Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Truman State University Athletics

15WBB-a3

Women's Basketball

WBB Notes: Bulldogs Look To Avenge Earlier Losses

Truman Women's Basketball Game Notes
Thursday, February 19 vs. Maryville  ~ 5:30 p.m.  St. Louis, Mo.
 
Saturday, February 22 vs. Missouri-St. Louis ~ 1:00 p.m. Kirksville, Mo.
Game Notes (PDF)  
 


KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Women's Basketball team will be looking to avenge a couple of earlier season losses as they first travel to Maryville (Mo.) University on Thursday night before returning home for Senior Day against Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday afternoon.  

About The Bulldogs (14-9, 8-7 GLVC):
The Bulldogs have now played all 15 GLVC teams and will finish the regular season with three return games against teams from their pod. Truman is 8-7 in conference action and have clinched a spot in the GLVC Postseason Basketball Tournament, however, the team can finish anywhere from fifth to 12th in the league standings due to a log jam of teams that are either 8-7 or 7-8.
 
Truman controls their own destiny as three wins would give them the fifth seed. Any other combination down the stretch could see either Truman at home for the Sunday, March 1st first round game or on the road.
 
Truman moved to 41-9 in Pershing Arena over the last four years after a pair of wins last week. The Bulldogs defeated Saint Joseph's 60-54 last Thursday and 63-52 over Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon. Senior guard Allie Norton became Truman's all-time three-point leader as she passed Wendi Sobaski in triples made connecting on eight last week and 271 for her career. Norton averaged 18 points in the victories and was 8-of-17 from three, including a 5-of-6 performance against the Greyhounds on Saturday.
  
Norton is fifth in the GLVC in scoring as she averages 15.7 points per game and is tied for fifth in assists with 3.57 per game, seventh in free throw shooting (.859), second in threes per game (3.04) and sixth in assist/turnover ratio (1.61). She has been in double-figures in the last seven games and 70 for her career.
 
Courtney Strait is second on the team in scoring at 13.7 points per game and is the team's leading free throw shooter at 89.7%. Strait is ranked 13th in conference scoring and 20th in rebounds with 5.7 per contest. She is third in free throw shooting.
 
Michalina Tomczak is the third Bulldog averaging in double figure scoring at 10.3 points per game and is the team's leading rebounder (6.7/game) and shot blocker (33). Tomczak is 29th in scoring, 11th in rebounds, fourth in blocked shots and eighth in offensive boards in the conference rankings.
 
Truman is averaging 66.2 points per game and allowing 66.2 points per game while shooting 40.3% from the field, 33.9% from long range and 75.6% from the foul line. They are fourth in the conference in three-pointers per game at 6.87.
 
Truman vs. Maryville (Thursday 5:30 p.m. – St.Charles, Mo.)

Series History: Truman leads the all-time series with the Saints 5-3 but Maryville won in Pershing Arena 72-64 back on January 17. This will be the fifth game between the two schools over the last two seasons as they met in the GLVC title game last year.

Series Notables: In four games played against the Saints, Allie Norton has averaged 13 points per game with 21 assists (5.2/game). She has shot 42.9% from three making at least four per game. Courtney Strait has averaged 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in four games, she is 5-of-19 from three. Michalina Tomczak has averaged 4.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and has shot 36.8% from the field in four games.

For the Saints, Shelby Miller has averaged 22 points in the four games, scoring 27 in the last meeting in January. Miller has made 13 three-pointers out of 26 attempts (50%).

In team statistics, the Bulldogs are 33-of-94 from three (35%) and 66-of-92 (71%) from the line with 44 turnovers. The Saints are 33-of-80 from three (41%) and 73-of-90 (81%) from the line with 66 turnovers.

