Women's Basketball 12/14/2018 8:47:00 AM

Women Head To Florida For Cruzin' Classic

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – With fall semester finals complete, the Truman Bulldogs head to sunny Florida for the Cruzin Classic and a pair of games against teams from the Sunshine State Conference in Fort Lauderdale.

The Bulldogs will open play against Palm Beach Atlantic on Monday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. (ET) then face Barry University at 5:30 p.m. (ET) on Tuesday.

The 9-1 Truman squad matched their best start through the first ten games since the 1998-99 and 2007-08 seasons after defeating #4 (NAIA) Columbia College 66-57 back on December 5. Only the 2007-08 team won 10 of their first 11 games to start a season.

The Bulldogs are also gathering more national attention. Truman received votes the past two weeks in the WBCA Division II Coaches Poll and this week's edition has the Bulldogs picking up more nods and is on the cusp of entering the top 25. GLVC colleagues Drury and Lewis are inside the top 25 with the Panthers at four and Flyers at 20. In the vote totals, the Bulldogs would be in a tie for 26^thspot with Augustana (S.D.) with 39 points.

Truman returns to the state of Florida for the first time since the 2010 season. That year, the Bulldogs opened the season in Fort Lauderdale with losses to Barry (63-44) and Nova Southeastern (73-67).

This will be the first matchup between Truman and Palm Beach Atlantic. The Sailfish are 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the Sunshine State Conference. They have dropped their last four outings including a 69-41 loss in conference at home to Rollins (Fla.) College on December 7.

The game against Barry back in 2010 was the only encounter between the two schools on the hardwood. The Buccaneers were 19-11 last season and are 3-5 this year. They got a three-pointer from Ida Andersson with three seconds left to win their last game 64-63 over Eckerd on December 8. Barry will play West Texas A&M on Monday prior to the meeting with the Bulldogs.

Eagan Nearing 100:
Head Coach Amy Eagan is three wins away from reaching 100 wins at Truman. That total would tie Mary Jo Murray for the most by a Bulldog head coach. Murray led the Bulldogs from 1976-1983.

Eagan has the best winning percentage of any Truman women's coach at .635. Eagan's overall collegiate coaching record is 173-135 with stops at St. Ambrose (Iowa) and Ashford (Iowa).

In non-conference games under Eagan, Truman is 38-18, 14-7 in neutral site games and 22-17 against Division II opponents.

Bulldog Bites:

Truman is averaging 70.3 points per game with a high of 84 against Missouri Western and a low of 59, twice.
The Bulldogs largest margin of win this season is 17 points over Missouri Western.
Truman has won the glass in all but two games this year and has a rebounding margin of +5.4. The Bulldogs won the rebounding battle in 18 games last season and won 11 of those games.
Ten players have played in all 10 games and all have averaged near or over 10 minutes per game.
Rachel Edmundson has the single-game high in points this year with 20 coming against Rockhurst in the GLVC opener. She made six of eight three-pointers that game for her fourth career 20+ night and has 32 double-figure scoring dates. She is the active leader in points scored with 719.
Sloane Totta eclipsed the quarter record for points in the game against Lindenwood. Totta scored 16 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter to break Courtney Strait's mark of 14 in the fourth quarter against Illinois Springfield in 2016.
Maddie Re has two of the three double-doubles this season and has pulled down 8.9 rebounds per game, good for third among all GLVC rebounders.
The Bulldogs have won two games this year when entering the fourth quarter trailing. Since the quarter system started in 2014-15, Truman is 5-30 when trailing entering the fourth quarter. When leading entering the fourth, Truman is 54-6.
Brooke Bailey has cracked the Truman top 10 in three-pointers made with 105 and is ninth overall. Amy Briggs is eighth at 133 and Allie Norton is the career three-point leader at Truman with 277.
In conference statistics, Truman is eighth in scoring offense (70.3), seventh in scoring defense (61.7), fifth in free throw percentage (.738) and fourth in defensive field goal percentage (.379).

About Palm Beach Atlantic:

The Sailfish are led in her first season as head coach by Manisha Redus and are in their second season in the Sunshine State Conference. Redus was hired in May after spending the three previous years at the University of West Georgia as an assistant coach. Redus started for the Alabama Crimson Tide in both her junior and senior seasons as a player.

Jonika Garvin is the leading scorer for the Sailfish at 13.2 points per game. Garvin has put up 100 shots, 67 more than her nearest teammate in Ciara Cumbie. Garvin shoots 27% from the field and had eight blocks. Cumbie averages 8.5 points and a 7.3 rebounding per game average.

As a team, the Sailfish average 50.8 points per game while giving up 62.5 points. They shoot 33% overall, 24% from three and 60% from the free throw line.

PBA was 4-22 last season and 3-17 in the SSC.

About Barry:
Barry has topped 19 wins in two of the last three years and are 3-5 to start this season. Coach Bill Sullivan is in his 13^thseason on the bench and is 1-0 over Truman in his career.

Nichel Tampa and Ida Andersson lead the Buccaneers in scoring. Tampa averages 15.0 points and 6.8 rebounds and Andersson at 14.4 points and 8.1 boards. Andersson is shooting 43% from outside making a team-high 24 three-pointers.

Barry averages 66.6 points offensively and 71.6 defensively. They shoot 40% from the field, 32% from three and 66% from the free throw line.

Around the GLVC:
Truman and Drury are the two GLVC teams with nine wins thus far. Southern Indiana has eight. Drury is the only school without a loss, while Truman, Southern Indiana, Lewis and Bellarmine all have just one defeat.

Following this week's action, the majority of games played will be conference games until the end of February.

Jessica Kelliher (Lewis) and Haley Diestelkamp (Drury) are scoring over 20 points per night. Kelliher averages a double-double with 23.1 points and 10.3 rebounds and Diestelkamp averages 20.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. Diestelkamp has the single-game high in points this season with 42 coming against Southwest Baptist on November 13.

Truman Individual Conference Rankings:
Scoring: Katie Jaseckas (11.6/23rd); Brooke Bailey (10.7/26^th)
Rebounding: Maddie Re (8.9/3rd); Katie Jaseckas (6.2/15^th)
Field Goal Percentage: Katie Jaseckas (.577/5^th)
Assists: Brooke Bailey (3.10/11^th)
Free Throw Percentage: Allison Thomas (.872/6th)
Blocked Shots: Katie Jaseckas (9/9^th)
Assist/Turnover Ratio: Brooke Bailey (1.07/14^th)
Offensive Rebounds: Maddie Re (2.60/T8^th); Katie Jasekcas (2.60/T8^th)
Defensive Rebounds: Maddie Re (6.30/5^th)

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will next play in 2019 and have one of the toughest starts to begin with. Truman will play their first four games after the break on the road starting with nationally-ranked Lewis on January 3 at 5:30 p.m. The trip continues on Saturday January 5 against Indianapolis. After that weekend, Truman will play the other 1-loss conference teams in Southern Indiana and Bellarmine.

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Players Mentioned

#02 Brooke Bailey: G; 5' 6"; Redshirt Senior

#31 Rachel Edmundson: F; 6' 0"; Senior

#54 Katie Jaseckas: F; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#23 Maddie Re: F; 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman

#04 Sloane Totta: G; 5' 9"; Junior

#42 Allison Thomas: C; 6' 2"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#02 Brooke Bailey
: 5' 6"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#31 Rachel Edmundson
: 6' 0"; Senior
: F

#54 Katie Jaseckas
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: F

#23 Maddie Re
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman
: F

#04 Sloane Totta
: 5' 9"; Junior
: G

#42 Allison Thomas
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: C