Dec. 5, 2001

Truman Women's Basketball Team travels to Lincoln; Bulldogs Return Home to Face Park on Saturday

The Game: Truman State University Bulldogs (NCAA Division II/Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) vs. Lincoln University Blue Tigers (NCAA Division II/Heartland Conference)

Date: Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2001

Time: 7:30 p.m. (CDT)

Location: Jefferson City, Mo.

Stadium (Capacity): Jason Gymnasium (2,000)

The Game: Truman State University Bulldogs (NCAA Division II/Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) vs. Lincoln University Blue Tigers (NCAA Division II/Heartland Conference)

Date: Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2001

Time: 7:30 p.m. (CDT)

Location: Jefferson City, Mo.

Stadium (Capacity): Jason Gymnasium (2,000)

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, for the home games and Hank Janssen doing commentary on the road. The pregame show begins approximately 15 minutes before the game.

Team Line: Live KRES broadcast by calling 1-800-846-4700. Access Code: 6350

Listen for free on the internet to live KRES broadcasts of Bulldog Basketball games. Go to regionalradio.com and click on KRES.

Truman: The Truman women's basketball team has won three straight since dropping its season-opener to No. 12 Northern Michigan, 93-82. Since then, the Bulldogs knocked off Metropolitan State (Colo.) 79-78, Graceland (Iowa) 73-49 and Greenville (Ill.), 62-44.

The 'Dogs embark on the second half of the non-conference schedule this week as they travel to former MIAA foe, Lincoln University for a 7:30 contest on Wednesday. Two years ago, the teams met on Dec. 4 in Kirksville where Truman pulled off a resounding 82-41 victory over the Blue Tigers.

Perkins: Senior center Jennifer Perkins (Ft. Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmond) has led the Bulldogs in scoring in all four games so far this year and had her third double-double of the year vs. Greenville with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She came within one point of her career high when she put up 34 points against Metro State. For her career, Perkins has 17 double-doubles and 57 games with double-digit scoring.

Bulldogs vs. Greenville: Truman went on an 11-2 run to start the game and took its first double-digit lead on a three-pointer by freshman guard Kelli Floyd (Kirksville). The Bulldogs went to the lockerroom with a 14-point margin over Greenville after senior guard Tessa Thurman (Atlanta, Mo.) hit a trey with 36 seconds remaining in the half. The 'Dogs connected on seven long range shots in the first half, including a 4-for-5 performance by senior guard Wendi Sobaski (Packwood, Iowa/Pekin) and one by sophomore forward Annie Westhoff (Webster Groves, Mo.).

After the break, Greenville cut the Bulldog lead to nine twice in the first five minutes before the 'Dogs went on a 15-4 run to take a 20-point lead by the six-minute mark on a three-pointer by junior forward Jennifer Fisher (Fordland, Mo./Marshfield). GU outscored Truman 10-8 in the remaining minutes of the game, but it was not enough as the Bulldogs captured a 62-44 win over the Panthers.

Truman was 10-of-31 from long range for the game as Sobaski led the team with 15 points on five three-pointers.

Perkins and Fisher tied for the team lead with four assists, while Perkins fell one short of her career high with four blocked shots. Perkins also had her third double-double of the young season with 10 points and rebounds. Westhoff also scored in double figures with 10 points.

About Lincoln: The Blue Tigers are coming off a 75-54 loss to Columbia College last night that pushed their losing streak to four games. They won their season-opener 74-17 over Harris-Stowe, but followed up with a 54-49 loss to William Woods. LU go back in the win column over Lane (Tenn.) 65-52, but again lost the next game to Missouri-Rolla, 67-57. The Blue Tigers travelled to the Drury Lady Panther Classic for two games last weekend, losing to Pittsburg State (Kan.) 66-45 and to Missouri-Rolla again, 59-73.

Against Columbia College, the Blue Tigers were led by Sofie Hjartaker with 27 points, while Ebony Torrey had a team-high nine rebounds. hjartaker was 5-of-8 from the arc and 10-of-14 from the field.

