KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The road to the NCAA Championships hits full gear this week as tournament time brings the Truman State Women's Basketball team to St. Charles, Missouri for the Great Lakes Valley Conference postseason tournament. The Bulldogs, the number three seed, will face Maryville University, the six seed, in the final quarterfinal game on Friday evening at 8:15 p.m. The winner advances to face the Thursday winner between #2 Lewis and #7 McKendree also at 8:15 p.m. on Saturday. The championship game will be played on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. with all games being played at Hyland Arena on the campus of Lindenwood University.

Following the tournament's conclusion, one GLVC team will have an automatic bid into the upcoming NCAA Division II Midwest regional tournament. Two other automatic bids will be given to tournament champions of the GLIAC and GMAC leagues and five at-large bids will be issued by the regional advisory committee on Sunday evening. The Bulldogs have been in the conversation for an at-large bid in the final weeks of the season, starting out at number eight in the regional rankings and dropping to 10th following a 1-1 weekend to close the regular season. The Bulldogs struggled to a 53-44 loss to Rockhurst last Thursday evening before bouncing back with a 98-72 win at William Jewell on Saturday. The 44 points scored against Rockhurst was the lowest single-game output by the Bulldogs since a 2013 game against Northeastern St. (Okla.).

Friday's opponent is no stranger for the Bulldogs in the postseason tournament. Maryville University has been a foe in four of the previous nine GLVC tournaments the Bulldogs have played in, including the 2014 GLVC Championship game. 

The Saints enter the bracket with a 15-12 overall mark and finished the league at 10-10. They were 4-3 in the month of February and lost their last two games at home 64-60 to Missouri S&T and 77-66 to McKendree. Senior guard Antoinette Mussorici was a first-team all-GLVC selection for the Saints after averaging 14.7 points overall and 15.2 in conference games.

History with Maryville:

The two teams have played 21 games against each other and 11 have finished with a final margin of victory of six points or fewer, including four overtime games. The latest OT game occurred in January when the Bulldogs squandered a 21-point first half lead and needed a three-pointer by Hannah Belanger to tie the game in regulation with 10 seconds left and surviving two attempts at buzzer beaters by the Saints at the end of regulation and the end of overtime to win 99-97. Belanger finished with 26 points and Mussorici scored a game-high 33 points.

The tournament history between the two is rich as well with the 2014 championship game going to Truman 58-45. The 2017 opening round game played in Kirksville was won at the buzzer by the Saints 80-78. In 2019, the Bulldogs were down 16 points early in the fourth quarter and rallied for an 88-82 overtime win. Lastly, in 2021, Tiffany Davenport blocked a three-point shot by Mussorici at the buzzer to preserve a76-73 quarterfinal win in Pershing Arena.

Bulldogs In The GLVC Tournament:

Truman has been in the GLVC tournament in each of the 10 seasons they have been a member of the league, have played in two championship games (2014 and 2021) and advanced to the semis in 2014, 2019 and 2021.

Last year, the Bulldogs were the #4 seed and defeated #13 Quincy 67-62 in the opening round game but lost 83-75 in the quarterfinals with #5 seed Lewis.  

NCAA Regional Rankings:

The final NCAA rankings before selection Sunday were announced on Wednesday with Truman still within range of earning an at-large bid. The Bulldogs grabbed the 10th spot after dropping from eight the previous week. Ashland, Drury and Grand Valley State own the top three spots and are the top seeds in their respective league tournaments this weekend. Michigan Tech is the fourth ranked team and advanced to the GLIAC semifinals and will face Ferris State, who upset #8 ranked and #3 seed Wisconsin-Parkside on Thursday night. The fourth and fifth ranked teams, Kentucky Wesleyan and Trevecca Nazarene will meet in the GMAC semifinals and will face the winner of Ashland and #9 ranked Malone in the championship game. 

