Women's Basketball 1/21/2015 8:02:00 AM

WBB Notes: Truman vs. William Jewell & Rockhurst

Truman Women's Basketball Game Notes
Thursday, January 22 vs. William Jewell ~ 5:30 p.m. Kirksville, Mo.
Game Notes (PDF)		Live Stats (Fan)
Live Audio	Live Video	Live Stats (Media)
GLVC Stats	GLVC Standings	NCAA Stats
Saturday, January 24 vs. Rockhurst ~ 1:00 p.m. Kirksville, Mo.
Game Notes (PDF)		Live Stats (Fan)
Live Audio	Live Video	Live Stats (Media)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Bulldog Women's Basketball team will host a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference games this week. They will welcome William Jewell (Mo.) on Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. and Rockhurst (Mo.) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

About The Bulldogs (9-6, 3-4 GLVC):
Truman will look to right the ship when they host the Cardinals and Hawks this weekend in Pershing Arena. The Bulldogs have dropped their last three games but are still only two games out of second place in the GLVC West Division, currently held by William Jewell.

Early game deficits have been the issue for the Bulldogs in last week's losses. In both games, Truman fell behind in the first half by 17 and 16 points respectively only to have their furious rallies come up short. Michalina Tomczak led the Bulldogs against the Tritons with 14 points and 10 rebounds while Ashley Hartwig scored a season-high 17 points in the loss to Maryville.

The Bulldogs are third in the GLVC in three-pointers per game at 7.47, fourth in three-point shooting percentage at 36% and fifth in rebounding defense at 34.5. The team is shooting 40.3% overall from the floor (ranks 13^th) and 73.4% from the foul line (ranks 8^th) while scoring 68.4 points per game and allowing 69.5. (-1.1 margin). Opponents are shooting 43.4% overall and 36.6% from three.

Allie Norton is sixth in the GLVC in scoring at 15.3 points per game. Norton is on the edge of entering the Bulldogs top 10 in scoring as she is currently 13^th with 1,163 points. She is 20 points away from the tenth spot held by Annie Westhoff. Norton is ranked in the conference in assists (10^th/3.4g), three-point field goal percentage (11^th/.391), three-pointers per game (2^nd/2.87g), assist/turnover ratio (8^th/1.55) and minutes per game (6^th/34.2g).

Courtney Strait is 12^th in scoring at 14.4 points per game and is fourth in free throw shooting at 90.5%, 13^th in three-pointers per game at 1.67, 11^th in defensive rebounds 4.60 and 10^th in minutes at 31.6. Strait is Truman's career leader in free throw shooting at 90.2% making 175-of-194 attempts.

Michalina Tomczak is the third Bulldog averaging in double-figures at 10.1 per game. Tomczak is the team's leading rebounder at 6.7 per night and is ranked ninth in the league in that category. She is fifth in offensive rebounds per game at 2.8 and is tied for 14^th in blocked shots per game at 0.87. Her 34 career blocks are four away from cracking Truman's top 10 with Angie Gum sitting in the spot with 38 followed by Sarah Seberger's 39.

Truman vs. William Jewell (Thursday 5:30 p.m. – Kirksville, Mo.)
Series History: Truman took both games against the Cardinals the first being an 83-75 come-from-behind win in Liberty, Missouri and the second a Truman 70-58 triumph in the first round of the GLVC Tournament. Overall, the Bulldogs lead the all-time series with the Cardinals 3-1, with WJC's only win in the series coming in 1988, 86-69 as part of the Washburn Tournament in Topeka, Kansas.
WJC Last Time Out: The Cardinals have won four straight including an 80-64 upset over #14 Drury (Mo.) last Saturday at home. Logan Antenen led WJC with 15 points in the victory as the Cardinals knocked down 12 three-pointers and held the Lady Panthers to just 2-of-16 from long range while forcing 15 turnovers. William Jewell defeated Missouri S&T to start the week by a 74-61 score.
About the Cardinals: William Jewell sits in second place in the GLVC West Division with a 10-5 overall record and 5-2 league mark…the Cardinals lead the GLVC in steals per game (10.3) and in three-pointers made per game at 7.73, they are second in three-point defense with opponents shooting 27.2% from outside…Aerial Smith is team's leading scorer at 12.3 points per game, good for 18^th in the GLVC and is third in the league in assists per game at 4.60…Smith was named to the GLVC All-Defensive team last season…Maddie Nelson and Smith are 2-3 in steals per game in the conference with both averaging over two per game…team is averaging 70.7 points while giving up 67.3 per game…shoot 40.4% overall, 32.7% from three and 71.7% from the line…Jill Cress is in her 19^th season as Head Coach…Cardinals were 11-16 last season and 6-12 in the GLVC.

