Women's Basketball 2/9/2016 1:54:00 PM

Women's Basketball Weekly Notes: vs. UW-Parkside/vs. #7 Lewis

Truman Women's Basketball Notes (February 11-13, 2016)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TrumanStateWBB || #BewareofDog || @TrumanGameday

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Game #24: Truman (16-7, 10-3 GLVC) vs. UW-Parkside (13-8, 7-6 GLVC)
When: Thursday, February 11, 2016 || 5:30 p.m.
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || Gen. John J. Pershing Arena
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media) || Live Video (GLVCSN) || Live Audio (KRES)
2015-16 Stats: Truman || UW-Parkside || GLVC || NCAA

Game #23: Truman (16-7, 10-3 GLVC) vs. Lewis (22-1, 13-0 GLVC)
When: Saturday, February 6, 2016 || 1:00 p.m.
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || Gen. John J. Pershing Arena
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media) || Live Video (GLVCSN) || Live Audio (KRES)
2015-16 Stats: Truman || Lewis || GLVC || NCAA

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Bulldog Women's Basketball team returns home after winning three of four out on the road to welcome the northern most opponents in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Truman will host Wisconsin Parkside on Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. then nationally-ranked and GLVC East Division leader #7 Lewis (Ill.) on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.

The Bulldogs strong defense was ramped up again when needed in sweeping the road games in Indiana last week. In the two wins, a 63-53 victory over Saint Josephs' on Thursday and a 53-46 win over Indianapolis on Saturday, Truman outscored their opponents from the foul line by an 18-2 margin in the fourth quarter. Against the Pumas, the Bulldogs outscored SJC 16-4 in the final 5:21 and against the Greyhounds, Truman used a 16-6 push in the final 5:42 to secure the wins.

The wins gave Truman 16 overall and 10 in conference matching last year's win totals for both. They are one game behind Drury (11-2) and tied with Quincy (10-3) in the race for the GLVC West Division title. The Bulldogs are five games clear of fourth place Rockhurst and William Jewell in the division with five games left in the regular season.

UW-Parkside is fourth in the GLVC East with a 7-6 conference record and a 3-4 division mark. The Rangers have split their last eight games with the four losses coming on the front end of the weekend series. Last week, UWP lost at home 67-64 to William Jewell before knocking off Rockhurst 64-58 on Saturday.

Lewis hasn't tasted defeat since November 25 when they were dealt a 71-63 road loss at the hands of Grand Valley State. They have won 17 straight and all 13 played thus far in the GLVC. The Flyers will put that winning streak on the line first at Quincy on Thursday night before visiting Pershing Arena on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day. Lewis downed both Rockhurst and William Jewell last week. The Flyers held on for an 81-78 win over the Hawks on Thursday and knocked off the Cardinals 65-54 on Saturday.

In Conference Home Games:
Truman has reeled off five straight GLVC home victories since a one-point loss to Rockhurst on December 3. They are 19-5 in league home games under Head Coach Amy Eagan.

In those six games, Truman has a better shooting percentage than their opponent (.429 to .359), better beyond the arc (.333 to .295) and have made more free throws (99) than their opponents have taken (91). Truman has outscored opponents 16.5 to 9.5 from the foul line in home league games this season.

The Bulldogs have averaged 67.5 points offensiviley while giving up 58.0. All four starters have averaged in double-figures in conference home games with Courtney Strait leading the way at 12.3 ppg. Kasey Gassensmith (11.2), Rachel Steinhoff (11.0) and Michalina Tomczak (10.5) join Strait in scoring at home.

Finishing Strong:
In the last five games, Truman is 4-1 and in the four wins has needed strong fourth quarters to pull out the win. The Bulldogs have never lost (15-0) when leading heading into the final 10 minutes this season and overcame their first fourth quarter deficit in eight games when trailing at Indianapolis on Saturday.

Truman has shot nearly 50% from the field in the fourth quarter of the last five games and outscored their opponents 19.2 to 15.8. Courtney Strait and Kasey Gassensmith both shoot over 60% from the field in the fourth quarter with Strait knocking down 5-of-8 overall, 3-of-5 from three and 10-of-12 at the line during the last five games.

In the fourth quarter of all conference games this year, Truman has gotten to the foul line 123 times, making 81 while their opponents have been to the line on 69 times, making 44.

GLVC Thursday/Saturday Splits:
Truman is 4-2 on Thursday league games and 5-1 on Saturday tilts.

The Bulldogs shoot nearly 40% from the field on Thursdays (40.1%) but are 22-of-75 (29.3%) from long range. At the line, the Bulldogs have been at the line 60 more times than their opponent and shot 66% from the stripe and opponents shoot only 56.2% at the line. The foul count on Thursday games has been 133 against Truman, 146 for their opponents.

The Bulldogs have a +9.7 scoring margin in conference Saturday games and in three of the six games played have held opponents to under 50 points. The team shoots better from three in the afternoon with 36-of-92 (39%) and better from the line 78-of-108 (72%).

