ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Truman State's women's basketball season came to a close Friday afternoon as the Bulldogs fell to No. 3 seed Drury, 75-69, in the GLVC Tournament Quarterfinals at the Mark Twain Building. Despite an inspired comeback attempt and a dominant fourth quarter, Truman State could not overcome a double-digit second-half deficit, ending the year with a 17-12 record.
The Panthers wasted little time establishing themselves, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead on a driving layup and free throw from Rhi Gibbons. Truman State answered immediately when Lexie White connected on a three-pointer off an assist from Katelyn Odem to knot the game at 3-3. The teams traded buckets early, with McCallop evening the score at 5-5 with a driving layup before Sara Mendel's layup pushed Drury back ahead at 7-5.
Drury then began to pull away behind a dominant stretch in the middle of the quarter. Josie Storey nailed a three-pointer to push the lead to 14-7, and Teague Muncy added a second-chance layup to extend it to 16-7 — Drury's largest lead of the opening period. Truman State responded with a Morgan Miller driving layup and free throw to cut it to 16-10, and after a Gibbons step-back pulled the lead back to eight, McCallop kept the Bulldogs within striking distance with a jumper to make it 18-12.
In the final seconds, Kaylee King hit a three-pointer to push Drury to 21-13, but White answered at the buzzer with a step-back three-pointer to cut the deficit to five, sending the Bulldogs to the second quarter trailing 21-16.
The second quarter proved to be the most volatile of the game. Drury extended its advantage early; Mendel's layup made it 23-16, and a technical foul gave Drury two King free throws, pushing the lead to 25-16 with just under nine minutes remaining in the half.
Truman State refused to fold. White converted two free throws to trim the margin to 25-18, and then Mallory Ott capitalized on a Drury turnover with a three-pointer to make it 25-21. McCallop then turned two more Panthers turnovers into back-to-back baskets, a driving layup to pull within two at 25-23, and then a pull-up three-pointer that gave the Bulldogs a 25-26 lead with 6:31 remaining in the half.
That lead was short-lived. Drury's Raegan Halliday restored the Panthers' advantage with a pull-up at 27-26, but McCallop answered immediately with a pull-up of her own to put Truman State back on top 27-28 — the second time the Bulldogs had led in the period. From there, Drury went on a devastating 11-0 run to close out the half. Storey scored inside to make it 29-28, Mendel grabbed an offensive rebound and converted for 31-28, King hit a three-pointer off an assist from Muncy at 34-28, and Storey knocked down another three off another Muncy assist to push the lead to 37-28. A Jazz Gray free throw capped the run at 38-28.
Odem's driving layup and a Mendel free throw pushed the lead to 39-30, but Avery Rausch connected from three at the buzzer to bring the Bulldogs within six at halftime, 39-33.
The third quarter was Truman State's most difficult stretch of the afternoon. Shooting just 2-of-10 from the field and 0-for-4 from three, the Bulldogs managed only 10 points as Drury pushed its lead to as many as 10.
McCallop kept TSU from falling out of the game entirely, scoring on a turnaround in the paint to make it 39-35, and later converting a free throw and a pair of free throws from the line at 42-36 and then 44-37. But Mendel was dominant on Drury's end, repeatedly creating second-chance opportunities. She scored on a layup, then hit two free throws to extend the lead to 48-39, and Muncy added a free throw to push it to 49-39. White's pull-up jumper made it 49-41, McCallop added free throws to trim it to 51-43, but Halliday hit a pull-up with 10 seconds left to send Drury to the fourth quarter with a 53-43 advantage.
Facing a 10-point deficit entering the final period, Truman State came out fighting. The Panthers pushed the margin to its game-high 12 on a Muncy layup at 55-43, but the Bulldogs responded with a flurry. Miller converted a second-chance three-pointer to make it 55-46, and McCallop drilled a three-pointer moments later to cut it to 55-49. A Gibbons free throw made it 57-49, but Neylan Vila Delicado converted a hook shot in the paint and Ott added a layup to pull within four at 57-53.
McCallop then converted two free throws to make it 57-55, and for a brief moment, the Bulldogs were within two possessions with momentum swinging in their direction. Drury's Halliday answered with a clutch three-pointer from a Panther transition opportunity to push the lead back to five at 60-55, and Mendel added a second-chance layup for 62-55.
McCallop refused to let the Bulldogs go quietly. She converted two more free throws to make it 62-57, and Vila Delicado hit a layup and a free throw to pull TSU within two points at 62-60. McCallop then added a free throw to make it a one-point game at 62-61 with 1:46 left, the closest the Bulldogs had been since the second quarter.
From there, Drury made its free throws down the stretch. Gibbons went 4-for-4 from the line over the game's final 1:25 to push the lead to 66-61, and after McCallop's layup made it 66-63, King hit a three-pointer with 27 seconds remaining for 69-63. White's three-pointer with 19 seconds left trimmed it to 71-66, and Rausch connected from deep at the four-second mark to make the final margin 75-69.
Team Statistics
| Stat |
Truman State |
Drury |
| Score |
69 |
75 |
| Field Goals |
22-61 (36.1%) |
23-59 (39.0%) |
| 3-Point FGs |
9-25 (36.0%) |
6-15 (40.0%) |
| Free Throws |
16-23 (69.6%) |
23-33 (69.7%) |
| Rebounds (Total) |
29 |
51 |
| Offensive Rebounds |
7 |
17 |
| Defensive Rebounds |
22 |
34 |
| Assists |
7 |
8 |
| Turnovers |
10 |
17 |
| Steals |
6 |
2 |
| Blocks |
2 |
4 |
| Points in the Paint |
22 |
26 |
| Second Chance Points |
5 |
20 |
| Points off Turnovers |
11 |
17 |
| Bench Points |
14 |
22 |
| Biggest Lead |
1 |
12 |
Bulldog Statistical Leaders
Truman State finishes the year 17-12, a three win improvement over a season ago. With the vast majority of the Bulldogs team returning for next season, Truman will take the experience of a close bout in the GLVC tournament to compete for a GLVC Championship next season.
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