KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman State Bulldogs will return to southwest Missouri for a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference league games this week. Truman State will be at Southwest Baptist on Thursday evening and at Drury on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Bulldogs are the only team in the conference to have played nine games during the month of November and are sitting at 4-5 overall and 1-0 in the GLVC. They picked up that first conference  win with a solid 82-64 victory over Rockhurst (Mo.) last Saturday in Pershing Arena.  Jordan Cunningham scored 25 points and added 10 rebounds, Molly Joyce scored 18 points and Lexie White notched a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards in the win.
 
The victory capped a 2-1 week for Truman State with a lopsided 80-48 win over Newman (Kan.) on Tuesday afternoon and a tough late loss to Arkansas Fort Smith 75-73 the following day. Joyce topped 30 points for the second time this season against the Lions of Arkansas Fort Smith with four three-pointers and a 10-of-12 performance at the foul line. In that game, the Bulldogs launched 36 three-pointers which was the third most in a single-game in Bulldog history.
 
Southwest Baptist has won three straight against Truman at home. The Bearcats defended their home floor on February 29^th last year with an  88-74 win. The two teams split their GLVC games last season with the Bulldogs prevailing 99-75 in Kirksville back in mid-January. Overall, SBU owns a 34-23 all-time record against Truman State and an 18-9 mark at home.
 
Saturday, the Bulldogs will visit the perennial powerhouse Drury for the first of two encounters this season. The Lady Panthers defeated Southwest Baptist on Monday night 84-70, which shook off a 79-73 loss to Newman on their home court last Wednesday. Drury is 4-2 on the year with their other blemish coming at home over Ferris (Mich.) State 81-77.
 
Its been a rather one-sided affair with Drury as the Lady Panthers hold a 21-1 edge over the Bulldogs in the all-time series. They have won all 13 games played in Springfield and swept the two meetings last season by scores of 93-68 and 92-82.
 
About the Bulldogs:
Molly Joyce is third in scoring in the GLVC after the first month of action. Joyce has averaged 19.1 points per game this season and has two of the three 30-point plus outings within the conference so far. She leads the Bulldogs with 20 triples made, 15 steals and is shooting 86% (44-of-51) from the foul line this season. She was the first GLVC Player of the Week this season and is the reigning GLVC Freshman of the Year.
 
Jordan Cunningham has made an immediate impact in her graduate year at Truman State. The Missouri Western product is second in scoring at 15.7 points, leads in rebounding at 4.9, and assists with 31 along with 14 steals and six blocked shots. Cunningham has been in double-figures in all but two games this season and has two 20-point plus performances thus far.
 
Bryar Duwe is second in three-pointers made with 15 and contributing 9.1 points per game in nine starts. Duwe is 15-of-39 (39%) from outside this season and is second on the team with 20 assists with eight steals.
 
Lexie White has been the fourth player that has started all nine this season. White averages nearly six points and over four rebounds per night and posted a season-high 12 and 11 rebounds in the Bulldogs last outing against Rockhurst on Saturday.
 
Mallory Ott has started the last four games for Truman and has averaged over 20 minutes per night on the floor. She has made a three-pointer in each of her last two games and posted a season-high 14 points in her first start against Quincy back on November 23.
 
Emma Bulman, Gracie Neff and Katelyn Odem have each appeared in all nine contests. Bulman averages 21.3 minutes and scored a season-high 11 points in the victory over Newman. Neff was the team's leader in assists last season and in nearly 15 minutes per game has 13 dimes this year. Odem gets around 10 minutes per game on the floor and scored five points against Arkansas Fort Smith.
 
Theo Dean is in his sixth season at his alma mater Truman State and needs one win to tie for third place on the all-time coaching list with 87 and John Sloop.
 
About the Opponents:
Southwest Baptist lost their first three games of the season but then picked up wins over Haskell Indian Nation, Missouri Baptist and Lincoln to even their record. They opened up conference play on Monday night with a loss to Drury.
 
Four players average in double-digits for SBU with Odett Schlegl leading the charge at 13.3 a night. She is their leading three-point shooter with 18 makes. Amber Storr (12.9), Tori Hamilton (12.2) and LJ Boyland (10.6) round out the top scorers for the Bearcats.
 
SBU was 11-17 overall and 7-15 in the GLVC last season and were picked 13^th in the preseason coaches poll.
 
Rhi Gibbons paces the Lady Panthers to the tune of 17.7 points per game and is shooting nearly 62% from the floor this season. Drury is averaging nearly 80 points per outing, shooting an efficient 37% from distance and grabbing over seven rebounds more than their opponents per night.
 
The Lady Panthers were 27-5 and 18-4 in the GLVC last year and were picked to finish second behind Lewis (Ill.) for the league title.
 
Up Next:
The Bulldogs will be off for finals until December 19, when they travel to Hawaii for a pair of games in the Hawaii-Hilo Shootout.