Feb. 9, 2001
Truman Women Play Host to Southwest Baptist
The Game: Truman State University Bulldogs (Mid-America Intercollegiate
Athletics Association/NCAA Division II) vs. Southwest Basptist University
Lady Bearcats (NCAA DII/MIAA)
Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 10, 2001/1:30 pm
Location: Kirksville, Mo.
Arena (Capacity): Pershing Arena (1,600)
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 Feb. 10 game.
Team Line: Live KRES broadcast by calling 1-800-846-4700. Access Code: 6350
MIAA SAAC Food Drive: The MIAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, in cooperation with the Truman Captains' Round Table, will sponsor a food drive to benefit the Kirksville Salvation Army. Fans who bring one non-perishable food item to the Feb. 10 or 21 men's or women's basketball games will gain free admission. Also, from Feb. 10-24, Truman student-athletes will be collecting canned food items door-to-door throughout the community. A drop-off point will be located at Pershing Arena on the campus of Truman State University for those wishing to make a donation.
Truman Probable Starters
24-Annie Westhoff, Fr., F, 6-0 (9.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg)
23-Emily Turnbull, Fr., G, 5-6 (2.7 ppg, 1.4 rpg)
35-Jennifer Perkins, Jr., C/F, 6-1 (15.9 ppg, 7.9 rpg)
10-Jessy Fletcher, Jr., G, 5-11(10.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
13-Robyn Gerber, Jr., G, 5-8 (6.6 ppg, 2.7 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 (7-14 overall, 2-11 in the MIAA): Since beating the Missouri Southern Lady Lions 70-69 in overtime last Saturday, the Bulldogs have dropped to home games this week. The 'Dogs will be looking to close their three-game homestand with a victory, but the going will be tough with 15-5 Southwest Baptist on the agenda.
The Truman women also lost 63-56 to Washburn on Monday and to No. 15 Missouri Western on Wednesday, 67-58.
The Bulldogs swept Missouri Southern this season, also winning 91-74 on Jan. 6, to account for both of their MIAA wins to date. The 'Dogs are 3-7 in Kirksville, and 4-7 on the road.
Truman continues to rank first in the MIAA in rebounding offense (41.3 rpg), defensive rebounds (28.48 drpg) and blocked shots (3.48 bpg).
The Truman women are ninth in the MIAA standings, two games out of the eighth spot. With five regular season games left, the Bulldogs need to put together a string of wins if they are to make their fourth-straight trip to the conference postseason tournament by finishing in the top eight in the MIAA.
Southwest Baptist (15-5 overall, 10-3 in the MIAA): The Lady Bearcats are tied for second in the MIAA with No. 15 Missouri Western at 10-3. They are one of five teams to have clinched a spot in the MIAA postseason tournament. The top four seeds host first round games, beginning on Tuesday, Feb. 27.
Southwest Baptist has been riding a four-game win-streak since suffering losses to Central Missouri 70-61 and Missouri Western, 82-75, and has gone 7-2 since beating the 'Dogs91-59 on Jan. 13. The 'Cats' most recent string of victories have been over Missouri-Rolla 73-49, Washburn 73-65, Northwest Missouri 73-64 and Missouri Southern, 69-59.
Junior forward Carrie Long ranks seventh among MIAA scoring leaders with 14.3 points a game, while senior guard Kristy Crowley is 14th (12.2 ppg). Junior forward Erin Easterly leads SBU on the boards and is sixth in the conference with 7.4 a game. Long is also sixth in field goal percentage (.483) and seventh in free throw percentage (.745).
Sophomore guard Allison Davis is second in league three point field percentage (.447) and in three-point field goals made per game (2.30). Kirksville native and freshman center Alicia Mercer ranks eighth in MIAA blocked shots with 1.00 per game.
On Thursday vs. Missouri Southern, four Lady Bearcats scored in double figures as Whitney Gray led the pack with 15, followed by Crowley with 12, Long with 11 and Jaime McGee with 10. Long had a double-double with a team high 13 rebounds.
