KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The traditional Thanksgiving week stop and the opening of conference play highlight the Truman State Women's Basketball schedule this week. The Bulldogs will play Newman (Kan.) and Arkansas Fort Smith in the Drury Thanksgiving Classic on Tuesday and Wednesday before returning home to face Rockhurst on Saturday afternoon.
 
This will be the Bulldog's seventh sojourn to the Drury Classic since the 2016-17 season. They are 5-7 in the event all-time. Both opponents are from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. Newman (Kan.) and Truman State played in 2017, the last Thanksgiving tournament the Bulldogs went to a different location, Topeka, Kansas, with the Bulldogs winning 75-69. It will be the first meeting with Arkansas Fort Smith.
 
The Bulldogs will be looking to get back on the winning track as they have dropped their last four games including the two most recent home tilts to Washburn and Quincy over the weekend. Washburn scored the final seven points of the first half to lead by 11 and then pulled away for an 81-59 win on Friday afternoon. Quincy broke a 60-all tie to start the fourth quarter and shot a blistering 70% in the final period to down the 'Dogs 85-76 on Saturday.
 
Molly Joyce leads the Bulldogs in scoring at 18.3 points per game followed by Jordan Cunningham at 14.7 points per night. Cunningham set a new career-high with 26 points against Quincy on Saturday. Both are the top two three-point shooters for the Bulldogs with Joyce connecting 14 times and Cunningham knocking down 11 triples.
 
Bryar Duwe and Lexie White have also started all six games with Joyce and Cunningham. Duwe averages 9.3 points with nine three-pointers and White is at 5.2 points per game with a team-best five blocked shots.
 
Mallory Ott made her first start of the season against Quincy and made a strong impact with 14 points in 27 minutes of action. She was 5-of-8 from the field and made four of five free throws with six rebounds.
 
The Bulldogs have averaged 68.5 points while making 6.8 three-pointers per game and 12 free throws per night. On the defensive side, they have given up 70.8 points with opponents hitting 7.8 threes and 9.3 free throws per game.
 
Following Wednesday's game, the Bulldogs return to Pershing Arena to open up Great Lakes Valley Conference play against Rockhurst at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Hawks have won three of the last four matchups with the Bulldogs with all three wins occurring on the Rockhurst campus. The last Truman win was the last time the Hawks came to Pershing Arena as the Bulldogs won 75-62. Last year, the team's met just once in conference play and Rockhurst won 88-67 on January 25. The Bulldogs are 20-10 all-time against Rockhurst and 11-3 in Pershing Arena against the Hawks.
 
About the Opponents:
Newman is 3-3 on the season after going 2-26 in the first campaign under former Bulldog player and assistant coach Amy Briggs. The Jets have wins over Central Christian (75-59), William Jewell (68-52) and Emporia State (74-59).
 
Jaeden McMillin paces Newman in scoring at 14.8 points per game.
 
Arkansas Fort Smith is the newest member of the MIAA after a stint in the Lone Star Conference. The Lions are off to a 5-1 start after going 11-18 a year ago. They will play the Drury Panthers on Tuesday before facing the Bulldogs on Wednesday.
 
The Lions have three players scoring in double-figures led by Anna Trusty at 13.3 points, Morgan Browning at 12.7 points and Hannah Boyett at 11.7 points.
 
Rockhurst is 0-3 on the young season and will host Park (Mo) University on Wednesday night. They were 15-12 last season and 12-10 in the GLVC. They were picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches' poll.
 
Keegan Sullivan is off to a hot start at 19 points and 9.7 rebounds in the first three games. Macie Conway is second at 12.3 points per game.
 
Up Next:
The Bulldogs return to southwest Missouri for league games against Southwest Baptist and Drury on December 5^th and 7^th respectively.