Jan. 12, 2001
Women's Basketball Team Completes First MIAA Road Stint at Southwest Baptist Tomorrow
The Game: Truman State University Bulldogs (Mid-America Intercollegiate
Athletics Association/NCAA Division II) vs. Southwest Baptist University
Lady Bearcats (NCAA DII/MIAA)
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 13, 2001/1:30 pm
Location: Bolivar, Mo.
Arena (Capacity): Davidson Fieldhouse (2,500)
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 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 (10.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg)
24-Annie Westhoff, G/F, 6-0, Fr. (8.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg)
35-Jennifer Perkins, Jr., C/F, 6-1 (15.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg)
13-Robyn Gerber, Jr., G, 5-8 (8.3ppg, 2.6 rpg)
11-Tessa Thurman, Jr., G, 5-6 (5.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg)
Southwest Baptist Probable Starters
00-Erin Easterly, F, 5-11, Jr. (9.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg)
14-Carrie Long, F, 5-10, Jr. (13.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg)
10-Kristy Crowley, G, 5-10, Sr. (12.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
12-Allison Davis, G, 5-10, So. (12.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg)
22-Jaime McGee, G, 5-7, Sr. (9.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg)
Truman (6-6 overall, 1-3 in the MIAA): The Bulldogs will complete their first MIAA road trip with a game at Southwest Baptist on Saturday. The Truman women dropped their first two games in the three-game stint, losing to Washburn 63-52 on Monday and to Missouri Western 81-67 on Wednesday. The Bulldogs opened the MIAA campaign at home with a 65-56 loss to Central Missouri but followed that with their only conference win to date, a 91-74 victory over Missouri Southern.
The 'Dogs completed the non-conference and 2000 portion of their schedule on a three-game win-streak and were 3-1 during the month of December.
The three-game skein began with a 73-51 win over Mt. Mercy, before going undefeated on the road to close out non-conference action. The Bulldogs' away wins were at Rockhurst in a rematch on Dec. 15 57-44, followed by a trip to Nebraska-Omaha on Dec. 17 where Truman beat the Mavericks, 80-68.
The 'Dogs opened the 2000-01 campaign with a 73-71 loss to Tampa (Fla.) in the Quincy (Ill.) Tournament, before registering their first win over the host, 50-48. Truman won its first home encounter 99-66 against St. Joseph's (Ind.), but then hit a two-game slide, falling to Rockhurst 58-56 in Kirksville and Concordia University, St. Paul (Minn.) 66-65 in a neutral site game at Rockhurst.
About the Lady Bearcats (8-3 overall, 3-1 in the MIAA): The Lady Bearcats were the eighth-ranked team in the South Central region this week, before getting knocked off by Missouri Southern. SBU went 5-2 through the non-conference portion of its schedule, opening the season with wins over Evangel 73-72 and Incarnate Word, 79-69.
The Lady 'Cats' first loss was to St. Mary's 65-62, but was followed with two more wins over Arkansas-Monticello 81-61 and William Woods, 100-39. Southwest Baptist charted its next loss to Northeastern Oklahoma 66-52 before going on a four-game win-streak with victories over Cameron (Okla.) 65-57, Missouri-Rolla 100-72 in the MIAA opener, Washburn 70-54 and Northwest Missouri, 84-61. Missouri Southern handed the Lady Bearcats their first loss in the conference on Wednesday, 62-58.
Junior forward Carrie Long is 11th among MIAA scoring leaders and leads the Lady Bearcats with 13.2 points per game. Senior guard Kristy Crowley is 13th in MIAA scoring (1.2 ppg), while sophomore guard Allison Davis is 14th (12.1 ppg). Junior forward Erin Easterly leads SBU on the boards and ranks seventh in the MIAA this week with 7.5 a game.
Davis also leads the MIAA in three-point field goal percentage (.517), is second in three-point field goals made (2.82 pg) and sixth in blocked shots (0.91 pg). Long is also fifth in league free throw percentage (.826), 14th in rebounding (6.6 rpg) and seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.38) among MIAA leaders.
Series Records: SBU leads the overall series with Truman, 15-7. On Jan. 15 last year, the Bulldogs snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Jennies when Truman defeated Southwest Baptist 77-70 in Kirksville. However, the Lady Bearcats won the next two meetings of the 1999-2000 season 66-56 in Bolivar on Feb. 12, and ended the 'Dogs season with a 71-62 victory in Kirksville in the first round of the MIAA postseason tournament.