Series Records: SBU leads the overall series with Truman, 16-7. The Lady Bearcats won the first meeting this year 91-59 on Jan. 13 in Bolivar. On Jan. 15 last year, the Bulldogs snapped a seven-game winning streak for the 'Cats when Truman defeated Southwest Baptist 77-70 in Kirksville. However, SBU 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 2000 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 129-58 during that time.
Perkins Named MIAA Athlete of the Week: Junior center/forward Jennifer Perkins (Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmund) broke the Truman record for career blocked shots on Wednesday night after swatting five Missouri Western balls. The five rejections also tied the Truman single-game record. Perkins, who now has 60 for her career, swiped the record from Amy Pillard who charted 58 blocks from 1994-96.
Perkins Named MIAA Athlete of the Week: Perkins was named MIAA athlete of the week after averaging a double-double with 21.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in games with Central Missouri and Missouri Southern last week. She shot 54.1 (20-of-37) during the two-game span and charted three blocked shots. Perkins had a team season-high performance, going 11-of-19 (.579) from the field against MSSC, scoring 22 points and grabbing six offensive and six defensive rebounds. It was her fifth game of the year with 20 or more points and her fifth double-double for the season.
Bulldogs in the MIAA & NCAA: Sophomore forward/center Jennifer Fisher (Fordland, Mo./Marshfield) moved up to second in conference rebounding (8.2 rpg) and is tied for sixth in blocked shots (1.05 pg). Though Fisher has fallen below the required 2.5 made free throw per game to be listed among MIAA leaders, she began the week ranked fourth among NCAA Division II free throw percentage leaders at .891.
Junior center/forward Jennifer Perkins (Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmund) is fifth in the conference with 15.9 points a game, fourth in rebounding (7.9 rpg) and field goal percentage (.525) and second in MIAA blocked shots (1.48 pg).
Junior guard/forward Jessy Fletcher (Atlanta, Mo.) is 10th in league rebounding (6.8 pg) and 17th in scoring (10.6 ppg).
Junior guard Tessa Thurman (Atlanta, Mo.) is back among the leagues leaders in three point field goals made, coming in tied for ninth this week (1.38 pg).
Bits on the Bulldogs
40-Jennifer Fisher, Jr.: 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 8.2 a game (172) and from the line, shooting .891 (49-of-55) ... scored in double figures in 12 games this year, including seven 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 43 and is 10th in career three-point field goals made (37) ... led the 'Dogs with 15 points vs. CMSU ... leads the team with 48 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, it is also tied for second with most made in the game in the league ... made game-winning put-back in 70-69 overtime win vs. Missouri Southern on Feb. 3
10-Jessy Fletcher, Jr.: John Wood Community College Transfer ... only player to have started every game ... scored in double figures 13 times with three double-doubles ... had senior college career highs with 17 points and 3-of-4 performance from long range vs. Washburn on Feb. 5, and grabbed a career-high of 14 rebounds vs. St. Joseph's ... second on the team with 10.8 points a game ... tied for the team season game high with six assists against St. Joseph's ... had two blocks in three games this season, most recently vs. Missouri Southern on Feb. 7.
13-Robyn Gerber, Jr.: Gerber is fifth in scoring on the team with 6.6 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 is second on the team for the year with with 42 helpers ... had the game-winning assist in the 50-48 win over Quincy.
35-Jennifer Perkins, Jr.: The teams leading scorer (15.9 ppg), Perkins has charted 18 games with double-digit scoring, including six 20-plus efforts .... had a career-high and team season-best with 26 points at Washburn on Jan. 8 ... has six double-doubles for the year in the games, most recently with 24 points and 12 boards vs. MWSC on Feb. 7 ... has led the team in scoring in 11 contests so far this year and tied for the team lead twice ... is currently 13th on the Bulldog career scoring leaders list with 883 points and is seventh among all-time rebounders at Truman with 501 ... broke the school record for career blocked shots after adding five vs. Missouri Western and now has 60 since 1998 ... tied the school record for blocks in a game with five vs. MWSC ... had a team season-high with 11-20 performance vs. Missouri Western on Feb. 7 ... scored the game-winning bucket in the team's first win in 2000-01 vs. Quincy.
