The second half of a two-game homestand against top-25 teams comes to a close on Wednesday night for the Truman women’s basketball squad (7-13, 2-11 MIAA), as the Bulldogs welcome No. 15 Washburn (16-3, 10-3) to Pershing Arena for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 76-60 home loss to No. 5 Emporia State on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Breanna Daniels led all players with a game-high 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting and four three-pointers, but the 5th-ranked Lady Hornets shot 48% from the field and held Truman to 37%.
Daniels moved into the top spot individually in team scoring after the game, as she is averaging 12.2 points per game on the season, while senior Sarah Seberger (4.7 rebounds) and junior Amy Galey (4.3 assists) sit atop their respective team categories.
Earlier this season, the Bulldogs led throughout the first half and went into the break down by just two, but a Washburn blitz to open the second half allowed the then-No. 11 Lady Blues pull away for a 74-56 victory in Topeka, Kan., on Dec. 12, 2009. Washburn eventually moved to 13-0 before losing three straight in conference play. Since that point, however, the Lady Blues have started another streak, winning three in a row.
Both teams top the MIAA in a team category, as Truman continues to hold its reign as the conference’s best free throw shooting team (76.3%), while Washburn has ratcheted it up defensively to hold foes to just 55.6 points per game on the year. Dayna Rodriguez is the Lady Blues’ top scorer, averaging 14.7 points per game inside, while guard Rose Hammond leads the team with 3.3 assists/game and 2.3 steals/game averages.
The Bulldogs are .500 at home this season, sitting at 5-5 through ten games, while Washburn is 9-1 overall away from Lee Arena, including a 7-1 mark in true road games.
Series Info:
Washburn leads the all-time series, 37-8, and has held the upper-hand as of late, winning the past 15 games dating back to the 2002-2003 season.
The two teams have played 18 times in Kirksville, with Washburn compiling a 12-6 record. Truman’s best stretch in defending its home court came from 1998-2003, when the Bulldogs won five of six from the Lady Blues.
MIAA Outlook:
Seven games remain in the 2010 regular season, and the Bulldogs sit three games out of a tie for 8th place in the conference. The top eight teams qualify for the MIAA post-season tournament, held annually at Kansas City’s historic Municipal Auditorium, on March 4th-7th.
Missouri Southern is currently holding the eighth and final spot at 5-8, while Missouri Western, coming off a home loss to Fort Hays on Monday night, is ninth at 5-9. Truman is done for the year with MSSU but still have one game on the schedule against MWSU.
Emporia State (12-1) is two games up on Washburn (10-3), with Pittsburg State (8-5), Fort Hays (7-5), Central Missouri (7-6), Northwest Missouri (7-6) and Nebraska-Omaha (5-7) holding on to conference tourney berths at this time.
Up Next:
Only two home games remain on the 2010 regular season slate, so with six games left, the Bulldogs have some road trips ahead to catch up. The purple and white will knock three of them off in a row, starting a three-game, three-state trip on Saturday afternoon at Southwest Baptist (4-15, 2-10 MIAA) at 1:30 p.m.
Truman will return to Kirksville for three days of classes before trekking to western Kansas and southeastern Nebraska next week on a single-trip to catch both Fort Hays State (Thursday, Feb. 11) and Nebraska-Omaha (Saturday, Feb. 13).
Courtesy Truman State University
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