Jan. 26, 2001
Bulldogs Look to Rebound From Six-Game Skid at Home Against Pittsburg State
The Game: Truman State University Bulldogs (Mid-America Intercollegiate
Athletics Association/NCAA Division II) vs. Pittsburg State University Gorillas
(NCAA DII/MIAA)
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 27, 2001/1:30 pm
Location: Kirksville, Mo.
Arena (Capacity): Pershing Arena (2,600)
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.
The campus station, KTRM 88.7, is tentatively scheduled to also broadcast the Jan. 27 and Feb. 10 games.
Team Line: Live KRES broadcast by calling 1-800-846-4700. Access Code: 6350
Truman Probable Starters
40-Jennifer Fisher, So., F, 6-2 (10.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg)
24-Annie Westhoff, Fr., F, 6-0, (8.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg)
35-Jennifer Perkins, Jr., C, 6-1 (15.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg)
10-Jessy Fletcher, Jr., G, 5-11(10.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg)
23-Emily Turnbull, Fr., G, 5-6 (3.1 ppg, 1.6 rpg)
Pittsburg State Probable Starters
31-Bethany Turnbull, So., F, 5-11 (8.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg)
41-Dori Shortt, Sr., F, 5-11 (6.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg)
42-Jeri Spencer, Sr., F, 5-11 (3.3 ppg. 2.5 rpg)
15-Amanda Davied, So., G, 5-6 (10.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg
23-Briana Keeton, Jr., G, 5-9 (5.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg)
Truman (6-10 overall, 1-7 in the MIAA): The Truman women have out-rebounded 13 of their 16 opponents this year to rank first in the MIAA in rebounding offense (41.9 rpg), as three Bulldogs rank among the conference's top 15 rebounders.
However, the 'Dogs have lost their last six games, most recently losing to Missouri-Rolla 73-65 on Wednesday. The skid also includes losses to No. 3 Emporia State 66-47, Northwest Missouri 68-56, Southwest Baptist 91-59, Washburn 63-52 and Missouri Western, 81-67. 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 began 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.
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.
About the Gorillas (11-5 overall, 5-3 in the MIAA): Pittsburg State has also hit a bit of a skid, losing its last two MIAA games to Southwest Baptist 81-62 and Emporia, 97-45. The Gorillas beat Missouri Western 74-72 and Northwest Missouri 73-71 to open MIAA play. They suffered their first conference loss to Central Missouri 78-67 before rattling off three straight wins over Missouri-Rolla 65-61, Washburn 73-54 and Missouri Southern, 73-67. PSU went 6-2 in non-conference action, beginning the year with four straight wins before losing in overtime to St. Edward's, 68-62.
The Gorillas are led by senior Jaimee Bohannon with 13.4 points and 10.2 rebounds a game to rank 10th and first, respectively, in the MIAA. However, Bohannon has been sidelined the last two games and will not be available on Saturday against Truman.
Sophomore guard Amanda Davied is second in team scoring and is tied for 19th in the MIAA with Jennifer Fisher (10.5 ppg). She is also fourth in league assists (4.50 apg), ninth in steals (2.05 spg), third in free throw percentage (.839) and ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.14). Davied led the team with nine points vs. Emporia, while junior forward Melissa Johnson came off the bench to lead the Gorillas on the boards with six caroms against the league leader.
Senior guard Natalie Stahl is tied for seventh in conference free throw percentage (.796).
Series Records: Pittsburg has a 10-4 lead in the all-time series with the 'Dogs. Last season the teams each won on the home court. the Bulldogs won the last meeting on Feb. 26, 200, 78-63 in Kirksville, and PSU won the Jan. 29, 2000, encounter 77-64. In 1998-99, the Bulldogs travelled to Pittsburg for the first-round of the MIAA post-season tournament. They advanced to the semifinals after defeating the Gorillas, 71-64.
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.
Steve High is in his 12th season at Pittsburg, holding an overall record of 208-113 (.648) since becoming the Gorilla head coach. He is 10-4 vs. Truman, and 4-3 in Kirksville.
Bulldogs in the MIAA: Sophomore forward/center Jennifer Fisher (Fordland, Mo./Marshfield) is third in conference rebounding (8.9 rpg), tied for 19th in scoring (10.5 ppg), tied for 10th in three-point field goals made (1.31) and sixth in blocked shots (1.00 pg).
Junior center/forward Jennifer Perkins (Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmund) is sixth in the conference with 15.1 points a game, fourth in rebounding (7.9 rpg), fifth in field goal percentage (.526) and second in MIAA blocked shots (1.31 pg).
Junior guard/forward Jessy Fletcher (Atlanta, Mo.) is 10th in league rebounding (6.9 pg).