Keagan Thalin, Fr.: Thalin has started four games and averages 3.9 points per contest ... 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, Jr.: John Wood Community College Transfer ... leads the team with 29 long range buckets ... had a senior college career high of 14 points in the season-opener against Tampa and vs. Mt. Mercy ... also scored 11 points in the St. Joseph's game and both Missouri Southern contests to account for all of her double-digit scoring games this year ... made four treys against Tampa.
23-Emily Turnbull, Fr.: Turnbull has played in every game and earned her first start against Emporia on Jan. 20 ... started five contests ... has 36 assists and averages 2.7 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, Fr.: Garnered a starting role in the last 16 games ... third in team scoring (9.4 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (5.4 rpg) ... had double-digit scoring efforts in nine games ... had a career-high and led the team with 21 points vs. Pittsburg on Jan. 27 ... also led the team with 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, Fr.: Has come off the bench in 18 games this year and made her first career start against Pittsburg on Jan. 27, charting career-highs with 10 points, four made field goals, eight field goal attempts, her first three-pointer and three assists ... also started against CMSU on Jan. 31 ... had a career-high with eight rebounds against Missouri Western on Jan. 10 which tied for the team game high ... was 3-for-3 from the free throw line vs. Mt. Mercy.
Truman vs. Southwest Baptist on jan. 13: The Bulldogs never took the lead over the Bearcats, but did manage to tie the score twice at two and again a 10 in the first five minutes of play.
After that, SBU built a steady lead, going ahead by double digits for the first time at the 11-minute mark after a 10-0 run. The 'Dogs stayed in it though, and kept the lead to single digits for most of the first half. They were behind just 38-30 at halftime after Perkins closed first half scoring with a pair of free throws.
Truman cut SBU's lead to five by the 18-minute mark of the second half after Fletcher made two buckets in the first couple of minutes. However, the Bearcats' assault kept up and saw them go ahead by 11 points at 16:18. SBU took a permanent double-digit lead with 11:55 left in the game, and enjoyed a 20-point lead by the six-minute mark following a 9-2 run. The 'Cats used a 13-2 run to go ahead by 29 with 3:32 left to play and enjoyed their greatest lead at the buzzer, 91-59.
Truman vs. Missouri Western On Feb. 7, 2001: The Bulldogs gave up a three-pointer to start the game, but from there went on a 6-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game, 6-3. Missouri Western quickly cut that lead to one and then took a one-point lead with another bucket. Freshman guard Keagan Thalin made a layup to give Truman its last lead of the game at 15:16, 8-7. From there, the Lady Griffons out-scored the 'Dogs 16-5 to take a 10-point lead at the nine-minute mark.
The Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run to cut the MWSC lead to four. However, Missouri Western again expanded its lead to double digits with 2:18 left in the half following a 9-3 run. Robyn Gerber cut the MWSC lead to seven with 1:18 to go, but the Lady Griffons answered with a layup of their own to take a 34-25 lead at halftime.
The Bulldogs shot 52.2 in the first half to 39.4 for Missouri Western. After the break, the Lady Griffons used a 5-1 run to expand their lead back to double digits by the 16-minute mark. The 'Dogs battled to keep the MWSC lead in single digits and did cut the margin to four at 12:40 after a 6-0 run. By the half-way point in the second stanza, the Lady Griffons enjoyed double-digits leads for the next five minutes. Truman managed to cut Missouri Western's margin to eight at 8:37, and to nine with 4:54 left to play. The Bulldogs got within five points of the Lady Griffons with 54 ticks left on the clock, only to see MWSC hit four free throws to leave the final score at 67-58 in the Lady Griffons favor.
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