Dec 1, 2003

Women's Basketball Looks For Fourth-Straight Win as It Plays Host to Drury

Truman State University Bulldogs
vs.
Drury University Lady Panthers
Date: Tuesday, Dec, 2, 2003
Time: 7:30 p.m. (CDT)
Location: Kirksville, Mo.
Arena (Capacity): Pershing Arena (3,000)

Complete release in .pdf format

Media Information: The 2003-04 Truman Women's Basketball media guide is available at the gobulldogs.truman.edu web site.

Broadcast: KRES 104.7 FM in Moberly, Mo., Sports Director Brad Boyer will do play-by-play, with commentary from Kevin White, Truman Assistant Director of Athletics. The pregame show begins approximately 15 minutes before the game. The broadcast is also available on the internet at www.regionalradio.com.

The Bulldogs (3-1, 0-0 MIAA): Truman is off to its second 3-1 start in as many years after defeating Central Methodist 74-57 last Tuesday. (see complete box score on page 2).

Senior forward Sarah Sommer (Sparland, Ill./Midland) has now charted double figures in the scoring column in every game this year and led the squad with 15 against CMC, along with finishing second in rebounding with seven. Sommer was 4-of-7 from the three-point arc.

Senior guard Adri Tromp (Grand Rapids, Mich.) led the team on the boards with eight caroms and was among the five Bulldogs that scored in double figures after contributing 11.

Freshman center Emily Markovich (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) scored the second-most on the team with 14 points in her first collegiate start and was 7-of-11 from the field. Junior guard Kelli Floyd (Kirksville, Mo.) had 11 points and six assists and junior center (Jamie Huffman (St. Peters, Mo.) came off the bench to add 13 points and was 5-of-6 from the free throw line.

The 'Dogs started off on a 7-0 run and took their first double-digit lead by 14:18 on a trey by Sommer. CMC cut the Truman lead to two-points after a 6-0 run in the final three minutes of the first half, making 3-of-4 free throws and a three-pointer. However a pair of layups by Huffman and senior center Lisa Miceli pushed the margin back to six, giving the Bulldogs a 26-20 lead at intermission.

In the first five minutes of the second period, Truman put together a 14-2 run to get its lead back in double figures (15) where it remained for the rest of the game. With 5:09 left to play, the Bulldogs used a 14-0 run to gain their greatest lead of the game at 25 points (71-46).

Series Information: The Bulldogs are 0-2 all-time against Drury after losing both of last year's contests by 77-62 margins, first in Springfield on Dec. 7 and then in Kirksville on Dec. 19.

Drury (8-1, 0-0 HC): The Lady Panthers pounded the Cameron University Lady Aggies on Saturday in the final game of the Cameron University PowerAde Classic. Drury dominated from the outset before settling for an 87-51 final outcome.

Drury was led in scoring by Amanda Newton who had 18 points. Three other Lady Panthers also scored double digits: Kara Rutledge (11 points), Amy Belew (10 points) and Magen Brunson (10 points).

Drury plays its third straight road game when it travels to Kirksville. The Lady Panthers' only loss on the year came at Northeastern State (Okla.) on Nov. 25, 88-79. Since then the Lady Panthers picked up a pair of wins at the Powerade Classic, including a 79-86 win over Central Oklahoma. They opened the year with a six-game win-streak, beating Central Arkansas 71-54, South Dakota 79-73, Mansfield (Pa.) 76-28, Hillsdale (Mich.) 97-56, Central Arkansas again 87-67 and Missouri-St. Louis, 100-45.

Drury was ranked eighth in the WBCA preseason poll and could move higher in tomorrow's first regular season ranking.

Coach Sloop: John Sloop became the eighth head coach in the 31-year history of the Truman women's basketball program in July of 2000, and has posted a record of 35-48 (.422) since then. Sloop spent the five previous years as the assistant for the Truman men's team.

In his first season as taskmaster for the Bulldog women, Sloop's team posted nine wins, the same number of wins as his 2002-03 squad. He led last year's team to its second-straight MIAA postseason tournament appearance, its fifth appearance in the last six years.

His experience with the Truman men includes an NCAA Division II Final Four appearance in 1999, as well as some of the top names in Missouri college and high school basketball.

After Sloop graduated from Maryville University in St. Louis in 1991, Sloop served under Charlie Spoonhour for one season at Southwest Missouri State University before moving to St. Louis University with Spoonhour for the next two seasons. He was an assistant coach at Southwest Missouri State University during the 1994-95 season for Mark Bernsen.

Women's Basketball | Truman Athletics