Lewis is the third GLVC team in the regional rankings at number seven and will open up their tournament against McKendree on Thursday night before possibly facing the winner of Truman/Maryville on Saturday. 

All-Conference Bulldogs:

Truman landed four players, two on the first team and boasted the GLVC Player of the Year this season when the league announced the all-conference team on Wednesday. Hannah Belanger, the league's leading scorer, became the first Truman player in program history to grab the top award in conference play when she was named the GLVC Player of the Year. Belanger was a unanimous first-team selection for the third straight season and was joined on the first team by Ellie Weltha for the second straight season. Gracie Stugart and Alex Fanning were both named to the third team this season, their first all-conference GLVC mentions. 

Team Season Milestone Watch:

The Bulldogs 78.1 scoring average currently ties fifth all-time with the 1994-95 season, the single season record is 84.4 points per game set in the 1989-90 season. 

The team's .467 shooting percentage is currently second all-time. The record is .469 set in the COVID shortened 2020-21 season and .454 set in 1998-99.

The Bulldogs have already set a single-season record for three-pointers made with 268. The previous high mark was 236 in 2018-19.

The team's 469 assists are sixth in the single-season top 10. The record is 515 set in1980-81 and the assist per game (16.7) is sixth best with the record being 17.8 set in 1986-87.

Individual Season Milestone Watch:

Hannah Belanger's 602 points scored is the second most in a season. The record is 638 held by Georgia Mueller (29 games) in 2007-08. 

The scoring average mark is also in jeopardy with Belanger sitting at 21.5 points per game while Mueller was at 22.0 in 07-08.

Belanger owns the three-pointer made record with 92 as the previous record was 80 held by assistant coach Amy Briggs in 2013-14.

Her .465 shooting behind the arc is well clear of Allie Norton's .452 mark set in 2012-13.

Belanger is third in Division II in triples made and is third in threes per game. Her 46.5 shooting mark is fifth in DII. 

Gracie Stugart is fifth in single-season assists with 142. The record in 187 by Susan Thereof in 90-91. Stugart is fourth in DII in assist/turnover ratio and 14th in the country in total assists.

Career Milestones:

Belanger owns the career three-point record with 287, is first in three-point attempts (715), second points per game (17.4) and third in points scored (1,846).

Ellie Weltha is fourth all-time in rebounds with 839. Third place is Georgia Mueller with 876. Weltha's .567 career field goal shooting percentage currently holds the top spot of all players with a minimum of 200 made, the current high is .548 by Katie Jaseckas.

While not counting on the Truman career lists, graduate transfer Alex Fanning has eye-popping career stats. Fanning has scored 1,280 points, pulled down 1,050 rebounds, blocked 261 shots and recorded 100 career steals. 

Truman Tidbits:

Truman State has won 15 or more games for 12 straight years now with their current 19-9 record. They have won 10 or more league games for 13 straight seasons and have topped last year's 13 win GLVC total with their final 15-5 record.

The conference wins record for the Bulldogs is 16 set in 2019-20.

The Bulldogs have won 20 or more games seven times in their history with the last coming in the 2019-20 season.

The Bulldogs have used the same starting lineup all season with Hannah Belanger, Hannah Pinkston, Alex Fanning, Ellie Weltha and Gracie Stugart making all 28 starts thus far.

Claire Rake, Emma Bulman and Gracie Neff have each appeared off the bench in all 28 games. Rake is second in three-pointers made with 54.

Maddie Niemeier has played in the last 15 straight after missing 10 of the first 13 games this season. 

The Bulldogs have played four overtime games this season and are 2-2 in those contests. 

The team has scored 80 points or more in 13 games this year and has a record of 10-3 in those games.

Head Coach Theo Dean is fourth on the career coaching wins list at Truman with 74. His .691 winning percentage is tops among all 11 previous coaches. Dean's teams are 58-18 in GLVC games and 27-10 in conference road games. 

The team, under Coach Dean, are 9-8 in neutral site games and 4-4 in the postseason.