Game Notes: Tritons & Saints On-Tap For Truman Women

2013-14 Truman Women's Basketball Game Notes:
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GLVC WBB

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Women will conclude the first round of "pod-play" with games against Missouri-St. Louis and Maryville (Mo.) this week. Truman will host the Tritons on Thursday night in Pershing Arena and will travel to the Saints in St. Louis on Saturday afternoon.

Game Coverage
Both games will be on the Bulldogs flagship station, 104.7 FM KRES and available free online through CentralMOInfo.com. Brad Boyer and Hank Janssen will call the action with a pregame show beginning 15 minutes prior to tip and will have Coach Amy Eagan's postgame comments during halftime of the men's game.

Live stats and live video links, if available from the host site, will be available on the women's basketball schedule page on TrumanBulldogs.com

About the Bulldogs (9-4; 3-2 GLVC)
The Bulldogs returned home last weekend and won a pair of games against East division opponents. They defeated Illinois Springfield 94-65 on Thursday night and McKendree (Ill.) 81-66.

Truman was red hot from outside last week as they connected on 28-of-46 three-point attempts to raise their season three-point percentage by 32 points. The Bulldogs now lead the GLVC in three-point shooting at 40% and are fourth in the nation while also leading the league with 8.2 triples per game.

Overall last week, Truman shot 52% from the field and 82% (37-of-45) from the foul line.

Amy Briggs was Truman's nominee for GLVC Player of the Week honors after averaging 19.5 points, including a career high 23 against Illinois Springfield while making 10 three-pointers on 13 attempts and pulling down 12 rebounds. Courtney Strait had week-high scoring honors with 24 against McKendree and averaged 17 points in the two wins.

Four Truman players average over 10 points a game led by Briggs' 12.8. Nicole Gloor is second at 12.0, Allie Norton third at 11.5 and Bianca Szafarowicz is fourth at 10.6. Strait is fifth at 9.5 and the team as a whole averages 81.5 points, good for second in the GLVC.

Truman vs. Missouri-St. Louis (Thursday 5:30 p.m. – Kirksville, Mo.)

Series History: This will be the first meeting with the Tritons since Missouri-St. Louis left the Mid-America
Intercollegiate Athletics Association for the Great Lakes Valley Conference back in 1996. The Bulldogs hold a 15-13 advantage over the Tritons in the all-time series with the last meeting occurring on February 17, 1996, a 65-44 Truman win in St. Louis.

Of Note: The teams have played the two highest scoring games in Truman history. In consecutive meetings, the teams combined for 215 and 214 points respectively, both Bulldog wins. A January 13, 1990 game in St. Louis saw Truman prevail 109-106 and 364 days later, Truman again was on top in a 109-105 contest.

Last Time Out: Truman won their third straight with a 81-66 victory over McKendree on Saturday. Courtney Strait led Truman with 24 points. Missouri-St. Louis saw their 10-game winning streak halted with a 67-60 home loss to Lewis (Ill.). Alexis Lawrence and Devonna Smith tied for top honors for the Tritons with 15 points apiece.

Common Opponents: There have been six common opponents between the Bulldogs and Tritons with each going 4-2. Both have lost to Lewis but have defeated Wisconsin-Parkside, Illinois-Springfield and McKendree. At the Trevecca Nazarene tournament in November, in which both teams competed at, the Bulldogs lost to Grand Valley State but defeated Trevcaa Nazarene, while the Tritons defeated GVSU and lost to the host team.

About the Tritons: Enter the week at 11-2 and 4-1 in the GLVC…are first in the conference in scoring defense (54.0/g), defensive field goal percentage (36%), rebound margin (+9.7), scoring margin (+20.3), assist/turnover ratio (1.3) and personal falls called against (16.7/g)…fourth in Division II in scoring defense and eighth in assist/turnover ratio…four players average double-figure scoring led by Hazaria Washington (14.5/g) and Devonna Smith (13.4/g)…Alyssa Like leads GLVC in free throw percentage (92.7%) and is second, ninth in Division II, in assist/turnover ratio (2.41)…Tritons average 74.3 points per game while shooting 44%/34%/74%...average 5.6 three-pointers per game with 8.2 steals…receiving votes in the WBCA/USA Today Coaches poll this week…were 15-12 last season and 10-8 in the GLVC, lost in the first round of the GLVC tournament 60-47 to Missouri S&T…Devonna Smith was a first-team all-GLVC performer last season and named to the conferences defensive team…under the direction of second year head coach Katie Vaughn who led Lincoln for three years prior and Moberly Area Community College for five seasons…played for the University of Central Missouri from 1998-2002.

Truman vs. Maryville (Saturday 1:00 p.m. – St. Louis, Mo.)

Series History: Truman has won all three meetings with the Saints with the last one coming on November 27, 2010 in Kirksville by a 73-61 score. The Bulldogs won 56-31 in the teams' last meeting in St. Louis on December 19, 2009. The third win in the series was a forfeit win on November 25, 1977.

Of Note: Nicole Gloor scored then a career-high 22 points as a freshman in the last meeting with the Saints. It is one of her six career games scoring over 20 points.

Last Time Out: Maryville won their fifth game in last six outings with a 78-60 win over the University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday. Rita Flynn was 9-of-9 from the field, including a three-pointer for 23 points. The Saints host the Quincy (Ill.) Lady Hawks on Thursday.

Common Opponents: The two teams have three common opponents entering the week. Both defeated Illinois Springfield and Wisconsin-Parkside and both have lost to Lewis. The Saints lost by just three points to the Flyers last weekend. They will have five common opponents by the time they meet on Saturday as Maryville lost to Missouri-St. Louis 69-35 and Truman lost to Quincy 79-75.

