KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman State Women's Basketball team will begin their 53
rd season this weekend when they travel to Cedarville, Ohio for the annual Great Lakes Valley/Great Midwest Athletic Conference challenge. The Bulldogs will play the host Yellowjackets on Friday at 5 p.m. (ET) and Ursuline (Ohio) at 1 p.m. (ET) on Saturday.
Head Coach
Theo Dean begins his sixth season at the helm of the Bulldogs and is closing in on the top three in all-time coaching wins for the program with an 82-55 record. He is five wins shy of tying John Sloop for third place on the Truman State charts.
This will be the second straight year that Quincy (Ill.), Truman State, Cedarville and Ursuline will get together to start the season. Last year in Quincy, the Bulldogs split with the pair from the GMAC with a 66-57 loss to Ursuline followed by an 85-68 win over Cedarville. Ursuline has been on the schedule's opening weekend the past four seasons and the two teams have split the games.
Truman State split their two exhibition games. They hosted NAIA-William Woods on October 20 and defeated the Owls 87-53. Four players scored in double figures with
Maddie Niemeier leading the way with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Molly Joyce added 13 and
Emma Bulman 10 while graduate transfer
Jordan Cunningham also finished with 10 points.
A week later, the Bulldogs stepped into Mizzou Arena to face the University of Missouri in Columbia. The Tigers won going away 112-62 but Cunningham and Joyce each scored in double-figures with 13 and 12 each and were joined by Lexi White with 10.
The Bulldogs hope to bounce back after a 7-21 overall record from a season ago. That snapped a string of 14 campaigns of 10 or more victories and 12 years of finishing .500 or above. The team was picked 11
th in the preseason GLVC coaches' poll.
Joyce was the GLVC Freshman of the Year in 2023-24 and is the returning leading scorer. She averaged 10.9 points while starting the final 14 games of the season. She had one double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, had a single-game high of 24 points against Southwest Baptist and made 77% of her free throws.
Bulman, Neimeier and
Gracie Neff are returning upperclassmen to the squad. Neff is in her third season with the Bulldogs and starting her fifth collegiate year with 103 games experience as a guard. Bulman has averaged just under five points per game in 84 contests and Niemeier will be looked to expand her presence down in the post after averaging 7.4 points and 5.9 rebounds a year ago.
Kaitlyn Patke (junior, forward),
Avery Larson (redshirt sophomore, center),
Bryar Duwe (sophomore, guard),
Lizzie Boehm (sophomore, guard) and
Lexie White (sophomore, guard) all return experience from last season.
Nicky Huss (forward) and
Mallory Ott (forward) are redshirt freshmen in 2024-25.
Newcomers to the team include transfers
Jordan Cunningham from Missouri Western,
Tori Standefer from Missouri-St. Louis and
McKenna Williams from Rock Valley College. Cunninham has played in 118 games for the Griffons and has averaged 5.8 points with 193 assists, 39 blocked shots and 92 steals. Standefer played in 48 games for the Tritons over the course of three seasons and averaged 1.6 points per contest. Williams tallied 8.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and started all 36 games last year as her Rock Valley Golden Eagles posted a 34-2 overall record.
The three true freshmen on the squad are
Sophia Hope (forward),
Katelyn Odem (guard) and
Braylee Rogers (guard).
About the Opponents:
Cedarville was picked 10
th in the 13-team GMAC preseason poll and was 5-22 a year ago. KaCee Kyle is the returning leading scorer with 9.1 points per outing and started 26 of 27 games.
The Yellowjackets averaged 60 points per night while allowing over 76 points.
Ursuline occupied the spot just ahead of Cedarville in that GMAC poll checking in at the ninth spot. The Arrows were 17-10 last season and were 10-10 in conference play. Senior Riley Stopp is the returning leading scorer at 11.5 points per game.
Ursuline finished in a tie for eighth place in the GMAC regular season and lost on tiebreakers to qualify for the league's postseason tournament. They averaged 65 points offensively while allowing 61 points per night on the defensive side of the ball.
Up Next:
Truman State will return visits to Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) and Winona (Minn.) State next weekend.
The Bulldogs hosted each last year downing Winona 83-59 and falling to Concordia at the buzzer 74-72. Friday's game at Concordia starts at 6 p.m. while Saturday's game at Winona tips off at 3 p.m.