Truman vs. Rockhurst (Saturday 1:00 p.m. – Kirksville, Mo.)
Series History: The Bulldogs shook off a sluggish start to down the Hawks last season in Kansas City 63-52. Allie Norton and Kasey Gassensmith led the Bulldogs with 17 and 15 points respectively while Mary Dineen led Rockhurst with 15 points. Truman leads the all-time series with Rockhurst 10-4. The Hawks last win in the series came in 2006 63-54 at home and last win in Kirksville was a 58-56 victory in 2000. Truman has won the last five games.
Rockhurst Last Time Out: The Hawks will start the week with a road game at Quincy (Ill.). They ended a four-game home stand with a 70-55 win over Missouri S&T last Saturday and lost by just six points to #14 Drury on Thursday. The Lady Panthers needed an 18-0 run to spoil the Hawks' upset bid. Laura Wilson and Becca Strobbe each had 11 points in their win over the Miners on Saturday.
About The Hawks: Rockhurst is 8-7 overall and 2-5 in the GLVC…handed then undefeated and nationally-ranked Pittsburg (Kan.) State their first loss of the season 72-62 back in November and led by seven before falling by six to #14 Drury last Thursday…Mary Dineen is tenth in the GLVC in scoring at 14.7 points per game, Dineen was voted the leagues' Freshman of the Year last season…she is second in free throw shooting at 92%...Lauren Meyers is 15^th in scoring at 13.5 points and Jill Myers leads the league in steals at 3.2 per game…the Hawks are fourth with 7.33 three-pointers per game and shoot 35% from beyond the arc and 40.3% overall…Rockhurst averages 65.2 points scored and 62.5 points allowed per game…finished 9-18 overall and 4-14 in the GLVC last season…Larry Park is in his sixth season as Head Coach.

Bulldog Notebook:
Norton Moving Up Charts:
Allie Norton became the 19^th Truman player to join the 1,000 point club earlier this season (1,163) and is second in career three-point shooting at Truman with 244 made.

The 244 is second among active Division II players and eight among all three NCAA Divisions. Brittany Batts from Gannon leads the DII with 262 and Morgan
Eye from Missouri leads all of the NCAA with 334 three-pointers.

Norton is fourth in Division II and eighth overall in career three-point shooting percentage and fourth/21^st overall in three-pointers per game.

Strait Shooting:
In her three seasons as a Bulldog, Courtney Strait has been nearly perfect from the charity stripe. Strait's career 90.2% free throw shooting percentage ranks first in Truman lore ahead of teammate Allie Norton's 86.2%. Megan Kahn is the non-active player career leader at 83% with a minimum of 100 made.

Double-Figure Games:
Allie Norton has 63 career double-digit scoring nights with nine 20+ point games. She set a new career-high of 29 points against Culver-Stockton earlier this season. Norton has scored in double-digits in 12 straight games entering the weekend and all but one (Kentucky Wesleyan) this season.

Courtney Strait has 33 games in which she scored 10 or more points and nine games of 20 or more, including four this season. Her career-high is 28 against Mount Mercy (Iowa) on December 21, 2012. She has averaged a team-leading 15.1 points in conference games.

Michalina Tomczak has 13 double-figure scoring games with a career-high of 25 against Cameron (Okla.) earlier this season. Tomczak has been in double-figures in seven out of the last 10 games and has the only two double-doubles this season for the Bulldogs. She went for 14 and 12 against Wisconsin-Parkside and 14 and 10 against Missouri-St. Louis on January 15.