About the Saints: Saints enter the week at 9-5 overall and 2-2 in the GLVC…they are 4-1 at home prior to Thursday's home game with Quincy…Shelby Miller (13.4/g) and Alex Hillyer (12.6/g) lead the Saints in scoring with Miller averaging 17 in the four conference games…Miller is sixth in the league in steals at 2.2 and ninth in assists at 3.7 and was a second-team all-GLVC player as a sophomore…Saints are second as a team in the GLVC in assists per game (17.9) and defensive field goal percentage (36.1%) and third in scoring defense (62.7/g)…average 75.5 points per game while shooting 41%/28%/72% and average 6.1 three-pointers per game…graduated Abby Duethman, who was the GLVC Player of the Year last season…Saints won the West Division with a 13-5 record and fell in the tournament title game to Lewis 76-61…Chris Ellis is in his 13th season at the helm of the Saints with a 209-119 overall record entering this season…he has been inducted into the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and led Parkway South and Webster Groves High Schools in St. Louis prior to joining the Maryville staff.

Free Throw Shooting:
In nine of the 13 games played, Truman has shot over 20 free throws and in six games shot 30 or more free throws. Last year, Truman had 11 games over 20 and just one over 30.

Truman is shooting 77.7% from the line with the bench mark of the program for a season being 77.9% in 2009-10. That season, Truman had the third lowest free throw attempts with 412.

The record for free throws attempts and makes for a season came in the 1998-99 season with 787 attempts and 567 makes in 31 games. The Bulldogs are averaging 26.9 attempts per game this year and 20.9 makes.

All five Bulldogs with over 30 free throw attempts are shooting above 80%. Nicole Gloor as the most attempts at 92 and shoots 80.4%. Courtney Strait is tied for third in the GLVC at 90% from the line and Allie Norton is ninth at 85.3%.

As a conference, the GLVC is second in the nation in free throw shooting at 72.4% while the national Division II average is 69.3%.

Behind the Arc:
Junior Allie Norton is second in Division II and eighth among all Divisions active career three-point shooting percentage. Norton's career mark is 42.1% and she had made 158 three-pointers, good for third in Bulldog history behind Wendi Sobaski (269) and Candace McGee (230).

Amy Briggs is 12th nationally and second in the GLVC in season three-point shooting percentage at 48.5% making 32-of-66 attempts.

The Bulldogs led all three NCAA Divisions in three-point shooting last season. Truman set a season record with202 treys and shot 41.6% from the arc last year to lead Duke (40.5%), Penn State (39.2%) and Northwest-St. Paul (39.2%) in three-point shooting.

Truman makes 8.2 three-pointers per game while opponents make 3.5 per outing against the Bulldogs. A scoring margin of roughly 15 points.

More Shooting:
The league boasts the top field goal percentage in Division II at 42.7% and second highest three-point shooting (33.5%), free throw shooting (72.4%) and scoring average in Division II at 73.6. The national averages are 40.1%/31.1%/69.3% while teams are averaging 69.5 points.

Tough Road Ahead:
According to the NCAA, Truman's past 13 opponents have a .461 winning percentage while the next 14 games, the opponents have a .603 winning percentage.

The Bulldogs have games coming up against #10 Drury and #18 Quincy as well as the University of Southern Indiana that is receiving votes in this week's poll.

Career Milestones:
Allie Norton is third on the Truman career three-pointers made list with 158. She is sixth in attempts with 375, one back of Susan Theroff's 376 total. Norton is the career leader in three-point field goal percentage with a minimum of 50 made with a 42.1% rate. Amy Briggs is second at 41.7%.

Nicole Gloor is the active leading scorer on the Bulldogs with 863 points. She is sixth all-time in free throws attempted with 369, (next, Kristy Brown – 418) and sixth all-time in free throws made with 270, (next, Kristy Brown – 316).

Trending:

Truman is averaging 81.5 points per game. The Bulldogs have averaged over 80 points for a season three other times, 1998-99 (81.0), 1990-91 (81.9) and 1989-90 (84.4). Last season, Truman averaged 68.5 points per game.
Truman has had four games this season rank in the top-10 single-game free throws made category. Truman made 31 (second all-time) against Trevecca Nzarene (Tenn.), 29 against Wisconsin-Parkside (fourth all-time), 28 (T-5th) against Grand View (Iowa) and 27 (T-7th) against Illinois Springfield.
The bench is averaging 29.8 points per game while Truman is also averaging 17.8 points per game off of turnovers and 15.1 points per game in second chance points. Opponents are averaging 7.9 second chance points.
The largest deficit overcome this season by the Bulldogs is 10 points against Wisconsin-Parkside while the largest lead lost was six to Quincy.
Amy Briggs leads the team with three, 20-point plus games and overall five Bulldogs have tallied over 20 points. Allie Norton has the team's single-game point high of 25 against Stephens (Mo.).
The Bulldogs are 5-0 in Kirksville this season and have won the past 21 games played in Pershing Arena which is the fifth longest streak in Division II women's basketball. Colorado Mesa has the longest home court winning streak at 30 games followed by Western Washington (24) Minnesota State (23), and Gannon (22).
Senior Bianca Szafarowicz has three of the Bulldogs' four double-doubles this season. The last came on January 5 against Wisconsin-Parkside when she tallied 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will head west for a pair on intra division games next Thursday and Saturday. Truman will first head to Rockhurst (Mo.) on Thursday for a 5:15 p.m. start against the Hawks and return on Saturday to Liberty for a 1:00 p.m. showdown with William Jewell College.

The Hawks and Cardinals are playing on the road this weekend at Missouri S&T and Drury.

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