KIRKSVILLE, Mo. –  The Truman State Women's Basketball team will hope the friendly confines of Pershing Arena will help turn things around as the Bulldogs play host to three games over the next five days.
 
The home swing will begin on Thursday night when Upper Iowa visits Kirksville for a 5:15 p.m. evening contest followed by conference-leader Lewis (Ill.) on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.  Lincoln (Mo.) University will be the opponent on Monday, January 20^th at 5 p.m., which is the make-up date from an earlier matchup that was postponed due to weather.
 
The Bulldogs are mired in a six-game losing streak that began at Drury (Mo.) back on December 7^th. Their two most recent defeats came on the road in conference play last weekend when they dropped a 73-50 decision to Illinois Springfield last Thursday and a 72-60 game to McKendree (Ill.) on Saturday.
 
Graduate transfer Jordan Cunningham has continued to be a bright spot for the team as she is third in overall scoring within the Great Lakes Valley Conference at 17 points per game and first in conference-only scoring at 21.5 points per night. She had scored in double-figures in 11 of the last 12 games including six games of 20 or more points. 
 
Cunningham is nearing 1,000 career points scored in her fifth season of college basketball. She has 961 in 134 games played and has already established a season benchmark in scoring with 272 points this season. Her previous season-best total was 249 as a sophomore at Missouri Western. Her single-game career-high is 27 points, which came against Southwest Baptist on December 5^th.
 
Lexie White is second in scoring during conference action at 10.3 points per outing. White matched her season-high with 15 points on Saturday against McKendree and was 6-of-8 from the field while adding nine rebounds. She had an 11-rebound performance earlier against Rockhurst on November 11^th and a 10-rebound night against Missouri S&T on January 3^rd. She is third in conference stats in free-throw shooting percentage with 12 connections on 13 attempts (90%). White has started all 16 games this season and averages 7.2 points overall.
 
Molly Joyce is the team leader in three-pointers made overall with 24 and scores at a 14.3 points per game clip. Joyce has launched a team-high 92 triples this season after firing 102 during her freshman season last year.  After starting the season with 10 games of double-digit scoring, including two 30-point plus nights, Joyce has topped 10 points or more in just two of the last six games. Joyce is fourth overall in the GLVC in free throw attempts with 80 and seventh in percentage at 81%.
Bryar Duwe is the fourth Bulldog to start all 16 games thus far. She is second on the team in triples made with 23 and averages 8.6 points per game. Duwe scored 13 points in a pair of games this season, first against Winona (Minn.) State and most recently against Missouri S&T on January 3^rd.
 
Katelyn Odem has been thrust into the starting lineup in the last five games after coming off the bench in the first 11. She scored a season-high 13 points in 29 minutes against Hawaii-Hilo on December 21^st.
 
Emma Bulman (3.2/g), Gracie Neff (2.1/g), Tori Standefer (2.4/g) and McKenna Williams (3.6/g) have come off the bench in all six conference games thus far. Bulman played in her 100^th collegiate game last Saturday at McKendree, Neff has appeared in 119 games over the course of five seasons and has 362 career assists. Standefer is in her first season with Truman State after playing in 48 games at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Williams is a transfer from Rock Valley College.
 
As a team, Truman State averages 68 points and allows 71 points per game. They shoot 40% from the field. The Bulldogs average 24.5 three-point attempts per game (41% of shots taken) but are making only 6.4 triples a game (26%). The Bulldogs take the second-most three-pointers in conference games at 25.7/game (43% of shots taken) while Maryville leads at 27.3 (42% of shots taken).
 
The highest single-game scoring this season was 82 points against Rockhurst and the lowest point total was 50 at Illinois Springfield.
 
Bulldogs Against Opponents:
Upper Iowa swept the season series with Truman State in their first season in the GLVC last year. They won 88-86 in overtime in Pershing Arena on December 2^nd of 2023 and won going away 82-63 in Fayette, Iowa a week later on December 9^th.  The Bulldogs had won the previous seven meetings.
 
Upper Iowa was picked fifth in the GLVC preseason poll and are at 3-4 in conference games. They have dropped three straight against Maryville, Lewis and Indianapolis.
 
Lewis has taken five out of the last six games with the Bulldogs, including four straight heading into Saturday's matchup. The Flyers swept the series last year with a 72-68 victory in Kirksville on November 27, 2023 and a 71-57 win at home on February 8^th. Truman State's last win came on the road in 2022 when they prevailed 71-65.
 
The Flyers enter the week on the longest winning streak in the conference at 11 games and are the only team without a loss at 6-0.
 
Lincoln picked up a win over Truman State when the two teams met in a non-conference tilt in November of 2023 at the Thanksgiving tournament hosted by Drury. The Blue Tigers won 85-73. It was their first game against the Bulldogs in nearly a decade. All time, Truman State holds a commanding 47-15 mark against Lincoln.
 
The Blue Tigers are the only team in the conference without a win. They enter the week at 0-7 with a game with Missouri-St. Louis on Thursday and a bye from conference action on Saturday.
 
Up Next:
The Bulldogs will be off on Thursday and then make the quick trip over the rival Quincy on Saturday at 1 p.m. The two teams played a non-conference game back on November 23 in Kirksville and the Hawks won 85-76.