Women's Basketball 3/4/2021 10:43:00 AM

NOTES: Truman Marches To Springfield For Semifinals

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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Women's Basketball team will play in the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament semifinals for the third time in eight seasons when they take the floor on Saturday to face #6 seed William Jewell at 2:30 p.m. at the O'Reilly Family Events Center in Springfield, Missouri.

The Bulldogs survived and advanced on Wednesday night with a 79-76 win over Maryville University in the quarterfinals. Truman raced out to a 14-4 lead but the Saints cut it to a one-possession game 12 times, trailed by one point four times and took 12 shots with a chance to take the lead or tie before the final buzzer sounded.

Katie Jaseckas dialed in her three-point shooting by matching her season-high of five three-pointers on eight attempts to finish with 25 points and 15 rebounds. It was Jaseckas' 100^th career game and she moved over 1,200 career points and into ninth place on the Bulldog career scoring charts. It was also the 20^th career double-double for Jaseckas.

Ellie Weltha notched her seventh double-double and had her fifth straight game of 13 or more rebounds with 14 against the Saints. She added 12 points and a career-high seven assists in a season-high 38 minutes on the court.

Hannah Belanger hit her scoring average with 19 points on 6-of-18 shooting and only two three-pointers. Belanger is averaging 21 points in her last eight games and has nine games over 20 points this season including the team's single-game high scorer of 34 at Indianapolis back on November 29.

Katey Klucking knocked down four triples and scored in double-figures for the third time in four games with 13 points in 38 minutes of action on Wednesday. For the season, Klucing is averaging over 36 minutes of playing time with 11.9 points per game and 39 three-pointers.

Tiffany Davenport dished out six assists to run her league-leading average to 6.2 per game and scored five points with three rebounds. Davenport blocked the game-tying attempt by Maryville's Antoinette Mussorici at the buzzer.

The five Truman starters have accounted for the bulk of the minutes played this season with four (Klucking, Belanger, Davenport and Jaseckas) averaging over 30 minutes per night. Klucking, Davenport and Belanger are in the top seven in the league in minutes played at over 35 per game.

Off The Bench:
Allison Thomas and Maya Mouton have come off the bench in all 18 games. Thomas has averaged 4.6 points and 2.3 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 12.

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:
Ellie Weltha is tops in field goal percentage at 62% and in defensive rebounds at 8.5 per night. Tiffany Davenport leads in assists per game at 6.22. Hannah Belanger leads in three-pointers made per game at 3.06 and Katie Jaseckas leads in blocked shots with 2.18 per game.

As a team, Truman leads in three-point shooting (.383), defensive rebounding (29.4), rebounding margin (+8.3), defensive rebounds (29.9) and three-pointers made (8.72). They are 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)

Conference Tournament History:
Since joining the GLVC in 2013-14, the Bulldogs have been a regular in the conference's postseason tournament. They are 7-6 in conference tournament games with a 4-0 record when they won the title in 2014. The number two seed this season is the highest Truman has been in the seven previous tournaments as they have been seeded fourth the past two campaigns.

Scouting Report: William Jewell
Since January 30, the Cardinals have been one of the hottest teams in the GLVC with a 7-2 record…they have wins over Southern Indiana (70-58), at Lewis (95-77), at Illinois Springfield (71-61), Lindenwood (77-68), Quincy (62-54) and Rockhurst (72-66)…their two losses came at home against Indianapolis (79-34) and at Drury (79-44)…Kiara Bradley is among the scoring leaders in the conference at 19.1 points per game and actually leads the league in points scored with 421 based on playing 22 games…she is fourth in the conference in boards at 9.5…Bradley scored 17 in the first Truman encounter this year and 28 in the second.

This Season w/William Jewell: The Bulldogs and Cardinals met twice in January with Truman taking both games. In the first meeting in Pershing Arena, the Bulldogs stormed out to a 17-7 lead and didn't take their foot off the accelerator in a 77-63 win over the Cardinals. Katie Jaseckas had a perfect shooting day with six field goals and four three-points to finish with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Kiara Bradley scored her 1,000 career point with 17 for William Jewell.

The second game was a grinder with Truman outlasting Jewell 51-46 in Liberty. Hannah Belanger scored nearly half of Truman's points with 25 and Jaseckas again notched a double-double with 13 and 13. Bradley was the offensive force for Jewell with 28 of the team's 46 points.

In the two wins, Truman was 45% shooting from the field with 17 three-pointers and 23-of-27 at the foul line. Jewell shot 33% with 15 triples and 72% at the line. The Bulldogs owned the glass by a margin of 70-55 but the Cardinals had 17 steals and forced 30 turnovers.

Post Season Series History (Jewell): This will be the second time William Jewell and Truman will square off in the GLVC postseason tournament with the previous meeting occurring in the first round of the 2014 tournament. Current Bulldog assistant coach Amy Briggs scored 17 points in the final 10 minutes to take Truman from a two-point lead to a 70-58 final score. Briggs finished with 22 points.

Up Next:
The winner will face the victor of the first game in the semifinals between host Drury and Missouri-St. Louis. Truman and Drury have not played this season while Truman and UMSL have played twice with the Bulldogs taking both games. The winner of the tournament will receive the GLVC's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Championship tournament.

The Bulldogs were ranked third in the NCAA regional rankings released by the association on Wednesday afternoon. Six teams between the GLVC and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference will be selected for the regional tournament that will be held in Springfield, Missouri on March 12-15.

Michigan Tech was the top ranked school followed by Drury, Truman, Grand Valley State, Northwood, Southern Indiana, Lewis and Missouri-St. Louis.

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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