In Conference Games:
Truman is 10-3 in the GLVC with five more league games remaining on the schedule. The Bulldogs have reached 10 conference wins in each of the last five seasons and have had a winning record in conference games the past four years. The school record for conference wins is 12 and winning percentage (12-6/.667) set in 2000, 2013 and 2014.

The four starters all average around 10 points per GLVC game. Courtney Strait leads the group at 11.5 points followed by Rachel Steinhoff (10.4), Michalina Tomczak (10.0) and Kasey Gassensmith (9.6). Truman has averaged 63.5 points while giving up 57.6 points in league games and have shot 40.8% overall, 35.3% from three and 69.1% at the free throw line.

Block Party:
Truman has 98 total blocks this season, five away from the single-season record of 103 set in 2007-08. They are second behind Rockhurst in blocks per game at 4.26.

Michalina Tomczak has accounted for 47 of the 98 blocks this season which is good for third on the single-season block charts. She is three back of Geogria Mueller's 2006-07 total of 50 but still 24 behind Mueller's school-record 71 set in 2007-08. Cassidy Clark is second on the team with 21 blocks.

Tomczak is one of three Bulldogs all-time to block 100 shots. She is at 107 tied for second place also held by Jennifer Perkins (107 from 1998-2002). That will be as high as she can get on the career chart as Georgia Mueller set the bar pretty high with 195 career blocks from 2005-09.

The Starting Five:
Michalina Tomczak, Courtney Strait, Rachel Steinhoff and Kasey Gassensmith have started all 23 games this season. Cassidy Clark and Ashley Hartwig have started 10 apiece with Harwig starting the last eight. Tomczak has started 79 games over the past four seasons, Strait has started 52 and Steinhoff has started each of the 50 games she has played in since arriving on the Truman campus as a freshman.

Tomczak leads the team in scoring at 10.7 ppg followed by Strait (10.4), Steinhoff (9.1) and Gassensmith (8.9.). Clark has averaged 6.5 points and Hartwig 6.0 points. Mackenzie Jerks, Rachel Edmundson and Brooke Bailey are the three freshmen that have played significant minutes this year with each averaging over two points per game. The bench as a whole, has averaged nearly 20 points a night.

Gettin It Done With D:
In addition to closing in on the team single-season blocked shots record, the Bulldogs are currently on pace to set a new defensive scoring mark. Truman enters the week allowing 54.4 points per game and would be only the second Truman team to have a defensive scoring average under 60 points. The school record is 57.1 points in 28 games played during the 2012-13 campaign.

Truman is ninth in the latest NCAA Division II rankings in scoring defense and leads the GLVC in that category. The Bulldogs have held opponents to under 50 points in 10 games this year. The program benchmark for most games holding an opponent under 50 goes back to the first year 1972-73 when they held the opposing teams to under 50 in 10 of the 15 games played. Truman has had 10 seasons in which they didn't hold anyone under 50 points in a game and another nine, including last year where it occurred just once in a season. In the post shot clock era, the record for holding opponents under 50 is five games set in 2012-13.

Strait Shooter:
Senior Courtney Strait is third among NCAA active free throw shooters. Strait's 87.0% from the line trails Lauren Gold of Shippensburg (Pa.), who's career mark is 89.4% is the national leader followed by Taylor Torres of Colorado Christian at 87.2%. She is also among the Division II career leaders in points scored (89^th) and free throws made (44th).

Strait became the 20^th Truman player to score 1,000 career points when she scored 14 in Truman's win over Maryville. She now stands at 1,049 points for her career. Strait can begin to climb the scoring charts as she needs nine points to tie Sarah Sommer for 19^th.

She became the 25^th player in Truman to play in 100 career games this season and if she plays in the remaining five regular season games, will break the record of 112 games played shared by Carol Jarrard (1978-82) and Allie Norton (2011-15).

Upcoming Strait Milestones:
        Three-Pointers Made: 143 –seventh all-time (Next: 145 Breanna Daniels, 149 Susan Theroff)
        Three-Pointers Attempted: 416 – fifth all-time (Next : 417 Breanna Daniels, 662 Allie Norton)
        Free Throws Made: 288 – eighth all-time (Next: 316 Kristy Brown)
She is the career leader in free throw shooting percentage at Truman at 87.0%

Quarter Scoring:
Under the new quarter system, put in place this year for Women's Basketball. The Bulldogs are averaging 15.9 points per quarter while allowing 13.6. Truman has scored 20 points or more in a quarter 18 times and has given up 20 in a 10-minute span on 10 occasions. On the flip side, the Bulldogs have not scored 10 points in a quarter eight times and have held opponents less than 10 points in 19 separate quarters.

The most points scored in a single quarter are 29 against Central Christian and 21 by Missouri Southern. The fewest points scored was six against Missouri Southern and two by Illinois Springfield.

