Complete Notes (.pdf)
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
Game Preview:
Looking to build some momentum after an eight-point victory against Lincoln on Saturday, the Truman women's basketball team will face the University of Central Missouri Jennies in the final game of the first round of MIAA play on Wednesday night in Warrensburg. Tip off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs are one game ahead of the Jennies in the conference standings after the first 10 league games. Truman is sitting at 5-5 while Central is 4-6 and currently holds the eighth and final tournament spot if the season would end today. Both teams have .500 overall records with the Jennies playing two more games, both in non-conference play.
In Saturday's action, the Bulldogs overcame a ice cold start as they trailed the Blue Tigers 19-6 with just over four minutes to play in the first half. Freshman Kayla Klopfenstein knocked down a pair of triples to jump start a 14-2 run to end the first half and the Bulldogs would eventually take the lead for good on a Breanna Daniel's three-pointer with 5:39 left to play. Daniels finished with her lowest point total of the season at just 10 points but 10 of the 12 Truman players notched a bucket in a balanced scoring day.
Daniels is the only Bulldog averaging in double-figures in the scoring column at 15.2 points per game and has a 19 straight 10-point plus games streak going. She is the team's leading three-pointer at 27 for the season averaging just under two a game.
Five other Bulldogs average over five points per game with freshman Nicole Gloor second at 9.9, senior Amy Galey at 6.8, sophomores Becka McHenry at 6.2, Jennifer Conway at 5.9 and Megan Sharpe at 5.0. Galey leads the team in assists at 4.4 per game while posting the best three-point percentage on the team with 12 makes in just 26 attempts (46.2%). She is also second on the team in rebounding at 5.2 boards per game.
The Bulldogs have four players that have over 20 offensive rebounds and the team averages 14 offensive boards per game. Conway leads the pack with 29 and has the overall team rebounding lead at 5.8 per contest. Sharpe is second with 26 followed by Daniels' 24 and junior Erin Glogovsky's 21.
The Jennies started the 2010-11 season picked as one of the top three teams in the MIAA, even garnering some first-place votes in both the media and coaches polls. They started the season winning five of their first seven games but a 74-62 loss at Missouri Southern began a five of six downhill spiral. The Jennies have since won two of their last three including a 56-53 road win in their last outing at Missouri Western on Saturday night.
Coach Dave Slifer won his 500th game and Kara Fleming scored her 1000th career point in the three-point victory over the Griffons. Western led by seven in the first half but the two teams could not get separation in the second 20 minutes with the Jennies getting three free throws, one by Rebecca Roberts and two by Flemming in the final 30 seconds and held on for the win. It was the Jennies' only second lead of the ballgame. Roberts finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds and leads the team overall with 13.5 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per contest.
Last Season vs. Central Missouri:
The Jennies swept the season series last year with a 60-33 win in Kirksville on Jan. 20 and a 79-63 victory in Warrensburg in the regular season finale on Feb. 27.
The first meeting was an offensive struggle for the Bulldogs as they shot just 24% for the game and were held to a season-low 33 points. Meghan Waggoner led four Jennies in double-figures with 14 points coming off the bench while Rebecca Roberts added 13 with eight rebounds.
Truman led by six in the first half in Warrensburg but a 12-4 run to end the half gave Central a lead that they would grow to as many as 21 in the second in the 79-63 win. Deidra Dace had game-high honors with 20 points for the Jennies while Roberts added 16. Breanna Daniels scored 14 points while Laura Joya capped off her Truman career with 14 as well.
Bulldog Coaching Staff:
Head Coach Michael Smith enters his third year at the helm of the Truman Women's Basketball program. Smith was 8-19 in his first season and improved by three games last year to 11-16. The Bulldogs won six of their first 10 games and four of their last five in 2009-10.
Smith took over the program in April of 2008 and was previously the assistant coach at Division I University of Arkansas-Little Rock.
Joining Smith in her first year on the Truman bench is Lora Westling as the new assistant coach. Westling was a two-time all-MIAA performer and helped Washburn University to the 2005 Division II National Title. She served the previous three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Road Warriors:
Truman is 4-2 on the road this season and is one win away from matching the highest win total since the 2000-01 season. The most road wins in a season is eight set on three different occasions (1978-79, 1990-91 and 1998-99. The Bulldogs matched a program best four-game road winning streak from Dec. 4 through Jan. 3 this season. The Bulldogs three conference road wins is the most since the 2002-03 season.
The Bulldogs are shooting 44% from the field in road games and 33% from beyond the arc. Breanna Daniels averages 16.5 points per road game while Amy Galey leads in rebounds (6.2/g) and assists (4.6/g). Truman has outscored their opponents on the road 385-357 including a 31-point advantage in the second half.
