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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – A daunting road trip is on the horizon for the Truman State women this week as the Bulldogs head to the metro areas of Chicago and Indianapolis for a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference games.
 
The Bulldogs dropped their home games last weekend to McKendree and Missouri-St. Louis and will be looking to avenge earlier season losses to Lewis on Thursday and the University of Indianapolis on Saturday. The Flyers edged out the Bulldogs 72-68 back on November 27^th while the Greyhounds took control and cruised to a 80-54 win on January 3^rd with both games being played in Pershing Arena.
 
Against McKendree last Thursday, the Bearcats used the second and third quarters to separate themselves from the Bulldogs in a 74-61 loss. Molly Joyce scored 22 points to lead Truman and Ellie Weltha added 17, however a 3-for-22 night from outside dampened the Bulldog fight.
 
It was a 30-16 second quarter that doomed the Bulldogs on Saturday against Missouri-St. Louis. The Bulldogs scored the last eight points of the first quarter to grab a 15-11 lead but the Tritons turned the tables to start the second and held Truman State without a field goal for nearly five minutes in the second quarter to take command. UMSL tallied 48 points in the paint and added 32 points off of 23 Truman State turnovers. Claire Rake made all six of her field goal attempts, including four from distance to lead the Bulldogs with 16 points.
 
In the first matchup with Lewis, the Bulldogs trailed by 11 at the end of the third quarter and 14 with over eight minutes to play. The Bulldogs made a charge and Emma Bulhman's bucket with 39 seconds left cut the lead down to two points. Lewis would miss on a shot and the Bulldogs gained possession with a chance to tie or take the lead. However a turnover on the opposing baseline with 13 seconds left forced the Bulldogs to foul and the Flyers took advantage to extend the lead out to the final score of 72-68.
 
Ellie Weltha scored 25 points with 15 rebounds and Bulman added 10. Grace Hilber scored 26 for Lewis.
 
The Flyers are 11-3 in conference this season and 12-8 overall. They have won three of their last four with wins over Missouri-St. Louis, Indianapolis and Missouri S&T and a 73-66 road loss to Maryville.
 
UINDY used a 16-7 run to end the first half and then outscored the Bulldogs 27-12 in the third quarter to run away with an 80-54 win back on January 3^rd. Elana Wells led five Greyhounds in double-digit scoring with 23 points and Jada Haines knocked down five threes for UINDY. Molly Joyce led Truman with 14 points and Ellie Weltha chipped in 11.
 
The Greyhounds are 11-9 overall and 8-6 in the conference. They return home after a sweep on the road last weekend with wins over Missouri S&T 71-70 and Maryville 80-55. UINDY will welcome Upper Iowa on Thursday prior to Truman's visit on Saturday afternoon.
 
About the Bulldogs:
Ellie Weltha is seven points shy of moving into fifth place on the Truman State all-time scoring list. Weltha went over 1,500 career points during the last two home games and sits with 1,521 points in 119 career games. Amy Eagan currently holds the fifth spot with 1,527 points, scoring in 100 career games. Her career .563 shooting percentage is clear of the school mark held by Katie Jaseckas of .548.
 
Weltha has averaged 15.4 points in 14 league games this season and 8.7 rebounds per conference game. She also leads the team with 13 blocks overall, seven coming in conference. Weltha has already eclipsed 1,000 career rebounds and is only the third Bulldog all-time to achieve that feat. She has lettered in three sports at Truman, softball, basketball and track & field. She was ninth at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships in the Shot Put as well as the GLVC champion in the Discus Throw.
 
Claire Rake is holding on to the second spot in scoring on the team overall at 9.4 points per game. She averages right at nine in conference play with a team-high 44 three-pointers made. Her season high in points and triples made was 23 on seven threes against Southwest Baptist on January 18.
 
Molly Joyce is second on the team in conference scoring at 10.2 points per game and is scoring 9.3 points overall. Since entering the starting lineup on January 18^th, Joyce has averaged nearly 14 points per outing and has games of 24, 22 and 19 points in that span. She has been over 10 in field goal attempts in three games with a season-high 20 shot attempts against McKendree last Thursday.  She also leads the team with 21 steals.
 
Gracie Neff has started the last 12 games and taken over the team lead in assists with 76. She has one double-double this season that came against Drury with a season-high 13 points and 10 assists. Neff is fifth in both conference-only and overall assists per game at 4.3 and 3.8 dimes respectively per game. 
 
Maddie Niemeier joined the starting lineup on January 11^th and has responded with four double-digit nights and a pair of double-doubles. Her season-high in points is 12 and rebounds is 14 both against William Jewell.
 
Bailey Kliewer is the active leader in games played with 126 in five seasons. The past four have been at Rogers (Okla.) State where she earned all-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association honors. Kliewer has 1,223 career points and is averaging 7.9 points this season as a Bulldog. In starting 12 of 20 games, Kliewer has been in double digits eight times, with one double-double and a single-game best 19 against Southwest Baptist.
 
Emma Bulman has started 11 of 20 games this season and averages 6.9 points. Bulman's single-game high this season is 18 points against McKendree and has been in double-figures in five games this season, including 14 against William Jewell.
 
Freshman Lizzie Boehm has averaged nearly 20 minutes per game in the last four contests. She has appeared in 15 overall games and has scored points in six of the last eight games. Boehm had 15 assists and eight steals thus far.
 
As a team, Truman is shooting 43% overall and scoring 70.8 points per game while opponents are shooting 42% overall and averaging 75.3 points. The Bulldogs are making 6.6 three-pointers per game, 15.8 free throws per outing, shooting 76% from the line. In the 14 GLVC games, the Bulldogs are shooting 42% overall, 27% from distance and 74% at the line.  
 
The team, on average, scores the most points in the fourth quarter at 19.5 per game and the fewest points in the first quarter at 16.4 per game. Opponents score their most points in the third quarter with a 20.7 per game average.
 
Theo Dean is in his fifth season at Truman State and has an 80-49 record. He is currently fourth on the all-time wins list at Truman State. Dean's teams have nearly won 66% of his GLVC games during his tenure with a 60-30 conference record. His squads are 32-14 in GLVC home games and 29-16 in conference road games.
 
Up Next:
The Bulldogs will play four straight at home beginning on February 15^th with a date with Maryville. It will be the most consecutive homes games for the team this season with visits by Missouri S&T, Illinois Springfield and Quincy.