Maryville Last Time Out: The Saints have dropped the first two games of this final three-game homestand. Against Bellarmine, Maryville fell behind 41-16 in the first half and could not recover. Miller was 2-of-11 from the field for six points as the Saints were led by Ali Ringering's 16 points in the 75-48 loss. Miller tallied 14 points in the 82-66 loss to Southern Indiana in which the Saints fell behind by 12 at the half

About the Saints: Maryville is 13-10 this season and 7-8 in the GLVC…they are 4-3 in the GLVC West Division with wins over Rockhurst, Missouri S&T, Missouri-St. Louis and Truman…led by all-time leading scorer Shelby Miller at 14.6 points per game and 16.2 in conference games…Miller has scored 1,558 career points and is fifth in Division II among active three-point shooters with 240…she is a career 85.4% free throw shooter…Saints are fifth in the conference in scoring at 71.3 per game and first in field goal percentage defense at 36.7%...they are second in three-point shooting allowed at 28.4%...Chris Ellis is in his 14th season as head coach.

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

Series History: Truman owns a narrow 16-15 lead in the all-time series with the Tritons. Missouri-St. Louis handed the Bulldogs a 70-56 road loss back on January 15. The teams split last year's two meetings with Truman winning at home 70-55.
 
Series Notables: In the three previous games, Allie Norton has averaged 10.3 points per game with five three-pointers while Courtney Strait has averaged 13.7 points. Strait has been forced into 14 turnovers in the three games (4.6/g).  Kelly McGovern has averaged 14.3 points for the Tritons against the Bulldogs shooting 55% from the field.
 
Between the two teams, the Bulldogs have outscored the Tritons by 22 points at the foul line but UMSL has had 27 steals to Truman's 17.  

Missouri-St. Louis Last Time Out: The Tritons split their home games with Bellarmine and Southern Indiana last week. Kelly Kunkel scored 17 points and added 10 rebounds in a 59-48 loss to the Screaming Eagles. While against the Knights, Alexis Lawrence scored 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including seven three-pointers in the Tritons 80-59 win. Missouri-St. Louis will host Quincy on Thursday night.

About The Tritons: UMSL is 12-11 overall and 8-7 in the GLVC…they are 4-3 in the GLVC West Division with wins over Missouri S&T, Rockhurst, William Jewell and Truman…Alexis Lawrence is 10th in the GLVC in scoring at 13.9 points per game while Kelly McGovern is eighth in rebounding at 7.0 per game…Tierra Snow lead the GLVC in field goal percentage at 60.5% and Lawrence is tops in threes per game at 3.26…as a team, UMSL is third in the GLVC in scoring defense allowing 59.8 points per game…they are number one in rebounding defense at 30.6 per game and second in rebounding margin at +7.1 per game…Katie Vaughn is in her third season on the bench as head coach at Missouri-St. Louis  

Bulldog Notebook:

Three-Point Champion:
Senior Allie Norton became Truman's all-time career three-point shooter last week when she passed Wendi Sobaski (1997-02) 269 three-point total. Norton has 271 for her career and is second in career active NCAA Division II players in triples and eighth among all NCAA women's basketball players. Her 42.5% three-point percentage is third among active Division II players.

More Norton:
Norton is eighth on the Bulldog career scoring list with 1,294 points, sixth in career assists with 323 and second in starts made with 108.

Tomczak Block Party:
Junior Michalina Tomczak entered the season with 21 blocks, this season, Tomczak has 33 which is the 10th most in a Truman single season. She is two back of eighth place shared by Sarah Sommer (2005) and Georgia Mueller (2006).
Her career 54 blocks is seventh on the all-time list and four behind Amy Pillard's total of 58 set from 1994-96.

Strait Free Throws:
Junior Courtney Strait is currently the career-leader in Truman free throw percentage at 89.9%. She is shooting 89.7% from the line this season which 12th in Division II and third in the GLVC. Allie Norton is 45th nationally and seventh in the GLVC this season with an 85.9% percentage and is second in career free throw shooting behind Strait at 86.4%. Megan Kahn's 83.0% was/is the Truman free throw mark.

Double-Figure Games:
Allie Norton has 70 career double-digit scoring nights with 11 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 19 of the last 20 games entering the weekend and all but two this season.

Courtney Strait has 38 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.

