Dec. 13, 2000
Truman Women's Basketball Closes the Year with Two Road Games
The Game: Truman State University Bulldogs (Mid-America Intercollegiate
Athletics Association/NCAA Division II) vs. Rockhurst University Hawks (NCAA
DII/Heartland Conference)
Date: Friday, Dec. 15, 2000
Location: Kansas City, Mo.
Arena (Capacity): Mason-Haplin Fieldhouse (2,000)
The Game: Truman vs. University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks (NCAA
DII/North Central Conference)
Date: Sunday, Dec. 17, 2000
Location: Omaha, Neb.
Arena (Capacity): Mason-Haplin Fieldhouse (2,000)
Broadcast: KRES 104.7 FM in Moberly, Mo., Chad Speakar will do play-by-play, and commentary by Kevin White, Truman Assistant Director of Athletics. The pregame show begins approximately 15 minutes before the game. The Rockhurst game will be on 99.9 KIRK.
The campus station, KTRM 88.7, is tentatively scheduled to also broadcast the Jan. 20 & 27 and Feb. 10 games.
Team Line: Live KRES broadcast by calling 1-800-846-4700. Access Code: 6350
Truman Probable Starters
10-Jessy Fletcher, Jr., G/F, 5-11 (11.0 ppg, 8.2 rpg)
11-Tessa Thurman, Jr., G, 5-6 (8.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg)
13-Robyn Gerber, Jr., G, 5-8 (7.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg)
35-Jennifer Perkins, Jr., C/F, 6-1 (15.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg)
40-Jennifer Fisher, So., C/F, 6-2 (9.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg)
Rockhurst Probable Starters
12 Jacquie Rzesut, So., G, 5-8 (10.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg)
20 Amber Krumbholz, So., G, 5-10 (12.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg)
32 Elaine Williams, Jr., F, 5-8 (8.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg)
34 Wyketha Harrell, Fr., F, 5-10 (7.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg)
45 Patrycja Kozlowska, So., C, 6-1(9.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg)
Nebraska-Omaha Probable Starters
20 Jennifer Mitchell, Jr., G, 5-8 (14.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg)
24 Lindsay Peterson, Fr., G/F, 6-0 (7.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg)
2 Andi Sutherland, So., G, 5-6 (5.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
40 Kari Kerkhoff, Sr., C/F, 6-1 (6.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
42 Anne Bomstad, Jr., C/F, 6-2 (10.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
Truman: The Bulldogs are 3-3 as they complete the non-conference and 2000 portion of their schedule with two road games. The first is a rematch at Rockhurst on Friday, followed by a trip to Nebraska-Omaha on Sunday. Truman snapped a two-game losing streak at home on Dec. 5 with a 73-51 win over Mt. Mercy (Iowa).
However Truman's last two losses have been by a combined three points, and all three of the season's losses have been by a combined five points, while the 'Dogs' three victories have been won by a combined 57 points.
Truman fell 66-65 to Concordia University, St. Paul (Minn.) in Kansas City at Rockhurst on Dec. 2, the 'Dogs' most recent loss, and lost to Rockhurst 58-56 in Kirksville on Nov. 28. The Bulldogs lost 73-71 to Tampa in the season-opener, but defeated Quincy (Ill.) 50-48 and St. Joseph's (Ind.) 99-66 in games No. 2 and 3 this year.
About Rockhurst: The Lady Hawks are 4-3 after losing their last two contests. The Lady Hawks opened the 2000-01 campaign with a pair of wins in their own Rockhurst Tip Off Classic, 61-55 over McKendree (Ill.) and 67-57 against Park University. Then the Hawks suffered their first loss 64-58 to Missouri Southern, but, got back on track in Kirksville with a 75-59 win over St. Joseph's (Ind.). A few days later, RU registered its most recent victory, a 58-56 win over the Bulldogs in Kirksville. The Hawks' recent skid includes losses to Concordia University, St. Paul 66-63 and Northwest Missouri 62-55 last Saturday.
Sophomore guard Amber Krumbholz leads the Hawks with 12.4 points per game and Patty Kozlowska tops the team with 7.6 rebounds per game.
Krumbolz has hit 33 three-pointers this year, while sophomore guard Jacquie Rzesut has 24 and leads the team with 27 assists.
About Nebraska-Omaha: The Mavericks, 2-6 so far, are led by junior guard Jennifer Mitchell with 14.4 points a game and 37 assists. Sophomore center Tanya Hammes leads the team with 9.0 rebounds in five games this year. She is also tops on the team, shooting .596 from the field.
UNO opened the season with a loss to Southwest State (Minn.) 74-61, but beat Concordia University, St. Paul 78-64 in their next contest. The Mavs then began a four-game losing streak, falling to Regis (Colo.) 82-69, Florida Southern 71-58, Northwest Missouri 84-80 and Nebraska-Kearney, 65-52. Nebraska-Omaha's only other win came next over the College of St. Mary (Neb.), 89-25. The Mavericks are coming off their sixth loss as Northern Colorado beat UNO last Saturday 79-78 in the Mavs' conference opener.
