KIRKSVILLE, Mo. –  Truman State hosts William Jewell for the final regular season home game and only game this week at Pershing Arena on Thursday night. The Bulldogs hope to get back on track after a 9-1 January, Truman is 2-2 in February and coming off a 60-46 loss to Illinois Springfield at home on Saturday.
 
William Jewell is in the doldrums with a 1-21 record and 0-16 conference mark. The Cardinals only win was a 64-53 victory over Graceland (Iowa) on December 16^th. Since then, Jewell has dropped 14 straight with only one game with a final margin of under 10 points (SBU 61-54 on January 17).
 
Truman is holding on to the fourth spot in the updated GLVC points rating system with a 3.94 ranking. Missouri-St. Louis, Drury and Southern Indiana are in the top three spots while Illinois Springfield and Lewis are the schools directly behind the Bulldogs for tournament seeding. The top ranked school will earn a first-round bye in the GLVC tournament while 2-7 will host 8-15 on Monday, February 28.
 
The Bulldogs were held to a season-low 46 points in their loss on Saturday to the Prairie Stars. It was UIS' first win in Pershing Arena. Hannah Belanger, Truman's leading scorer and third in the GLVC, was held scoreless for the first time this season for the first time in her Bulldog career, a span of 72 games. The last time Truman was held to 46 points or fewer was in 2018 against Drury, a span of 114 games. 
 
On the season, Truman is third in the GLVC in scoring offense at 70.2 points per game and fifth in scoring defense at allowing 63.2 points per game. The Bulldogs are sixth in Division II and first in the conference in rebounding margin at +10 per game. The team is third in overall shooting at 44.8%, 11^th in three-point shooting at 31% with 6.42 triples per night and fourth in free throw shooting at 75%.
 
During January, Truman shot 44.5% overall and 35.9% from three but in the four February games, the shooting percentages have dropped to 39% overall and 25.9% from beyond the arc.
 
Midwest Regional Rankings:
The Division II Sports Information Directors of America released their Midwest regional rankings on Monday and Truman is tied for eighth in the regional poll. Ashland is first, followed by Grand Valley State, Drury, Missouri-St. Louis, Southern Indiana, Walsh, and Wayne State. Truman and Ferris State are tied for eighth and Northwood and Saginaw Valley State tied for 10^th. 
 
The official NCAA regional rankings will be released on Wednesday. That ranking will help mold the 64-team national tournament broken down into eight, eight-team regionals. Three of the eight regional bids will go to the conference tournament champions of the GLVC, GLIAC and GMAC and five at-large bids will be selected by the regional advisory committee.  
 
Belanger Climbs Over 1,100 Points:
Junior guard Hannah Belanger has topped over 1,100 career points this season. She is 91 points away from entering the career top 10 in scoring. She is currently 15th on the career list and will next pass Sharon Witthoft (1,169), Kelli Kreuser (1,177) and Annie Westhoff (1,183). Belanger's 15.9 points per game mark for her career is the third best by a Bulldog with 50 or more games. She is the eighth Truman player to score over 1,000 points in three seasons. 
 
For the season, Belanger is third in the GLVC in scoring at 17.3 points per game, third in assists (3.91), fifth in three-pointers made (2.00), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.45) and first in minutes played (35.0). Belanger is 11^th in Division II and first in the GLVC in shots attempted with 370.
 
Re Enters Top 10 Career Rebounds:
Maddie Re pulled down 21 rebounds in two games last week and soared into the top 10 in career boards at Truman. Re has grabbed 628 rebounds (7.9/game) and sits ninth overall in total boards and tied for sixth in rebounding average. Next on the list is Shelley Picha (642) and Amy Eagan (643) on the career chart.
 
Re has started all 20 games she has played in and is ninth in the conference in boards (6.8) and second in field goal percentage at 55.1%. Re has averaged 8.3 points per game this season with a game-high 17 points scored against Ursuline and 15 rebounds last week against Quincy. 
 
Weltha Second In Double-Doubles:
Ellie Weltha is second in the GLVC and 21^st nationally in recording double-doubles. Weltha has 11 on the season with the last coming against Lewis on February 3^rd. She has 20 for her career.
 
