KIRKSVILLE, Mo. –  Two teams that have had slightly different trajectories since their last meeting will play for the third time this season in the quarterfinal round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament. The Truman Bulldogs advanced with a 67-62 win over #13 seed Quincy on Monday while #5 Lewis defeated #12 Maryville University 74-62.
 
The two teams last met on February 3^rd in Romeoville and Truman used a strong second half, shooting over 65% from the field, to win by 13 at 74-61. Since that game, the Bulldogs hit a bit of a rough patch, winning three of their next seven games while the Flyers took off with eight straight wins and nine of their last 11.
 
The Bulldogs hit their stride in the fourth quarter in their first round game against Quincy on Monday night. Truman outscored the Hawks 23-14 in the final 10 minutes to over come a four-point third quarter deficit. Ellie Weltha notched her 14^th double-double of the season with 20 points and 14 rebounds while Hannah Belanger added 14 and Katey Klucking dropped in 11. The Bulldogs made all 12 of their free throw attempts and won the glass 34-28.
 
Lewis avenged one of their two losses in down the stretch with a 12-point win over Maryville. The Saints won on their homecourt four days earlier 67-60. Five Lewis players hit double-figure scoring with Lily Courier leading the way with 18 points. Lewis trailed 36-32 at half but outscored Maryville 42-26 to swing the game in their direction. 
 
The winner will move on to face the winner of Thursday's opening game between top seed Southern Indiana and #8 seed Southwest Baptist. That game will tip off at noon on Saturday. 
 
In league games this season, Truman was sixth in scoring offense at 67.5/game, third in defense at 62.9/game. They were first in rebounding margin at +10.5/game and averaged 6.42 three-pointers per game while shooting 30.8% from outside. Overall, Truman averages 69.6 scoring and allowing 63.9 and shoots 43.9% from the field and 30.6% from three. 
 
Lewis was third in GLVC scoring at 70.2 points, 11^th in scoring defense at 67.7, 13^th in free throw shooting (71.3%), third in steals (8.84/g) and averaged a third-best 6.84 three-pointers per game. The Flyers shot 41% overall and 33.7% from three.
 
GLVCSN To Be Pay-Per View:
Beginning with the conference tournament on Monday, the Great Lakes Valley Conference has voted to put all tournament games for purchase. Users will have to create an account when they click to watch the games starting on Monday night and will have options to purchase a single-game or a tournament pass to watch all of them. 
 
Bulldogs In The GLVC Tournament:
Truman has been in the league's postseason tournament every season since joining the conference in 2013-14. They won their only tournament title in their inaugural season having knocked off William Jewell, Lewis, Quincy and finally Maryville in the championship game. 
 
The Bulldogs returned to the title game last season after winning at home over Maryville in the quarterfinals then downing William Jewell in the semis. They lost to Drury 76-60 in the championship game.
 
Truman is 9-7 in conference tournament games in the GLVC.
 
Belanger Enters Career Top 10 Scoring:
Junior guard Hannah Belanger scored 18 points in the two road games last week and 16 on Monday night to pull into the top 10 in career scoring at Truman. Belanger is at 1,216 points for her career. Next on her list as she climbs up the charts is former teammate Katie Jaseckas with 1,274 points. 
 
For the season, Belanger is fourth in the GLVC in scoring at 16.7 points per game, third in assists (3.81), sixth in three-pointers made (1.96), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.41) and first in minutes played (35.1). Belanger is 21^st in Division II and first in the GLVC in shots attempted with 412.
 
Re Enters Top 10 Career Rebounds:
Maddie Re pulled down 21 rebounds in two games played 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 against Quincy. 
 
Weltha Second In Double-Doubles:
Ellie Weltha is second in the GLVC and 25th nationally in recording double-doubles. Weltha has 14 on the season and 23 for her Bulldog career.
 
Weltha is seventh in conference scoring (15.5/g), second in rebounds (10.3/g) and third in field goal shooting (55.4%). Her single-game highs this season was 26 points against Southwest Minnesota State and Rockhurst and 19 rebounds against Southern Indiana.
 
Klucking Tops 100 Career Games:
Katey Klucking is the active leader in games played with 103 and has made 76 starts over four seasons. She is shooting 41% from the field this season and is eighth in the conference in assists/game at 2.78. Klucking is 13^th in conference minutes played, averaging over 30 minutes a night. Klucking is two three-pointers away from cracking the Bulldog career list of 139. She is at 137 out of 447 attempts (30.6%).
 
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 20:
Allison Thomas has rounded out the starting lineup in the last 19 games this season and averages 6.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game this season. Thomas has appeared in 90 career games with 25 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 against Illinois Springfield and again on Saturday against Rockhurst.
 
Off The Bench:
Brioenne Burns and Hannah Pinkston have each appeared in 26 games, Gracie Stugart, Madison Niemeier and Emma Bullman have in 25. Stugart has seen the most minutes of any bench player at 15.9 per game and has averaged 3.8 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. 
 
Series History w/Lewis: After Lewis had won the first eight of the first 10 games in the series, the tide has turned a bit with Truman coming out on top with four straight wins over the Flyers. The season series has the Bulldogs winning both games, the first in Pershing Arena 83-75 and the second in Romeoville 74-61. In the first match-up, Hannah Belanger scored the final six points at the free throw line, including her 1,000^th of her career, to finish with 28 points. Ellie Weltha added 21 with 13 rebounds and Truman dominated the glass 39-23. Grace Hilber led the Flyers with 24 points. In the rematch on February 3^rd, the Bulldogs caught lighting in a bottle in the second half and scored 47 points to ground the Flyers 74-61. Belanger scored 20 and Weltha another double-double with 12/10. Truman shot over 66% in the second half. Kathryn Schmidt paced Lewis with 13 points who again got handled on the glass by a 44-22 margin.