Junior guard Tessa Thurman (Atlanta, Mo.) is back among the MIAA's three-point field goals made leaders, also coming in tied for 10th this week (1.31 pg).
Truman vs. Missouri-Rolla: Perkins struck first in the game, but UMR quickly answered to grab away the Bulldog's only lead of the game. The Lady Miners went on a 16-3 run to start the game and enjoyed their first double-digit lead by the 14-minute mark. A few minutes later, Missouri-Rolla expanded its lead to 12, but Tessa Thurman cut that to nine with a three-pointer and the 'Dogs kept the UMR lead under 10 for the remainder of the half. Truman whittled the Lady Miner's lead down to two with 1:30 left before the break, but UMR took a 38-34 lead at intermission after hitting a jumper with seconds left.
In the second half, Missouri-Rolla out-scored the 'Dogs 19-11 through the first 10-minutes to take their largest lead of the game, 14 points. With 6:05 to go, the Bulldogs were down by 10 points and went on an 8-2 run to get their deficit down to four with about two minutes left to play. However, UMR held Truman to just one more bucket, while hitting a jumper and 4-of-4 free throws to put the final score at 73-65 in the Lady Miners favor.
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 8.9 a game (142) and from the line, shooting .911 (41-of-45) ... scored in double figures in 11 games this year, including six double-doubles ... best rebounding game this year was vs. Rockhurst when she grabbed 14 boards ... already ranks fifth on the Truman career blocked shots list with 37 ... led the 'Dogs with 15 points vs. CMSU ... leads the team with 40 assists ... her 5-of-5 performance from long range in the St. Joseph's contest tied her with one other individual in the MIAA for the best single-game percentage (1.000) from beyond the arc so far this season, it is also tied for second with most made in the game in the league.
10-Jessy Fletcher: John Wood Community College Transfer ... has started every game and scored in double figures nine times with three double-doubles ... had a senior college career high with 16 points vs. Missouri-Rolla on Wednesday and Missouri Western on Jan. 10 and grabbed a career high of 14 rebounds vs. St. Joseph's ... third on the team with 10.1 points a game ... tied for the for the team season game high with six assists against St. Joseph's.
13-Robyn Gerber: Gerber has been hampered by a back injury and missed her first start and game of the year vs. Emporia last Saturday and also missed the UMR game ... is fifth in scoring on the team with 7.8 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.) ... tied for the team season-high with six assists in the first Rockhurst encounter on Nov. 28 and an is second on the team for the year with with 36 helpers ... had the game-winning assist in the 50-48 win over Quincy.
35-Jennifer Perkins: The teams leading scorer (15.1 ppg), Perkins has charted 13 games with double-digit scoring, including four 20-plus efforts .... had a career-high and team season best with 26 points at Washburn on Jan. 8 ... has four double-doubles for the year in the games, most recently with 18 points and 10 boards vs. ESU last Saturday ... has led the team in scoring in nine contests so far this year and tied for the team lead vs. Southwest Baptist ... is currently tied for 13th on the Bulldog career scoring leaders list with 791 points and is ninth in among all-time rebounders at Truman with 462 ... is third on the Truman list for career blocked shots with 50 ... 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 4.4 points ... 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.
11-Tessa Thurman: John Wood Community College Transfer ... is tied for first on the team with 21 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: Turnbull has played in every game and earned her first start against Emporia on Jan. 20 ... has 23 assists and averages 3.1 points a game ... had career highs with 12 points, seven free throws, 10 FT attempts and three rebounds against Missouri Western on Jan. 10.
24-Annie Westhoff: Garnered a starting role in the last 11 games ... fourth in team scoring (8.9 ppg) and rebounding (5.3 rpg) ... had double-digit scoring efforts in seven 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 on Nov. 24 ... also had two blocked shots vs. St. Joseph's ... led the team with four steals vs. Mt. Mercy and three against Southwest Baptist and Emporia.
Ashlea Wood: Has come off the bench in 15 games this year and scored 17 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 vs. Pittsburg State -Jan. 29, 2000: The Bulldogs led from the start and had as much as a five-point lead at 8:37 in the first period before the Gorillas went ahead for the first time at 7:57, 25-24. Sobaski then hit from long range to give Truman its last lead of the game at 7:09, 27-25. However, PSU immediately tied the score on a jumper by Leslie Dudley and proceeded to go on a 9-2 run and take a 39-34 lead at the half. The Gorillas took a 17-point lead by 14:53 in the second session after opening the half with an 11-0. The Bulldogs narrowed the margin to five at 10:55 only to see PSU go on another 11-0 run.