KIRKSVILLE, Mo. –  The final three regular season home games are next on the docket for the Truman Women's Basketball team. The Bulldogs will welcome Quincy for a rematch of their January 4^th affair and we get reacquainted with Illinois Springfield, a conference team they have not played in over two years.
 
The Bulldogs are in fourth position (4.04) after the first release of the Great Lakes Valley Conference point ratings system rankings. They are one of four teams above a 4.0 average and trail Missouri-St. Louis (4.75), Southern Indiana (4.50) and Drury (4.32). Quincy is 14^th (2.00) and Illinois Springfield is fifth (3.32).
 
Truman had a convincing 74-61 win at Lewis on Thursday but stumbled and got beat by a hot-shooting Indianapolis squad on Saturday 70-59. Hannah Belanger scored 20 and three others hit double-figures in the Lewis triumph. Truman shot 58% for the game and nearly 67% in the second half.
 
Against UINDY, the Greyhounds connected on six of their first 10 three-point attempts and had made 10 before the Bulldogs hit their first late in the second quarter. The Bulldogs tried to dig out from a 15-point deficit and got as close as four in the second half but could not get over the hump. It was their first road loss in conference this season and first road loss in the GLVC in 11 road games dating back to December 12, 2020, a five-point loss at Lindenwood.
 
The Bulldogs have reached 15 wins for 10 straight seasons. Prior to the 2011-12 season, the program reached 15 wins in a season eight times. The Bulldogs have already won 10 conference games for the 11^th straight season and 13^th season overall. With five regular season games left on the schedule, the Bulldogs can reach the 20-win plateau for the third time in four years (17-5 COVID season last year) and eighth time in school history.
 
Midwest Regional Rankings:
In the latest Division II Sports Information Directors of America regional rankings. Truman is held down the number eight spot for the second straight week. Ashland and Grand Valley State are 1-2, followed by a tie for third in Southern Indiana and Missouri-St. Louis. Drury is fifth, Walsh sixth and Northwood seventh.  Saginaw Valley State, who defeated the Bulldogs back on November 24^th is ninth.  The official NCAA regional rankings, used for tournament selections, will be released on February 16^th.
 
Belanger Climbs Over 1,100 Points:
Junior guard Hannah Belanger topped over 1,100 points career points and is marching her way into the top 10 in career scoring at Truman. Belanger is sitting with 1,142 points, currently 16^th. Next on the charts is Becka McHenry (1,153), Susan Theroff (1,159), Sharon Witthoft (1,169), Kelli Krueser (1,177) and Annie Westhoff (1,183). 
 
Belanger's 16.1 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 second in the GLVC in scoring at 18.0 points per game, second in assists (4.10), fifth in three-pointers made (2.10), third in assist/turnover ratio (1.56) and second in minutes played (34.9).
 
Re Enters Top 10 Career Boards:
Maddie Re climbed over 600 career rebounds last weekend and entered the Bulldog career top 10 in rebounding. Re has 607 career boards (197 offensive, 410 defensive) and can next reach Shelley Picha (642) and Amy Eagan (643) on the career charts.  Re has started 18 games this season and 52 of 72 for her career. Her 7.9 career boards per game mark would rank tied for sixth all-time at Truman with Sharon Witthoft. 
 
Re is 13^th this season in GLVC boards at 6.3/game and second in the conference in field goal shooting at 57.9%. Re is averaging 8.8 points per game this year.  
 
Weltha Racking Up Double/Doubles:
Ellie Weltha has 11 double-doubles this season which is tops among GLVC players. She is in the top 20 nationally in double-doubles at 16th.
 
Weltha is eighth in scoring at 14.5 points, second in rebounds at 10.1 and fourth in field goal percentage (.556) in the GLVC. 
 
Klucking Closing In On 100 Career Games:
Senior Katey Klucking is the active leader in games played with 98 entering the week. She has averaged 10.6 points this season, up from her career number of 8.2 points. She has 221 career assists and is at 800 career points while knocking down 134 three-pointers.  She is five triples away from cracking the career top 10 in three-pointers made.
 
About the Bulldogs:
Truman is third in the league in scoring offense at 71.9/game and fifth in defense at 64.0/game. The Bulldogs are the top overall shooting team at 45.7% but are 12^th from beyond the arc at 31.8%. Truman also leads in rebounding margin at +9.9 per game and second in assists/turnover at 1.08.
 
Katey Klucking and Ellie Weltha have started all 22 games, Hannah Belanger has started 21, Maddie Re has started all 18 she has appeared in and Allison Thomas has started 14 of her last 15 games. 
 
Off the bench, Hannah Pinkston and Brioenne Burns have played in 20 games, Emma Bulman, Madison Niemeier and Gracie Stugart has appeared in 19 of the 22 played. 
 
Stugart has been on the court the most minutes at nearly 16 per night and is first on the team in steals with 17. She his shooting 42% overall with 2.1 assists per game.
 
Up Next: Truman's last regular season home game will be next Thursday against William Jewell at 5:15 p.m. in Pershing Arena. The Bulldogs will be off the following Saturday before a road trip to Southwest Baptist and Rockhurst to close the regular season. 
 
Series History w/Quincy: The Bulldogs look to continue their longest winning streak in the series with Quincy as Truman has taken the last eight from the Lady Hawks. In Kirksville, the Bulldogs are 15-9 and have not lost to Quincy since November of 2008 (seven games). The last two have been played on the road, including a January 4^th 68-59 victory. In that game, Quincy led 15-13 after one but the Bulldogs outscored the Lady Hawks 40-25 in the second and third quarters. Hannah Belanger scored 25 points and Ellie Weltha added 12 points and 12 rebounds. Sarah Nelson led Quincy with 15 and leading scorer Beth Matas Martin did not play. 
 
About the Lady Hawks: Quincy had dropped 10 of their last 12, including the last five straight. Their league wins came over William Jewell and McKendree, both on the road. They fell 57-55 at Lewis on Saturday with Dami Adeyinka scoring a team-high 17 points. A three-pointer by Beth Matas-Martin was blocked at the buzzer but Quincy never led in the game. The Lady Hawks average 58.5 points offensively and allow 63.6 points. They are one of four teams in the league below 40% shooting overall and shoot 31% with 6.3 three-pointers per game. Matas Martin is leading in scoring at 12.1 points per game, ranked 20^th in the GLVC. She is fourth in assists at 3.76 per contest. 
 
Series History w/Illinois Springfield: Of the 12 GLVC members that were active when Truman joined in 2013-14, the Bulldogs have played Illinois Springfield the fewest number of games at only seven in nine GLVC seasons. The next lowest is 10 games against Southern Indiana and McKendree and the most is 18 against Maryville (counts both regular and postseason games). The Bulldogs have won five straight and are 10-0 at home against the Prairie Stars. There last meeting occurred 60 games ago on January 16, 2020. Then-freshman Hannah Belanger scored 29 points with five three-pointers in the 81-75 victory. UIS's only win in the series came in 2015, a 72-57 home victory. 
 
About the Prairie Stars: UIS is one of the most improved teams in the GLVC this season. After finishing last year at 10-11 in conference play, UIS is sitting at 8-6 in GLVC at 13-7 overall. They are fourth in scoring at 70.5 points per game and second in free throw shooting at 78%. Lauren Ladowski is third in the conference at scoring at 17.7 points per night and she leads the league in steals per game at 2.79.  UIS had their five-game winning streak snapped at Lewis 72-60 on Monday night.