A pair of Bulldog seniors will take center stage on Wednesday night as the Truman women’s basketball team will host Lincoln University for Senior Night at 5:30 p.m. in Pershing Arena.
Breanna Daniels and Jenny Dorman will be honored prior to the game as the Bulldogs will be looking for their fourth straight win and a season sweep over the Blue Tigers.
Truman handed Lincoln their worse loss and lowest point total of the season back on January 14 in Jefferson City by defeating the Blue Tigers 70-48.
Nicole Gloor and Becka McHenry each had 24 points that afternoon and Truman frustrated Lincoln’s top player, Vivian Essuon and held her to just eight points on 2-of-9 shooting.
The Bulldogs also dominated the glass with 57 rebounds, including 20 offensive compared to Lincoln’s 38 that afternoon.
Six players scored in double-figures and the Bulldog defense flustered the MIAA’s top scorer in an 80-64 victory over Missouri Western on Saturday afternoon. Daniels and Gloor each had 13 while the Griffons’ Jessica Koch was held to eight points, the first time below double-digits in 33 straight games.
Jennifer Conway and Alli Norton had a dozen points apiece and Megan Sharpe and Becka McHenry dropped in 10 each.
Essuon recorded her MIAA leading 12th double-double of the season but it wasn’t enough as the Blue Tigers lost at home to Emporia State (Kan.) 62-57 on Saturday.
Essuon scored a game-high 17 points and added 10 rebounds however Lincoln was 0-of-13 from beyond the arc while the Lady Hornets connected on seven of their 18 three-point attempts.
Lincoln is arguably one of the most improved teams in Division II basketball this season. A year ago, the Blue Tigers were 2-24 overall and 1-21 in the conference.
Truman and Lincoln are both locked into the MIAA postseason tournament that will begin next week in Kansas City and both are locked into the sixth or seventh spot.
A win by the Bulldogs would sweep the season series and give Truman the sixth seed in the conference tournament. It would also give
Truman 16 regular season wins, the most in the regular season for the Bulldogs since the 1999-2000 season (17-9).
A Lincoln win would even the conference records of both teams and depending on outcomes and MIAA tie-breaking scenarios on Saturday would determine who would be sixth and who would be seventh.
Junior Becka McHenry leads Truman in scoring and is 9th in the conference at 13.8 points per game. McHenry is averaging 14.4 in 18 conference games while shooting 43% from the floor with 5.0 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Her 123 assists is currently sixth all-time in single-season games for the Bulldogs.
Junior Jennifer Conway is second in scoring at 11.7 points and 11.3 in conference games. Conway is shooting a team-high 45% from the field.
Senior Breanna Daniels is third in scoring at 10.4 overall and in league games. Daniels is the team’s top free throw shooter at 86% but has only been to the line 38 times.
Sophomore Nicole Gloor has 27 steals and leads the team with 46 offensive rebounds while averaging 9.3 points per game and freshman Allie Norton has made a team-leading 52 three-pointers while scoring 8.8 points a night. Norton has hit a three in all but one game this season (Emporia State, December 17th).
The Bulldogs are averaging 70.4 points per game and 67.4 in conference games.
They are shooting 39% from the field, 36% from beyond the arc and 71% from the foul line in conference action.
Truman owns a 43-14 overall record against Lincoln and has won the last 21 games against the Blue Tigers dating back to January 28, 1998.
Lincoln’s last win in Kirksville was February 8, 1989.
Courtesy Truman State University
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