Women's Basketball 3/11/2021 8:57:00 AM

NCAA Tourney Tips-Off For Truman Women Friday Night

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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Women's Basketball team will play in the NCAA Division II Tournament and Midwest Regional for the fifth time in school history and second in the last three years.

The Bulldogs earned their highest seed in the national tournament at #3 after finishing the conference-only regular season with a 16-4 mark and a runner-up finish in the Great Lakes Valley Conference postseason tournament. Truman went 7-1 in the month of January and won 12 of 13 before falling in the GLVC championship game to Drury 76-60 last Sunday.

They will take on Northwood University, who were 11-8 in 19 games played in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC). The Timberwolves lost to Ashland 67-58 in the quarterfinal round of the GLIAC tournament last Thursday. This is the second time in program history that Northwood has advanced to the national tournament with the last occurring during the 2008-09 season.

The winner will face host and #2 seed Drury University (20-1) on Saturday evening. The Lady Panthers won the GLVC title over Truman and are ranked second in the latest WBCA Division II Coaches Poll.

On the other side of the bracket, #5 Grand Valley State (14-5) will face GLIAC tournament champion #6 Ashland (14-8) in the first game on Friday night and the winner will take on top-seeded Michigan Tech (20-1) prior to the other semifinal featuring Drury.

About The Bulldogs:
The five starters this season have accounted for 80% of the on-court action this season, 88% of all points scored and all but four made three-pointers. Three of the five, Hannah Belanger, Katey Klucking and Tiffany Davenport, will finish the season ranked in the top five in school history in minutes per game played at over at least 35.7 per night.

Belanger is the team's leading scorer at 19.2 points per game, which is currently ranked fourth on the Truman single-season scoring average rankings. She has been in double-figures in 10 straight games, has scored over 20 points in 11 of 19 games this season and has the single-game high in points of 34 back in game two at Indianapolis.

Belanger is the team's leading three-point shooter with 63 and is six away from cracking the single-season top 10 despite the fewer games played this year. She had a season-high eight triples in her 34-point game at Indianapolis.

Katie Jaseckas is second on the team in scoring at 15.0 ppg and is shooting 53% from the field and 41.3% with 33 three-pointers this season. Jaseckas has eight double-doubles this year and is fifth on the Truman single-season charts with 43 blocked shots and second in blocks per game average at 2.2. Her 41.3% shooting from outside will rank in the top 10 in the Truman single-season charts. Jaseckas has scored 20 points or more four times this season and her high is 25, twice in two games against Maryville this year.

Katey Klucking has the second most attempts from outside with 119 and has averaged 11.6 points in all 20 games played. She has scored in double-figures 11 times this season with a high of 22 points on five three-pointers against Southern Indiana back on January 3^rd.

Ellie Weltha can crack the top spot in single-season field goal percentage with three more made in the tournament. She has 87 made field goals with a 63.5% percentage. The minimum to qualify is 90. She would become the first Bulldog to top 60% in a season and would break the mark held by Carol Jarrard's 59.9% set in 1978-79, although Jarrard had 184 made field goals.

Weltha has notched double-doubles in six of her last seven games and her 10.9 rebounds per game mark is currently tied for fifth in a single-season. She has averaged 10.7 points per game but 13.8 in those last seven contest. She was named to the GLVC All-Tournament team this past weekend.

Tiffany Davenport has been the lead distributor of the basketball this season to the tune of 6.2 assists per game. Her 123 dimes in 20 games is already seventh in a single-season at Truman and the 6.2 average is second on the season charts before Susan Theroff's 6.9 in 1990-91. Davenport hits around 7.7 points per game this season with eight games of 10 or more points and a season-high of 15 against Missouri S&T on January 14.

Off The Bench:
Allison Thomas has come off the bench in all 20 games while Maya Mouton has missed the last two games. Thomas has averaged 4.2 points and 2.2 rebounds and Mouton 2.7 points and 2.8 rebounds. Hannah Pinkston is the only other player to appear in 10 or more games this season with 14.

All-Conference Bulldogs:
Katie Jaseckas and Hannah Belanger were named first team all-GLVC by league coaches and Ellie Weltha and Katey Klucking were third team picks. For Jaseckas, it was her third all-GLVC nod and second straight on the first-team. Belanger joined Drury's Paige Robinson as the only unanimous selection on the team. Those two are the top two scorers in the GLVC this season.

It was the sixth time in program history that at least four players made the all-conference team and first time since the 1998-99 season when Amy Eagan and Kelli Kreuser were first-team choices and Wendi Sobaski and Jennifer Perkins were honorable mention all-MIAA. In 1989-90, five Bulldog players made the squad led by Angie Gum's second team selection and honorable mention for Susan Theroff, Felicia Sutton, Brenda Reiling and Sue Stein.

Truman League Leaders:
Truman led the GLVC in three-point shooting (.383), defensive rebounding (29.4), rebounding margin (+8.3), defensive rebounds (29.9) and three-pointers made (8.72). They were second in scoring margin (+5.7), field goal shooting (.480), defensive field goal shooting (.385), rebounding offense (37.7), blocked shots (3.89) and assists (17.0).

Team Season Statistical Accolades:
Despite the abbreviated regular season, the 2020-21 Bulldogs will leave their mark in the Truman record book. Their 48% shooting ranks first in a season in front of the 45% shooting by the 1998-99 team. They are one three-pointer away from cracking the season top 10 with 172. They are second in blocked shots per game at 3.9 and second in rebounding margin at +7.2, fifth in defensive field goals percentage at 38.7%, sixth in both three-point shooting (37.6%) and assist per game (16.5) and 10^th in blocked shots with 78.

NCAA Tournament History:
The Bulldogs have played six games under the NCAA Tournament banner. Their first was in 1982, a home loss to Chapman College (Calif.) by a score of 49-46. Angie Griffin led the team with 18 points that day.

Truman won two games and advanced to the regional finals in 1999. They defeated Abilene Christian in the first round 94-79 behind Amy Eagan's 25 points then defeated Missouri Western in the semifinals 78-68. In the championship game, Emporia State buzzed the Bulldogs 110-93.

In 2014, Truman was the eighth seed and lost in overtime to host Drury 74-68 and in 2019 the Bulldogs were ousted by Grand Valley State 89-64, also in Springfield.

Scouting Report: Northwood
The Timberwolves bounced back from a 10-18 season in 2019-20 to post an 11-8 record in the conference-only schedule this year…they finished in a three-way tie for second place in the GLIAC South Division with at 11-7 but were the third seed in the conference tournament…sophomore guard Makenzie Todd was named second team all-conference while senior guard Kenzie Seeley was selected to the all-defensive team…Todd was the only Timberwolves player to average double-figures in scoring at 11.5 per night…she was fourth in the GLIAC with 39 three-pointers and shot 34.5% from the outside…as a team, Northwood scored 70.4 points per game and allowed 64.4…they led the conference with fewest turnovers per game at 10.9.

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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