Two Mavericks posted double figures in the scoring column against Northern Colorado. Hammes led the squad with 16 points, while freshman guard/forward Erin Wessling had 12 points. Senior center Kari Kerkhoff was the team's high rebounder with eight and Mitchell had 10 helpers. UNO out-shot UNC .397 to .345, but lost the rebounding battle and had six more turnovers, while shooting 29 less charity shots (14-of-20) than Northern Colorado (35-of-49) to account for the loss.
Series Records: Rockhurst took a 3-2 lead in the series with Truman after registering a victory over the 'Dogs on Nov. 28. In 1998-99, Truman and Rockhurst met twice with each team winning on its home court. Before this season, the Bulldogs were the last to register a victory, beating the Lady Hawks 89-56 on Jan. 23, 1999, while RU won 62-58 on Dec. 17, 1998. On Nov. 15, 1997, the 'Dogs lost 58-56 at Rockhurst, and on Nov. 25, 1996, Truman won 75-65 at home.
Against Nebraska-Omaha, Truman is 0-2 after losing 79-56 in Kirksville on Dec. 10, 1988, and 90-79 in the 'Dogs' season-opener on Nov. 16, 1990 in Omaha, Neb.
Bulldogs in the MIAA: Two Bulldogs rank among the MIAA's scoring leaders this week. Junior center/forward Jennifer Perkins (Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmund) is currently fifth with 15.3 points a game, while junior guard/forward Jessy Fletcher (Atlanta, Mo.) is tied for 19th with 11.0 points a contest.
Perkins is also fourth in field goal percentage (.547), tied for 15th in rebounding (5.3 rpg) and tied with Fletcher for fourth in blocked shots with 1.00 a game.
Fletcher also ranks sixth in conference rebounding (9.0 rpg), while sophomore forward/center Jennifer Fisher (Fordland, Mo./Marshfield) is fourth (9.0 rpg). Fisher is also second in MIAA blocked shots (1.50 bpg).
Junior guard Tessa Thurman (Atlanta, Mo./John Woods CC) is seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.342) and is fifth in three-point field goals made (2.17 pg).
Junior guard Robyn Gerber (Affton, Mo./Lutheran South) is currently third in league assist/turnover ratio (2.38).
The Bulldogs rank second in the MIAA in blocked shots (4.00 bpg), field goal percentage defense (.329) and defensive rebounds (30.33 pg). The team is third this week in three-point field goal percentage (.354) and rebounding offense (43.7 rpg).
Truman vs. Mt. Mercy: Perkins began all scoring just a few seconds into the 73-51 win over the Mt. Mercy Mustangs. MMC made a free throw and a two-point shot in the first minute to take its only lead of the game, 3-2. After that, Truman went on an 8-0 run and built its lead steadily, going ahead 43-30 at intermission.
Freshman guard/forward Annie Westhoff (Webster Groves, Mo.) put the first points of the second half on the board for the Bulldogs with a jumper in under 10 seconds into the second stanza. At the eight minute mark, Truman went on a 12-2 run which culminated at 2:55 with its biggest lead of the game, 27 points, behind 2-for-2 free throw shooting by freshman guard/forward Ashlea Wood (Kirksville, Mo.).
Mt. Mercy shot .345 for the game, while the 'Dogs were 30-of-66 from the field, shooting .455. Three Bulldogs scored in double digits as Perkins and Thurman tied for the team-high in scoring with 14 points each, while Perkins led the team on the boards with nine and in assists with four. Westhoff put up 12 points, and Thurman hit three from long range.
Truman vs. Rockhurst on Nov. 28, 2000: The Bulldogs had built an eight-point margin over the Lady Hawks by the eight-minute mark in the first half. However, that lead dwindled to just two points with a little over three minutes to go before the break. Rockhurst went ahead by two with about a minute and a half left. But Truman tied the score heading into the break on a jumper by Wood.
In the second half, the teams battled through six lead changes. The 'Dogs had a four-point lead with under four minutes left to play. Rockhurst then made two free throws and a layup to tie the score at 54 with 2:10 remaining on the clock.
Following a Truman timeout, the Bulldogs failed to get the ball inbounds and turned it over to the Lady Hawks who capitalized with a layup to take a two-point lead with 1:28 left to play. Truman then missed a pair of free throws, but got the ball back on a turnover and Perkins gave the 'Dogs a two-point lead with 28 seconds left on a jumper with an assist from Fletcher. However, when Rockhurst got the ball back, they ran down the shot clock and found an open player in the paint who tossed up the game-winner with nine-tenths of a second remaining.