KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – With finals in the rear-view mirror and the holiday break nearing, the Truman Women's Basketball team will host Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) College on Sunday afternoon in the final non-conference game of the season.  

The Bulldogs have been idle since a 70-67 victory over Maryville (Mo.) University on December 4^th and enter the game with a 4-5 overall record. 

In that win over the Saints, all five starters scored in double-figures with Hannah Belanger leading the way with 17 points on three triples. Allison Thomas, who made her first start of the season, notched her only collegiate double-double thus far with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Bulldogs still struggled from outside with four of 23 three-point attempts falling (17.4%) and for the season, the Bulldogs have mired around 27% shooting from distance 
 
This season as a team, Truman averages 69.6 points per game while shooting 46% overall from the field. After averaging over eight three-pointers per game last season, the number has dipped to 5.8 through nine games this year. The Bulldogs are shooting 73% from the foul line with 14.4 assists per game and a rebounding margin of 9.2 per night. Truman is a minus two in turnovers to their opponents at 14 per game compared to 11.7. Opponents have scored on average 68.3 points while shooting 45% overall, 37% from three and 78% from the free throw line. 
 
About the Players:
Hannah Belanger, Ellie Weltha, Katey Klucking, Maddie Re have all started the previous nine games this season. The bulk of the scoring has come from four led by Weltha's 18.2, Belanger's 17.6, Re's 12.0 and Klucking's 9.4. Those four have taken 78% of the shots this season and have scored 82% of the points. Truman averages 37 points per game in the paint with a single-game high of 48 against Minot (N.D.) State.
 
Belanger, a WBCA All-American last season, in closing in on the 1,000 point career milestone. Belanger sits at 929 points in 59 games played as a Bulldog. For her career, Belanger has averaged 15.7 points per game with 45 games in double-figures and 16 with 20 or more points. Her career high is 34 points that she scored against Indianapolis last November 29. Belanger has made 158 three-pointers, good for fourth on the Truman career list. Third on the list is 230 by Candace McGee. 
 
Weltha is a two-sport star at Truman having led the Truman Softball team with six home runs last spring following an all-conference season on the basketball court. In her 49 career games, Weltha is shooting 60% from the field while averaging 8.7 points and 7.5 rebounds. She has 13 career double-doubles. 
 
Katey Klucking is the active leader in games played with 85. She went over the 600-point threshold for her career (652) on 7.7 points per game average. Klucking has 115 made three-pointers in her career.
 
Maddie Re has over 500 career points (554) and 500 career rebounds (559). Re needs 50 more boards this season to tie Jennifer Fisher for 10^th on the list. Re has scored in double-figures in eight straight games and has 13 career double-doubles. 
 
Hannah Pinkston has been the fifth starter in the first eight games this season and is logging 17.4 minutes per game. Pinkston has the best assist/turnover ratio on the team at 14 assists to seven turnovers. 
 
Allison Thomas got her first action of the season against Missouri-St. Louis and then made the start against Maryville University. Thomas has made seven career starts in 72 games played and has averaged 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in those contests. She is shooting 58% from the floor for her career. 
 
Brioenne Burns has appeared in all nine games this season off the bench and got her most extensive action in the last two conference games. Burns played 21 minutes against UMSL and 25 against Maryville and had a pair of assists in each game. Burns played 41 games at the NCAA Division I level while a member of the Stephen F. Austin team before transferring to Truman.
 
Three freshmen have taken the court this season in Gracie Stugart, Emma Bulman and Madison Niemeier all seeing action off the bench. Stugart logged over 14 minutes in each game and grabbed 14 rebounds, 11 assists and five steals.  Bulman averaged 11 minutes, scored 24 points and 18 rebounds and Niemeier has made all four free throw attempts in six games.
 
Claire Rake, Nicole Dorn, Kennedy Wallace and Gabby Nielsen have also seen limited playing time this season. Rake has been in six games with a pair of three-pointers. Dorn and Wallace have been in two contests each and Nielsen made her Bulldog debut against Upper Iowa.
 
Up Next: The Bulldogs will jump right into the fire after returning from the Christmas break. Truman will next take the court on January 2^nd against Lindenwood in Pershing Arena. It will the start of four games in six days, alternating between home and away dates. Following Sunday's game with the Lions, Truman travels to Quincy on Tuesday, return to Kirksville for Lewis on Thursday and travel to McKendree on Saturday.  
 
Series History w/Hannibal LaGrange: This will be the eighth meeting between Truman and HLG and seventh all-time played in Kirksville. The Bulldogs have taken all seven previous games. The largest margin of victory was the last meeting back in 2017 (Dec. 4) an 80-23 win. The closest game in the series was a four-point Bulldog win, 58-54 in 2009.
 
About the Trojans: Hannibal-LaGrange is 2-10 on the season with a win over Lincoln Christian (Ill.) and most recently Central Christian College of the Bible (61-32) on December 11. The Trojans are playing this game as an exhibition on their schedule and will have played on Saturday against Maryville University. HLG played Quincy University as another exhibition game back on December 10^th with the Lady Hawks winning 84-49. Makayla Hostelttler led the Trojans with 16 points that night. Freshman Ashlyn Vermeer leads HLG in scoring at 10.4 points per game and is shooting 57% from the field. The Trojans have struggled scoring having averaged just 50 points per night and shooting 40% from the floor.