was Missouri-St. Louis with one first place vote and 13 total points, followed by Lindenwood with 10 points, Maryville with seven and Quincy with four. Drury was the unanimous choice in the west while Southern Indiana edged out Lewis to be the pick in the east.

Head Coach Theo Dean enters his third season at the helm and will get the ball rolling on the schedule next week with a pair of Division I exhibition games. Truman will take on Northern Iowa (17-13 in 2020-21) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and then face the University of Iowa (20-10 in 2020-21) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

The regular season will open up with the GLIAC/GLVC/GMAC Challenge in Pepper Pike, Ohio on November 12-13 with Truman facing Wisconsin-Parkside and Ursuline College. The home opener is slated for November 28 against Upper Iowa and conference lid-lifter on December 2^nd against Missouri-St. Louis.

The Bulldogs return three all-GLVC performers in unanimous first-team selection Hannah Belanger and third team selections Katey Klucking and Ellie Weltha.

Belanger earned Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-American accolades after posting one of the best individual seasons in Truman history. The junior guard averaged 18.5 points per game, the fourth highest in a Bulldog single-season and knocked down 69 three-pointers. In her first 50 games as a Bulldog, Belanger has averaged 15.2 points per night with 136 three-pointers made. She was also a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection.

Klucking, entering her senior season, started all 22 games and averaged 36.3 minutes per night to go with 11.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest. The 36.3 minutes per game was the second highest average by a Truman player in a single-season.

Weltha, entering her junior year, finished the 2020-21 season in torrid fashion. She closed with nine straight 10+ rebounding games and eight of nine double-doubles and finished the season 10^th on the Truman single-season rebounding list with 252 boards. She also shot a school record 62.7% from the field while averaging 11.1 points and 11.5 rebounds per game while starting all 22.

An all-Freshman team member in 2018-19, Maddie Re returns after a season away and will look to continue her climb up the Bulldog rebounding list. In her last season, Re ranked third in the GLVC in boards at 9.7 per night and was fourth among GLVC players with a 55.6 shooting percentage that resulted in nine points per game.

Other returning are seniors Brioenne Burns and Allison Thomas, juniors Nicole Dorn and Hannah Pinkston, sophomores Gabby Nielsen, Kennedy Wallace, Claire Rake, Carly Printy and freshmen Gracie Stugart, Emma Bulman and Madison Niemeier.

The complete 2021-22 GLVC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll follows below.

EAST		CENTRAL		WEST
Rank/School	Points (1st)	Rank/School	Points (1st)	Rank/School	Points (1st)
1. Southern Indiana	15 (3)	1. Truman State	16 (4)	1. Drury	16 (4)
2. Lewis	14 (2)	2. Missouri-St. Louis	13 (1)	2. Rockhurst	13 (1)
3. Indianapolis	10	3. Lindenwood	10	3. Southwest Baptist	9
4. Illinois Springfield	6	4. Maryville	7	4. Missouri S&T	8
5. McKendree	5	5. Quincy	4	5. William Jewell	4

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Players Mentioned

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

#11 Brioenne Burns: G; 5' 10"; Redshirt Senior

#15 Nicole Dorn: G; 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior

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

#2 Gabby Nielsen: G; 5' 8"; Sophomore

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

#4 Carly Printy: G; 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

#12 Claire Rake: G; 5' 9"; Sophomore

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

#11 Brioenne Burns
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#15 Nicole Dorn
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior
: G

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

#2 Gabby Nielsen
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: G

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

#4 Carly Printy
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

#12 Claire Rake
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: G

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

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