THE COACHES: Bulldog Head Coach John Sloop is in his first season as a collegiate head coach, but served five years as the assistant coach for the Truman men's team.
Jim Middleton is in his seventh season with the Lady Bearcats and as a college head coach. He has posted a career record of 122-56 during that time.
Bulldogs in the MIAA: Junior center/forward Jennifer Perkins (Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmund) is sixth in the conference with 15.6 points a game, and is tied for fifth in rebounding (7.7 rpg), third in field goal percentage (.541) and third in MIAA blocked shots (1.25 pg).
Sophomore forward/center Jennifer Fisher (Fordland, Mo./Marshfield) is 19th in MIAA scoring (10.7 ppg), third in rebounding (9.0 rpg), fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.450), 10th in three-point field made (1.50 pg) and is fifth in blocked shots (1.08 pg).
Junior guard/forward Jessy Fletcher (Atlanta, Mo.) is ninth in rebounding (7.2 pg).
Truman vs. Missouri Western last Wednesday : Annie Heithoff of Missouri Western led all scorers with 20 points and began her assault with a three-pointer a little more than 30 seconds into the game. Her trey sparked a 12-0 run for the Lady Griffons. Perkins finally put Truman on the board with a layup at 16:32. A couple of minutes later, the Bulldogs began a come-back when Fletcher made a layup and a pair of free throws that began 15-2 run for the 'Dogs who overtook MWSC 22-20 by the six-minute mark. However, MWSC quickly regained the lead and expanded it to eight points with a minute left in the half, and took a 37-29 lead at intermission.
The Lady Griffons hit the ground running again in the second stanza, scoring 11 points to the Bulldogs' three in the opening minutes, taking an 18-point margin over the 'Dogs. Truman managed to cut the lead to six after a 17-5 run that began with a long range bucket by freshman guard Emily Turnbull (Toulon, Ill./Stark County).
Missouri Western then used an 8-0 run to push its lead back to double digits where it remained for the rest of the game. With Truman down by 18 points with 2:38 to go, the Bulldog defense shutdown the Lady Griffons while scoring on a layup by Fletcher and free throws by Thalin and freshman guard Ashlea Wood (Kirksville, Mo.) to put the final score at 81-67 in the Lady Griffons favor.
Three Bulldogs scored career-highs as freshman forward/guard Annie Westhoff (Webster Groves, Mo.) led the team with 17 points, Fletcher charted 16 and Turnbull added 12. Fisher rounded out the double-figure scorers for Truman, coming off the bench to contribute 11.
Turnbull also had career-highs with seven free throws, 10 FT attempts and three rebounds. Wood had a career-high and tied for the team-lead with eight rebounds against MWSC.
Bits on the Bulldogs
40-Jennifer Fisher: Had a career-high with 25 points and five three-pointers vs. St. Joseph's (Ind.) on Nov. 24 ... leads the team in rebounding with 9.0 a game (108) ... scored in double figures in eight games this year, including four double-doubles ... best rebounding game was vs. Rockhurst when she grabbed 13 boards ... already ranks fifth on the Truman career blocked shots list with 36 ... started the first five games of the season, but has led the team off the bench the last six contests ... led the 'Dogs with 15 points vs. CMSU ... tied for the team-lead with 33 assists ... her 5-of-5 performance from long range in the St. Joseph's contest ties her with one other individual in the MIAA for the best single-game percentage (1.000) from beyond the arc so far this season ... has sank her last 15 free throws.
10-Jessy Fletcher: John Wood Community College Transfer ... has started every game and scored in double figures seven times with two double-doubles ... had a senior college career high with 16 points vs. Missouri Western on Jan. 10 and grabbed a career high of 14 rebounds vs. St. Joseph's ... third on the team with 10.3 points a game.
13-Robyn Gerber: A full-time starter this season at point guard, she is fifth in scoring on the team with 8.3 points a game ... has five games this year with double-digit scoring ... led the team with 15 points in Truman's first MIAA win over Missouri Southern on Jan. 6, and with 12 points in the team's first victory of the year at Quincy (Ill.) ... is tied for the team season-high with six assists in the first Rockhurst encounter on Nov. 28 and is tied for first on the squad for the year with 33 ... had the game-winning assist in the 50-48 win over Quincy.
30-Carrie Guenzler: Saw action in the St. Joseph's and Mt. Mercy games ... attempted one three-pointer vs. Mt. Mercy.
14-Jennifer McDonnell: In four games this year, she has had one foul and one turnover after walking on in the fall.
