The latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Heartland

The Bulldog women’s basketball team will lift the lid on the 2011-12 season on Saturday when they host Lindenwood University-Belleville at 1:00 p.m. in Pershing Arena.

The Bulldogs will then face William Penn University on Tuesday night at Pershing Arena at 5:30 p.m.

Saturday’s tipoff will be the start of four straight in Pershing Arena for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs lost their only exhibition game by a score of 82-54 to the University of Missouri on Nov. 1st. Four players scored in double-figures with freshman Allie Norton leading the way with 14 points on four made three-pointers.

Senior Breanna Daniels added 13 points followed by junior Becka McHenry’s 12 and sophomore Nicole Gloor’s 11.

Mizzou took advantage of their height as they outscored the Bulldogs 44-8 in the paint. Forward Christine Flores led the Tigers in scoring with 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

Four returning Bulldogs averaged over eight points a game last season with Daniels leading the way at 12.9 per contest. Gloor, who came off the bench in the majority of games, averaged 9.1 while Jennifer Conway added 8.8 with six rebounds and Becka McHenry averaged 8.4 points per game.

The Lynx of Lindenwood-Belleville are in their second year as a program.

They finished 7-22 last season. The Lynx began their season last Friday with a 90-49 loss to the College of the Ozarks and has games scheduled with Harris-Stowe and Mid-Continent (Ky.) University prior to their trip to Kirksville.

Coach Annie Ewing returns her leading scorers from last season in senior Megan Clark and junior Destini Wilson. Both averaged 11.5 points per game.

On Tuesday, the Bulldogs will host William Penn University as part of a doubleheader with the men’s program beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The Statesmen lost a 74-67 home game to #2 ranked Morningside on Tuesday night to keep them winless on the season in four games.

They will play at the Concordia Cattle Classic this weekend before their trip to Truman on Tuesday.

The Statesmen were 23-10 a season ago before bowing out in the Midwest Collegiate Conference tournament finals to St. Ambrose 79-72.

Bulldogs In the Non-Conference:

Truman has played 18 non-conference games under Coach Michael Smith and are 10-8. 

All but two games have been against Division II opponents.  Seven of the games have had final margins of five points or less and 10 of them have been decided by 10 points or less.

The largest margin of victory in non-conference games was a 56-31 (+25) win over Maryville University in 2009 while the largest deficit was 63-44 (-19) to Barry University in 2010.

The Bulldogs are 4-1 in non-conference home games under Smith with the only loss coming in the first home game back in 2008 to Quincy 76-58.

Bulldog Tip-Ins:

·         Truman averaged 62.7 points per game last season while shooting 39% from the field, 33% from beyond the arc and 66% from the free throw line.

·         The Bulldogs won the rebound battle by grabbing 37.5 each night and allowing 35.6 for a +1.9 margin.

·         The team was outscored by 27 points overall in the first half but outscored their opponents by 14 in the second.

·         Truman was involved in two overtime games last season, winning 78-74 at the University of Central Missouri and falling in double OT to Northwest Missouri, the MIAA champion, 73-72 at home.

·         Breanna Daniels had the single-game high in points scored last season with 26 in a non-conference game against Nova-Southeastern (Fla.).

·         Daniels led the team with 24, 10-point plus games last season and has 56 for her career.  She is the active leading scorer with 934 points and was the team’s leading scorer in 15 of the 27 games.

·         Eight different Bulldogs have been single-game leaders in rebounding with Jennifer Conway leading the way with 11 games with the most boards.

·         Three Bulldogs recorded double-doubles last season with five coming from Jennifer Conway and one apiece from Amy Galey and Megan Sharpe. Galey’s was the only one that was for 10 assists and not rebounds.

·         The Bulldog bench has averaged nearly 21 points per game compared to the opposion’s 14.1 per game.


Courtesy Truman State University