Michalina Tomczak has 18 double-figure scoring games with a career-high of 25 against Cameron (Okla.) earlier this season. Tomczak has four of the Bulldogs' five double-doubles with the most recent coming against Bellarmine when she went for 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Kasey Gassensmith has six, Ashley Hartwig has five and McKenzie Russell three of Bulldogs with more than one double-digit scoring games.

Saturday Postgame Notes:
  • The victory clinched Truman's spot in the GLVC Postseason Tournament. The Bulldogs are locked into the field but can still finish anywhere from fifth through 12th place.
  • Truman finished with a 4-4 record against East Division schools. They had victories against Wisconsin-Parkside, Indianapolis, Saint Joseph's and McKendree. Last season, Truman was 6-2 against the East.
  • Allie Norton went 5-of-6 from outside during the game which was the fourth time this season that she had over five three-pointers in a game. It was also the first time this season and broke a streak of 33 straight games in which she had at least one assist. She has gone eight games out of her 108 played without an assist.
  • The nine three-pointers by the Bulldogs were the most in the past nine games and the 39.1% from outside was the best in conference games this season and highest since a December 20 game against Culver-Stockton.
  • Truman outscored the Greyounds 11-0 in second chance points with both teams recording six offensive rebounds.
  • Sam Andrews made her first collegiate start of her career and the Bulldogs started three freshman along with Ashley Hartwig and Rachel Steinhoff.  It was the first different starting lineup used this season by Truman.
  • The win also clinched the program's fourth straight winning season dating back to 2011. The record of consecutive winning campaigns by the women's basketball team at Truman is five from 1977-1982.
GLVC Tournament Taking Shape:
The GLVC Postseason Tournament is comprised of 12 teams with the top four teams (the number one team in each division and the next two with the best conference record) receiving an automatic bye to the St. Charles Family Arena.
 
Seeds five through 12 will play first round games on Sunday, March 1 on campus sites.
 
The 12 teams have been determined with the top four teams locked in with Drury, Lewis, Southern Indiana and UW-Parkside earning the first round byes. Seeds five through 12 is in flux with all eight teams that are either 8-7 or 7-8 playing each other over the final three games.
 
Regional Rankings Out This Week:
The first set of regional rankings will be published Wednesday by the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Committee. The Midwest region is comprised of the GLVC, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC) and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC).

The tournament champions from the GLVC and GLIAC will earn two of the eight available seeds into the regional tournament. The remaining six spots are determined by selection criteria including regional wins, common opponents, strength of schedule and other factors.

Up Next:  
It's been 82 days since Truman faced and defeated rival Quincy in Pershing Arena 75-65 back on December 6. The two will hook-up to close the 2015 regular season on Thursday, February 26 in the Gem City and after this week's game a first round home game could be on the line.
 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Kasey Gassensmith

#30 Kasey Gassensmith

G
6' 0"
Junior
Allie Norton

#12 Allie Norton

G
5' 6"
Senior
Courtney Strait

#23 Courtney Strait

G
5' 10"
Junior
Michalina Tomczak

#44 Michalina Tomczak

C
6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
McKenzie Russell

#03 McKenzie Russell

G
5' 8"
Redshirt Freshman
Sam Andrews

#40 Sam Andrews

F
5' 11"
Freshman
Ashley Hartwig

#42 Ashley Hartwig

F
5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
Rachel Steinhoff

#32 Rachel Steinhoff

G
5' 7"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Kasey Gassensmith

#30 Kasey Gassensmith

6' 0"
Junior
G
Allie Norton

#12 Allie Norton

5' 6"
Senior
G
Courtney Strait

#23 Courtney Strait

5' 10"
Junior
G
Michalina Tomczak

#44 Michalina Tomczak

6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
C
McKenzie Russell

#03 McKenzie Russell

5' 8"
Redshirt Freshman
G
Sam Andrews

#40 Sam Andrews

5' 11"
Freshman
F
Ashley Hartwig

#42 Ashley Hartwig

5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
F
Rachel Steinhoff

#32 Rachel Steinhoff

5' 7"
Freshman
G