Last Week's Recap:
Truman 63, Saint Joseph's 53 (Box Score) –Truman nearly scored as many points in the decisive fourth quarter than they did combine in the second and third quarters to pull away for the road win. The Bulldogs outscored the Pumas 21-12 in the final 10 minutes and 16-4 in the final five. Truman had 14 rebounds in the fourth quarter with six offensive boards. Courtney Strait matched her season-high of 18 points and had 10 in the fourth. Post players Michalina Tomczak and Cassidy Clark had 11 points apiece. SJC's Courtney Kvachkoff played all 40 minutes and recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Truman 53, Indianapolis 46 (Box Score) – UINDY's Princess German scored 32 of Indianapolis' 46 points but it was the Bulldogs scoring fury at the end that led to the 53-46 win on the road. Truman outscored German and the Greyhounds 16-6 in the final 5:42 (with German accounting for those six points) to pick up the win. Truman outscored UINDY 10-1 at the free throw line in the quarter as they trailed by three entering the fourth. German was 11-of-17 from the field, 6-of-9 from three and 4-of-4 at the line but the rest of the UINDY team was 4-of-36 (11%) overall. Courtney Strait was again Truman's scoring leader with 13 points, eight coming in the fourth. Kasey Gassensmith added a dozen and Ashley Hartwig pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds and added nine points.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs host William Jewell next Thursday then travel to Rockhurst on Saturday. Truman defeated the Cardinals 61-54 in Liberty on December 5 and will look to avenge a 56-55 loss to Rockhurst back on December 3^rd in Kirksville.

#TSUvsUWP (2014-15 Box Score)
Truman has won both prior meetings with the Rangers since joining the GLVC.
Last year in Kirksville, Courtney Strait scored 21 points, 16 in the first half as the Bulldogs dispatched UWP 76-66 in Pershing Arena. Following that loss, the Rangers went on to win their next 12 games and 15 of their final 17 before falling by four to Drury in the semifinals of the GLVC Postseason Tournament in St. Charles. They advanced to the NCAA Tournament but lost in the first round to rival Lewis 80-66 to finish the season with an overall record of 22-8.
This season, the Rangers are 13-8 overall and 7-6 in league games. They are 4-4 in road games.
Truman and UWP are nearly mirror images of one another in terms of overall statistics. The Rangers average 66.6 points compared to Truman's 63.7 while the Bulldogs hold opponents to 54.4 to UWP's 61.2. The teams are eighth and ninth in overall field goal percentage and 12^th and 14^th in three-point field goal percentage. The Rangers are +5.7 in rebounding margin compared to Truman's +4.4 but a slight edge goes to UWP in three-pointers made per game with 6.57 to Truman's 4.26.
Senior Stephanie Furr leads UWP in scoring at 12.7 points per game followed by senior Kristin Conniff at 12.2. Senior Jessica Prince leads in rebounding at 6.6 per night and senior Tara Knapstein in assists with 2.95 per game.

#TSUvsLEWIS (2014-15 Box Score)
Lewis has won both games played on campus sites while Truman won in Evansville, Indiana in the quarterfinal round of the 2014 GLVC Postseason Basketball tournament. The Flyers got a 27-point, 21-rebound performance from Mariyah Brawner-Henley in last season's 93-57 win over the Bulldogs in Pershing Arena last year.
The duo of freshman Jessica Kelliher and Brawner-Henley has proven tough to stop in Division II. The two combine for nearly 40 points per night with Brawner-Henley being one of 13 players across Division II to average over 20 points per night (20.1).
Brawner-Henley 12^th in the nation in rebounding at 11.7 per game has a team leading 29 blocks, 38 steals and is a three-time GLVC Player of the Week winner, including the current honoree. The 21 rebounds last year against Truman was the most by an opponent against the Bulldogs.
The Flyers swept through the Midwest Regional tournament last year to advance to the NCAA Elite Eight, they were defeated by Limestone 61-58 to finish with a 31-3 record. Their three losses, (by Limestone, Drury and Southern Indiana) were by a total of 11 points.
Lewis has won 17 games straight after a 71-63 loss at Grand Valley State on November 25^th.
They are third in scoring in the GLVC (73.3) and second behind Truman in scoring defense at 56.4 points allowed. Lewis leads the conference in scoring margin (+16.8), field goal percentage (.505), defensive field goal percentage (.340), rebounding defense (30.9), rebounding margin (+8.2), assist/turnover margin (1.03) and defensive rebounds (28.35).
In the second game of conference road trips, the Flyers margin of victory is +9.7 whereas on the first game of conference road tilts the average margin is +16.0.
The Flyers were ranked number two in the USA Today/WBCA Preseason Coaches' poll and are currently seventh in the poll.
Kristen Gillespie is in her first season at Flyers Head Coach replacing Lisa Carlsen, who moved up to Division I and Northern Illinois. Gillespie spent the previous four seasons at Division III Benedictine.

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Players Mentioned

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

#02 Brooke Bailey: G; 5' 6"; Redshirt Freshman

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

#42 Ashley Hartwig: F; 5' 11"; Sophomore

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

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

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

#01 Mackenzie Jerks: G; 5' 8"; Freshman

#31 Rachel Edmundson: F; 6' 0"; Freshman

#34 Cassidy Clark: C; 6' 2"; Junior

Players Mentioned

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

#02 Brooke Bailey
: 5' 6"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

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

#42 Ashley Hartwig
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: F

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

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

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

#01 Mackenzie Jerks
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: G

#31 Rachel Edmundson
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: F

#34 Cassidy Clark
: 6' 2"; Junior
: C