Hjartaker also leads the team with 17.6 points a game. Torrey is second in scoring with 9.9 points a game, but leads the team with 7.1 boards per contest. Tiffany Tuck is averaging 9.8 points a game and has 24 treys to her credit this season, while Torrey leads the team with 31 long range buckets.

About Park (4-6 overall): The Pirates lost their season-opener to Oklahoma Christian 85-57, but won their next two games over St. Mary (Kan.) 71-59 and York (Neb.), 89-56. However, Park then hit a five-game skid, losing to Columbia College 85-78, Baker University (Kan.) 85-64, Benedictine (Kan.) 86-79, Concordia (Neb.) 84-71 and York again, 83-72. The Pirates broke that losing streak last Tuesday with a 73-64 win in a rematch with Baker and beat Peru State (Neb.), 66-52 on Tuesday night.

Senior forward Muneerah Williams leads the team with 17.1 points a game and 8.7 rebounds a contest, while junior forward Le'Nae Gilmore is second in scoring with 14.1 points a game.

Gilmore had 27 points to lead all scorers in Park's encounter with Baker last Tuesday. Muneerah was second with 15 points and led the team on the boards with eight. Junior guard Glenda Grant top the squad with five assists and two three-pointers, while tying for the most steals on the team at four, along with Williams.

The Pirates shot 50.8% for the game from the field and made 3-of-9 treys.

Versus Peru on Tuesday, sophomore forward Tenysha Brown led the team with 13 points, while Gilmore and sophomore guard Silya Siniawski each had 12 points and junior guard Dorothy Haughton had 11. Haughton and junior forward Jennifer Payne each had seven rebounds. Grant had eight assists.

Sobaski and Perkins are members of Truman's 1,000-point club: Perkins joined Truman's 1,000-point club after contributing 34 points vs. Northern Michigan. She is now 11th all-time at Truman with 1,075 points. Perkins also moved up to seventh among Bulldog career field goal leaders with 447 since 1998. Sobaski joined the 1,000-point club her junior season in 1999-00. She is now 10th all-time at Truman with 1,095 points since 1997.

Sobaski Hits 200 Threes: Sobaski, who already holds the school career three-pointers record, broke 200 when she added her 201st during the Northern Michigan game. She now has 209 since joining the Bulldogs in 1997.

Series Info: Truman holds a commanding 26-14 lead in the all-time series with Lincoln, and has never met Park on the women's basketball court before. The Bulldogs have won the last four meetings with the LU Blue Tigers whose last win came on Jan. 28, 1998, when Lincoln was still a member of the MIAA. The teams split that year with Truman winning the second game on Feb. 21 in the regular-season finale. The 'Dogs have also won seven of the last eight games with Lincoln.

Coaches' Records: Truman's John Sloop begins his second season with the Bulldogs and as a head coach. He is no stranger to Truman though, having served as the assistant coach for the men's team the previous five seasons. Last year, he guided the team to a 9-17 record and is now 12-18 (.400) for his career.

LU head coach Tim Abney is in his third season with the Blue Tigers and was 9-40 heading into the year, while posting a career mark of 200-215 during 15 years as a head coach.

Park head mentor Joe Meriweather is in the midst of his fifth season with the Pirates, his first head job, and is 26-97 for his career.

Bulldogs Among MIAA statistical leaders: Perkins currently leads the MIAA in rebounding (10.3 rpg), offensive rebounds (4.50 orpg) and blocked shots (1.75 bpg), and is ranked second among league scoring leaders (21.0 ppg), just one-half a point per game behind conference leader Nicole Lindsey of Missouri Western. Perkins is also fourth in field goal percentage (.557), seventh in free throw percentage (.842) and third in defensive rebounds (5.75 drpg).

Sobaski is third among conference three-point field goal percentage leaders (.480) and tied for third in three-point field goals made (3.0 pg, 12).

Fisher leads the MIAA in defensive rebounds (6.0 drpg) and is tied for 15th among MIAA rebounding leaders (6.3 rpg), is 10th in three-point field goal percentage (.353) and tied for eighth in blocked shots with teammate Jessy Fletcher at 0.75 per game.