KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Truman State's quest for a conference championship will begin on Thursday evening as the Bulldog women square off against the regular season champions of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, Lewis University. Tip-off time is slated for 6 p.m. at Hyland Arena, on the campus of Lindenwood University in Saint Charles, Missouri.
 
The last time these two teams met, back on January 18th in Pershing Arena, the Lewis Flyers were riding a 12-game winning streak while the Bulldogs had lost seven straight. The result was a 69-60 Truman State win powered by a 30-point fourth quarter by Truman State. Fast forward to Thursday, and Lewis once again has won 12 straight games, with Truman coming off a tough home loss to William Jewell after leading by 18 points in the second half.
 
These two schools have met four previous times in the GLVC Postseason Tournament. In 2014, the Bulldogs defeated the Flyers 84-70 on their path to winning the league's crown that season. Lewis won 71-61 in 2018. The teams played in both 2022 and 2023 at the conference tournament, and the Flyers took both games by scores of 83-75 and 68-65, the latter occurring in the semifinal round.
 
Lewis was the preseason favorite to win the conference and has now steadily moved up the national rankings, sitting at 14th in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll. They boast a 25-2 overall record and went 19-1 in the GLVC.
 
That one loss circles back to January 18.
 
Lewis led for the majority of the game but by no more than six points. The Flyers led 42-39 at the end of the third quarter, but it was the start of the fourth that turned the tide of the game. Tori Standefer ignited an 8-2 run and tied the game with a three-pointer coming out of the quarter break.
 
Truman would go up nine points at 62-53 with 2:52 to play and got clutch shots from the entire team down the stretch. The Bulldogs went 9-of-12 from the field in the fourth, made all three three-point attempts, and were 9-of-10 from the foul line.
 
Jordan Cunningham went over 1,000 career points during the game and finished with a game-high 19 for the Bulldogs while adding three blocked shots. She was joined in double figures by Bryar Duwe with 11, Emma Bulman with 10, and Standefer with 10.
 
Lewis got 18 points each from Taylor Gugliuzza and Jenna Badali while having their 12-game overall winning streak snapped, 19-game streak within GLVC games stopped, and 12-straight road game winning streak ended.
 
The Flyers have not tasted defeat since that January 18th date. In the 12 victories since, they picked up a two-point win over Drury in Springfield, a five-point win on the road at McKendree, a one-point victory over Maryville in St. Louis, and a three-point spread over Quincy at home.
 
The Bulldogs found their own footing after that win over Lewis and claimed triumphs in eight of their last 12 contests. Key wins over Maryville and Missouri-St. Louis helped push Truman State into the tournament field, and the road win at Indianapolis last Thursday punched their ticket to the GLVC dance.
 
However, the long road trip to Indianapolis on Thursday may have taken the gas out of the tank late against William Jewell on Saturday. Molly Joyce's layup midway through the third quarter gave the Bulldogs a 49-31 advantage over the Cardinals. William Jewell scored the next eight points, and the lead was trimmed to five points to start the fourth.
 
The Cardinals tied the game at 57 apiece, but the Bulldogs regained the lead and went up by as many as five with two minutes showing. A pair of three-pointers by Kirsten Hauck tightened things back up to 69-68 with under a minute to go, and Kate Hillyer's driving layup with 11 seconds left put Jewell in front for the first time since the first quarter. The Bulldogs had one last chance, but a 10-foot jumper was off the mark, and the Cardinals snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Bulldogs, winning 70-69.
 
Truman In The GLVC Tournament:
 
Since joining the conference in 2013-14, this will mark the 11th postseason tournament for the Bulldogs. The 2023-24 season was the first time the team did not make the GLVC tournament. Truman State won the championship in 2013-14 and played in the title game in 2021. They made it to the semifinal round three times, the last in 2023 in the three-point loss to Lewis.
 
About the Bulldogs:
 
Graduate player Jordan Cunningham and Molly Joyce, both expected to earn all-conference honors, lead the Bulldogs this season. Cunningham is the statistical leader on the squad in points (16.1), rebounds (5.0), assists (3.2), steals (1.6), blocks (0.9), and minutes played (33.5).
 
Cunningham finished third behind Upper Iowa's Mia Huberty and McKendree's Baylie Parks with nine 20-point or more games this season. She was fifth in the conference in overall scoring per game and fourth in conference-only scoring at 17.1 per night. She earned the GLVC's Player of the Week honor on February 24 and has three double-doubles this season while starting all 30 games.
 
Joyce led the league in 30-point games with three this season. She was the GLVC's Freshman of the Year last season and followed up that campaign with a 15.1 points per night average this season. Joyce set a career high with 34 points back on November 9th against Ursuline and is one of the top free throw shooters in the GLVC at 84.8%. She has made 134 out of 158 free throws this season, and in conference games, Joyce leads the league at 88.8% with 87 makes out of 98 attempts. The 98 attempts are the fifth most by a player in the GLVC.
 
Bryar Duwe has finished her sophomore season strong, scoring in double-figures in four of the last seven games with three 17-point efforts and a career-high 20 against Indianapolis last Thursday. Duwe took over the team lead in three-pointers made with 50 this season, and she has made 13 in the last four games. She played in only seven games as a freshman but has started 29 of 30 as a sophomore.
 
Emma Bulman is also closing her Bulldog career on an upswing. Bulman has started the last four games and responded by averaging 11.5 points in those games with eight three-pointers and 21 rebounds. Bulman made 11 starts as a junior and has played in 114 career games, all in a Truman State uniform.
 
Freshman Katelyn Odem has started 18 of the last 19 games and has provided nearly 20 minutes a game with 4.5 points and 2.1 rebounds.
 
Departing seniors Gracie Neff, Tori Standefer, and Kaitlyn Patke have each played key roles down the stretch for the Bulldogs. Neff has knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the final three games with an average of around 12 minutes per contest. Standefer scored 12 points with a 3-for-3 night from outside against Jewell on Saturday and has averaged over five points in 20 league games. Patke got her first collegiate start on Senior Day, and in the last four games, she has scored 25 of her 51 season points.
 
As a team, the Bulldogs are third in GLVC games in scoring at 72.5 points, third in three-pointers made per game at 7.8, and second in free throw shooting at 76%.
 
Theo Dean is completing his sixth season at the helm of the Bulldogs and is third in all-time wins at the school with 96. He has a 57% overall winning percentage and a 62% winning percentage in conference games.