35-Jennifer Perkins: The teams leading scorer (15.6 ppg), Perkins has charted nine games with double-digit scoring, including four 20-plus efforts .... had a career-high and team season best with 26 points at Washburn on Monday ... has two double-doubles for the year in the games vs. Rockhurst (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Central Missouri (15 points, 12 rebounds) ... has led the team in scoring in seven contests so far this year ... is currently in the 16th spot on the Bulldog career scoring leaders list with 735 points and is 13th in among all-time rebounders at Truman with 429 ... is third on the Truman list for career blocked shots with 44 ... had a team season-high with 10 field goals vs. Concordia and Washburn ... scored the game-winning bucket in the team's first win in 2000-01 vs. Quincy.
Keagan Thalin: She has come off the bench in every game to average 4.5 points and is second on the team from the line, making 29-of-39 (.744) ... had her first double-digit scoring game vs. Nebraska-Omaha with 13 points and charted her second vs. Missouri Southern with 10 points ... charted career highs with four assists vs. MSSC and with 11-of-14 performance from the charity stripe vs. Nebraska-Omaha ... was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line against Missouri Southern ... her 11 free throws vs. UNO ties for second in the MIAA for most in a single-game this year .... she hit 11 straight free throws dating back to the last minute of the UNO game until the closing minutes of the Missouri Western contest.
11-Tessa Thurman: John Wood Community College Transfer ... the No. 2 guard, she has started every contest this season ... is second on the team with 17 long range buckets ... had a career high 14 points in the season-opener against Tampa and vs. Mt. Mercy ... also scored 11 points in the St. Joseph's and Missouri Southern contests to account for all of her double-digit scoring games this year ... made four treys against Tampa.
23-Emily Turnbull: A reserve point guard, Turnbull has played in every game, charting 17 assists and averaging 3.2 points a game ... she is 20-of-30 from the charity stripe ... had career highs with 12 points, seven free throws, 10 FT attempts and three rebounds against Missouri Western on Wednesday.
12-Erin Tweedy: A bench contributor, Tweedy has played in three games, charting one rebound.
24-Annie Westhoff: Garnered a starting role in the last seven games ... fourth in team scoring with 8.7 points a game ... had double-digit scoring efforts in four games, including a career high 17 points vs. Missouri Western on Jan. 10 ... had her first double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds vs. St. Joseph's ... also had two blocked shots vs. St. Joseph's ... she is fourth on the team in rebounding with 5.3 a game ... led the team with four steals vs. Mt. Mercy.
Ashlea Wood: Has come off the bench in 10 games this year and scored 15 points ... had career-highs with six points vs. St. Joseph's and eight rebounds against Missouri Western on Jan. 10 ... tied for the team lead with eight rebounds vs. MWSC ... was 3-for-3 from the free throw line vs. Mt. Mercy.
Truman at Southwest Baptist: 1-15-00: The Bulldogs improved to 9-3 overall and 4-1 in the MIAA after knocking off No. 23 Southwest Baptist 77-70. In beating the No. 1 team in the South Central region, the Bulldogs claimed their first win over SBU since 1994 and handed the Bearcats their first loss in the conference.
The Bulldogs were 27-of-32 from the free throw line for the game as four women were perfect from the stripe led by junior center/forward Lisa Bryan who was 8-of-8 for the game.
Southwest Baptist led by as much as 10 points after the 19-minute mark in the first period until five minutes into the second half when the Bulldogs took a 49-48 lead on a layup by Perkins.
SBU went ahead one more time 56-55 with 11:44 left to play. But Truman took the lead for good at 10:18 on a Megan Kahn layup and built a nine-point margin with 2:16 remaining in the game after an 18-6 run.
Truman at Southwest Baptist: 2-12-00: The Bulldogs and Lady Bearcats fought through eight lead changes and seven tied scores before SBU took a 30-27 lead at intermission.
The Lady Bearcats expanded their lead to seven points by 16:56 in the second half. Jennifer Fisher did her share to bring the 'Dogs back to within one point by 14:26 with a field goal, a defensive rebound, another field goal, and an assist on a field goal by Kreuser to make the score 37-36 in favor of SBU. Truman took its last lead of the game at 12:21 on a three by Kreuser.
SBU then went on a 11-2 run, expanding its margin to 10 points with 7:45 left to play. The 'Dogs struggled to keep SBU's lead below double-digits the remainder of the game, losing 66-56 in the final tally.