Saturday Postgame Notes:

Ashley Hartwig led Truman in scoring with 17 points, 15 in the second half to set a new season-high.
It was the fifth straight game Truman has shot below 40% from the field and 30% or below from three-point range.
Allie Norton notched her 12^th straight double-figure game with 14 points while playing in her 100^th collegiate game. Norton added a season-high eight assists but was 4-of-14 from three-point range.
Norton passed Becka McHenry for 15^th and Susan Theroff for 14^th on the all-time leading scorer list.
The Bulldogs were kept off the scoreboard for nearly nine minutes and did not have a made field goal until 11:29 left in the first half.
Truman missed their first 13 shots, including five three-point attempts and were 6-of-34 from the field in the first half with five of the six made buckets being three-pointers.
Maryville's Shelby Miller led all scorers with 27 points and has averaged 25 in the last two visits by the Saints to Pershing Arena.
Truman tied season lows in free throws made (7), attempts (12) and turnovers (8) and had a season-high 25 fouls called against. The Bulldogs were outscored at the free throw line by 19 points.

Truman's Tough Schedule:
The Bulldogs have played four nationally-ranked programs with three loses coming against teams that are now a combine 45-4 (.918), Pittsburg (Kan.) State at 16-2, West Texas A&M at 12-2 and Lewis (Ill.) 17-0. Truman handed then #18 Missouri Southern their first loss of the season back on December 15 and the Lions are currently 11-4.

Tip-Ins:

The Bulldogs are 67-33 (.670) over the past four seasons, 38-25 (.603) in league games and 37-9 (.804) in games played in Pershing Arena during that span.
Truman is averaging 7.5 three-pointers made per game, good for 29th in Division II.
The Bulldogs have used the same starting lineup for all 15 games played this season. Allie Norton, Courtney Strait, Michalina Tomczak have been joined by redshirt freshman Ashley Hartwig and true freshman Rachel Steinhoff.
Senior Allison Weise, junior Sarah Gaeddert and redshirt freshman McKenzie Russell have appeared off the bench in all 15 games played.
The Bulldog bench is averaging 17.4 points per game and the team has been outscored in the paint 33.6 to 23.5 points per game.
The largest margin overcome for victory was eight points in the second half against Quincy (Ill.) while the largest lead lost was just three points against West Texas A&M.
Off the court, Truman had three players, Michalina Tomczak, Nicole Gloor (Student-Assistant Coach) and Tawny Tucci, earn Academic All-GLVC.

Up Next: Truman heads out for four straight road games starting next Thursday at nationally-ranked Drury (Mo.) University. Following the 5:45 p.m. game against the Lady Panthers, the Bulldogs will head up Interstate 44 to Rolla, Missouri and a Saturday

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Players Mentioned

#32 Nicole Gloor: F; 5' 10"; Senior

#24 Sarah Gaeddert: F; 6' 0"; Redshirt Junior

#30 Kasey Gassensmith: G; 6' 0"; Junior

#12 Allie Norton: G; 5' 6"; Senior

#23 Courtney Strait: G; 5' 10"; Junior

#44 Michalina Tomczak: C; 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior

#10 Tawny Tucci: G; 5' 6"; Junior

#03 McKenzie Russell: G; 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

#42 Ashley Hartwig: F; 5' 11"; Redshirt Freshman

#32 Rachel Steinhoff: G; 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#32 Nicole Gloor
: 5' 10"; Senior
: F

#24 Sarah Gaeddert
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Junior
: F

#30 Kasey Gassensmith
: 6' 0"; Junior
: G

#12 Allie Norton
: 5' 6"; Senior
: G

#23 Courtney Strait
: 5' 10"; Junior
: G

#44 Michalina Tomczak
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior
: C

#10 Tawny Tucci
: 5' 6"; Junior
: G

#03 McKenzie Russell
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

#42 Ashley Hartwig
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Freshman
: F

#32 Rachel Steinhoff
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: G