Weltha is seventh in conference scoring (14.8/g), second in rebounds (9.9/g) and third in field goal shooting (54.9%). Her single-game highs this season was 26 points against Southwest Minnesota State and 19 rebounds against Southern Indiana.
 
Klucking Tops 100 Career Games:
Katey Klucking hit the century mark in career games on Saturday when she played in her 100^th. Klucking has started all 24 this season and the past 73 games with an average of 8.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists. She is tied for seventh in the conference in assists at 2.83 per night.
 
Klucking scored a season-high 28 at McKendree on January 8^th and has been in double-figures in 37 career games. 
 
Thomas Started Last 16:
Recognized on Saturday with Maddie Re as a graduating senior, Allison Thomas entered the starting line up in December and has been in their for the last 16 games. She averages 7.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game this season and has played in 87 career games with 22 starts.  She scored a career-high 19 points in Truman's win over then #1 Drury and matched her career-high in rebounds with 13 on Saturday against Illinois Springfield.
 
Off The Bench:
Brioenne Burns and Hannah Pinkston have come off the bench in 22 games, Gracie Stugart, Madison Niemeier and Emma Bullman have in 21. Stugart has seen the most minutes of any bench player at 15.9 per game and has averaged 3.7 points per game. Burns has the most points in a game by a bench player with a career-high 17 against Southern Indiana on January 17.
 
The Bulldog bench averages 13 points per night. 
 
Up Next:
Truman will play the final two regular season games on the road. They will return to Bolivar for the first time since 2013 to face Southwest Baptist on Thursday then make the drive to downtown Kansas City and take on Rockhurst on Saturday before the postseason begins.  
 
Series History w/William Jewell: This will be the only match-up with the Cardinals this season. Last year, Truman and Jewell hooked up three times, twice in the regular season and finally in the semi-finals for the GLVC Conference Tournament. The Bulldogs won all three and have taken the last five against the Cardinals. Hannah Belanager scored 21 points in the GLVC semis and Ellie Weltha and Katie Jaseckas recorded double-doubles in the 68-52 win. Truman is 8-2 in the last 10 against Jewell and 14-4 overall. The Cardinals are winless in Pershing Arena in eight attempts. 
 
About the Cardinals: It has been a tough year for William Jewell as they have won just once out of 22 games played thus far. The Cardinals are last in the conference in scoring at 49.3 points and second-to-last in points allowed at 71.9 per game. Libby Arnold leads the squad in scoring at 9.5 points per game followed by Kate Hillyer at 9.4 points. Jewell shoots just 35% overall and 26% from three with 5.2 made per game. They average over 20 turnovers and are a -9.1 in rebounding margin. They have currently lost 14 straight games with their last and only win coming on December 16^th against Graceland (Iowa). 
 
Series History w/Indianapolis: Both teams have had success on each other's home floor with Truman taking five of eight in Indianapolis and the Greyhounds winning four of six in Kirksville. UINDY scored a 78-74 overtime win in Kirksville in the team's only meeting last season with Mickey Sasson scoring 20 points and adding 18 rebounds. Hannah Belanger tied the game with seven seconds left and Truman scored the first four points of overtime. Taylor Drury's three-point play put UINDY back on top with 54 seconds left. The Bulldogs have won the last three in Indianapolis with the latest being a 76-68 victory in November 2020. 
 
About the Greyhounds: UINDY had their three-game winning streak stopped at Illinois Springfield on Monday night 79-68. Lauren With led the Greyhounds with 21 points. Previously, UINDY had won at home over Lewis and road games over Missouri S&T and Quincy. Sadie Hill (12.9) and Taylor Drury (11.8) lead the 'hounds in scoring. UINDY is eighth in scoring (66.7) in the league and eighth in scoring defense (66.8). They are first in free throw shooting at 80.9% and second behind the Bulldogs in overall field goal shooting at 45.7%. The team is second in three-point field goal shooting at 35.8% and are a league-best 7.33 three-pointers per game.