Game Notes: Bulldogs Look To Keep Things Rolling

Truman Women's Basketball Thursday, January 10, 2013 vs. Univ. of Central Oklahoma (Kirksville, Mo. 5:30 PM) Saturday, January 12, 2013 vs. Emporia State Univ. (Kirksville, Mo. 1:00 PM)
Truman Game Notes	Truman Live Stats
Central Oklahoma Web Site	Web Audio (104.7 FM KRES)
Emporia State Web Site
MIAA Standings	Watch Live (America One)

Game Previews:
The Bulldog Women's Basketball team will begin three week span with five of their next six games played in Pershing Arena on Thursday night when they host the University of Central Oklahoma at 5:30 p.m. Truman will then host Emporia (Kan.) State University on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.

The Bulldogs (10-2/3-1 MIAA) have won eight straight at home and are only the third team in school history to start a season with a 10-2 record. The Bulldogs lead all of the NCAA (all Divisions) in three-point shooting at 48.1%, next is Duke (N.C.) University at 45.4%. Truman is behind Baylor (Texas) University (51.8%) and the University of Connecticut (50.8%) in overall field goal percentage with their 49.2% and wrapped up a week in which they made 43 of their 66 (65.2%) three-point attempts while going 3-0.

Truman boasts four players averaging in double scoring figures in senior Becka McHenry (13.4/g), sophomore Allie Norton (11.3/g), juniors Nicole Gloor (10.9) and Amy Briggs (10.8/g). The Bulldogs have averaged 75.9 points per game while limiting opponents to 58.2 for a +17.8 scoring margin.

Central Oklahoma (8-4; 1-3 MIAA) is in their first year in the MIAA and will be playing the Bulldogs for the first time. The Bronchos have dropped their last two games at home to Missouri Western 78-76 and to Washburn (Kan.) 62-58.

Senior Alyssa Fuxa leads the Bronchos in both scoring (13.0/g) and rebounding (6.4/g) while freshman McKenzie Solberg is first in the MIAA in free throw shooting at 90.3% (28-of-31). Fuxa had a season-high 28 points in an 88-66 victory over Cameron (Okla.).

Emporia State (Saturday 1:00 p.m.)
The Lady Hornets (7-5/2-2 MIAA) have won two straight including Tuesday night's 65-59 victory on the road at Southwest Baptist (Mo.). Junior transfer Laura Patrick leads Emporia State in scoring at 14.8 points per game. Patrick shoots 41.0% from three connecting on 32 of 78 attempts this season.

Emporia State averages 67.2 points while allowing 62.8 per game and are fourth in the conference in blocked shots per game at 4.8. Sophomore Merissa Quick has a team leading 25 blocks through 12 games, which ranks second in the league.

The Lady Hornets ended Truman's season last year with a three-pointer by Kelsey Balcom at the horn to win in the first round of the MIAA postseason tournament 64-63. Truman snapped a seven-game skid to Emporia with a 78-60 victory in Pershing Arena on January 28. Overall, the Lady Hornets lead the all-time series with the Bulldogs 42-7.

Coaches:
The Bulldogs are under fifth-year head coach Michael Smith who has an overall record of 58-62. He is fourth all-time in victories at Truman and is 35-51 in conference games. Smith was previously at Division I, Arkansas-Little Rock is a graduate of Central Methodist (Mo.) and a graduate assistant at Northwest Missouri State.

Guy Hardaker is in his seventh season on the bench at Central Oklahoma and is 134-59 during his track in Edmond. He is a member of the UCO Athletic Hall of Fame and was drafted in the tenth round by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1983.
The Bronchos were 16-10 last season as an independent and made four straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2007-2011 advancing to the Sweet 16 twice.

Jory Collins is in his second season as head coach of Emporia State after leading the Lady Hornets to a 20-9 record and a trip to the MIAA Tournament Championship game last season. He was an assistant coach for ten seasons at ESU prior to becoming the head coach.

The Week That Was:
The Bulldogs were 3-0 in games played last week winning a non-conference game 110-43 over Mount Mercy (Iowa) and league games against Lincoln (71-53) and Lindenwood (86-65).

Truman shot 65.2% from beyond the arc for the week making 43 of 66 three-point attempts. They had the top two three-point shooting percentage games in school history with 22-of-31 (71%) against Mount Mercy and going 12-of-19 (63.2%) against Lindenwood. The Bulldogs made 28 of 36 (77.8%) three-point attempts in the second halves of games last week.

Six players averaged in double-figures with Amy Briggs leading the way at 15.0/game. Briggs led the onslaught by going 12-of-16 from three while also dishing out 16 assists.

#Trending:

The Bulldogs concluded the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 7-1 record. They are 23-11 in non-conference games under Coach Michael Smith and have won 12 straight non-conference home games dating back to the 2008 season.
No love from the pollsters…The Bulldogs received just one vote in this week's WBCA/USA Today Sports Division II Coaches Poll. It is the third weekly poll that Truman has received votes this season. The Bulldogs received votes in three polls last season. The last national ranking was in 1999-2000 season.
Truman is first in Division II and all three divisions in three-point shooting at 48.1% and first in Division II and third overall in field goal shooting percentage at 49.2%. The Bulldogs are 18th in Division II in scoring offense and 13th in threes per game at 8.4.
The Bulldogs have won eight straight games in Pershing Arena dating back to February 1, 2012. The school record for consecutive home wins is nine set during the 2007-08 season.
Becka McHenry became the sixth Bulldog to achieve 300 assists for her career this season. She is only the third Truman player to score over 900 points (947), have more than 300 rebounds (400) and dish out 300 assists (310). The other two are Amy Eagan (1527 pts, 643 reb, 529 assists) and Angie Gum (1467 pts, 303 reb, 360 assists).
Allie Norton has led the team in scoring in five games this year and has averaged 52% (20-of-38) from beyond the arc during that span. Her 93 threes are ninth all-time in Bulldog career as a sophomore and her 43.1% from outside is currently the best all-time among Truman players with at least 50 made.
Becka McHenry has made 63 straight starts, Jennifer Conway has started in 56 straight games she has appeared in (she missed a game on Jan. 7, 2012 against Northwest Missouri) and Allie Norton has started all 39 games of her college career.
Courtney Strait's 28 points against Mount Mercy was the most by a Bulldog since Georgia Mueller scored 29 against Missouri Western on Feb. 21, 2009 and the second most by a freshman since Mueller scored 29 against Upper Iowa in January 2006.
The Mount Mercy game altered nine of 14 single-game record lists. The Bulldogs set new school records in three-pointers made (22), three-point field goal percentage (.710), overall field goal percentage (.650), free-throw percentage, minimum 10 made (1.000) and tied assists (33). The 110 points were the fourth most, 39 field goals made was tied for fourth, 31 threes attempted tied for fourth most and the 16 steals tied for seventh most all-time single-game.
Truman is averaging 75.9 points and shooting 49% from the field and 48% from three. Last year, they averaged 70.9 points and shot 41% from the field, 37% from the arc and 71% from the line last season.

Amy Briggs has both of the team's only double-double this season. She had 14 points and 10 assists against Mount Mercy.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will play nationally-ranked Washburn (Kan.) University next Wednesday night in Topeka, Kan. at 5:30 p.m. Truman defeated the Lady Blues last season 68-66 in Lee Arena but lost 67-59 in Kirksville. It is the only match-up during the regular season between the two schools.

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