Bulldogs At Home:
The women are 3-4 in games played in Pershing Arena this season. Breanna Daniels leads the team with 14.9 points per game and Nicole Gloor adding 10.0 a contest. Jennifer Conway averages 7.1 rebounds a game and as a team, Truman is a plus 4.6 in rebounding margin.
Shooting, the Bulldogs shoot only 35% from the field in home games and 34% beyond the arc.
Truman Looks For Better Start:
During the past three-game home stand (1-2 record), the Bulldogs struggled out of the gate going 25-of-96 (26%). The saving grace in the first 20 minutes has been 11 three-pointers and shooting 37% from beyond the arc. Also during the last three-games, Truman has had just four free throws compared to their opponents 12.
The second half has been a better shooting half as the 'Dogs are 39% from the field in their last three but are 10-of-33 from outside. The team has benefited from the free throw advantage as well as they have made 21 of their 27 trips to the line while the opposition was 9-of-16.
Overall, the Bulldogs shoot 38% from the field and 35% from outside in the first half while in the second half the percentages are 41% from the field just 30% from beyond the arc.
Around the MIAA:
The first half of conference play wraps up this week with Washburn currently leading the conference with a 9-1 record. The Lady Blues were victorious in the first “Turnpike Tussle” over Emporia State on Saturday by a 66-60 margin to take a one-game lead over the Lady Hornets.
Following Northwest's big win over Missouri Southern on Monday night, the Bearcats have moved to within a half-game of the top spot and have won nine straight conference games. Missouri Southern falls to 7-4 in league play, a half game up on Missouri Western.
Spots five through eight are separated by just two games with Missouri Western holding on to five with a 6-4 record followed by the Bulldogs and Pitt State Gorillas at 5-5 and the Central Missouri Jennies at 4-6. Right now, Fort Hays (3-7), Southwest Baptist (3-7), Nebraska-Omaha (2-8) and Lincoln (0-10) would miss the conference tournament.
Of the remaining Truman schedule in the second half, the Bulldogs will host five of the six teams behind them in the standings while going on the road to all five above them.
Bulldog Tip-Ins:
- In conference only statistics, the Bulldogs are first in scoring defense (61.0), fourth in three-point field goal percentage (34.3%), first in defensive three-point field goal percentage (27.2%), tied for second in rebounding defense (34.9/g), second in rebounding margin (+4.7) and second in offensive rebounds per game (14.5/g).
- Breanna Daniels is ranked in five overall MIAA stat categories. She is ninth in scoring (15.2/g), 10th in field goal percentage (39.0%), seventh in three-point field goal percentage (37.0%), tied for eighth in three-pointers made (1.9/g) and seventh in minutes played at 33.6/g. In conference only stats, Daniels is 11th in scoring (13.8/g), tied for tenth in three-point field goals per game (1.8/g) and tied seventh in minutes played per game (33.5/g).
- Amy Galey is tied for third in assists per game at 4.4/g, sixth in assist/turnover ratio (1.5), 10th in defensive rebounds (4.6/g) and third in minutes played at 34.1. In conference only contests, she is fifth in assists (4.4/g), second in the assist/turnover ratio (1.7), sixth in defensive rebounds (5.0/g) and third in minutes played (35.1/g).
- Jennifer Conway is seventh in blocks per game at 1.4/g and seventh in conference stats also at 1.4/g. Conway is tied for 11th in conference only rebounding at 6.4 per game and tied for ninth in offensive rebounds at 2.3/g.
- Megan Sharpe is now ranked ninth overall in offensive rebounds at 2.4/g and eighth in conference only offensive rebounding at 2.6/g.
- The Bulldogs have the highest single-game field goal percentage so far this season. Truman shot 60.9% (28-of-26) against Southwest Baptist on Dec. 7th. Truman also registered the best three-point shooting by percentage that game with a five of eight performance for 62.5%.
- Truman has posted the most field goal attempts than any team in the MIAA in a single game with 87 against Northwest Missouri and also the most rebounds by a conference team this season with 60 against the Bearcats, 27 on the offensive end.
· Truman is averaging 61.5 points per game, last season the Bulldogs averaged 61.6.
· Other key stat comparisons from this year to last year include:
o FG% .398 from .403
o 3FG% .337 from .356
o FT% .739 from .779
· Breanna Daniels leads the team with 14, 10-point plus games this season and has 46 for her career, including 19 straight. She is the active leading scorer with 799 points.
Up Next:
Round two of conference play begins on Saturday as the Bulldogs head to Joplin to face the Missouri Southern Lions at 1:00 p.m. Truman knocked off the Lions in the conference opener 71-58 but since then, Southern has won seven of their past nine games before Monday's key battle with Northwest Missouri.
