Feb. 6, 2009 - After wrapping up a stretch of four road games out of five, the Truman women’s basketball team returns to Pershing Arena on Saturday with the hopes of starting a late-season rally against Southwest Baptist. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m.
The Bulldogs (4-17, 1-13 MIAA) have just six games remaining in the regular season and are three and a half games out of the final MIAA tournament spot - currently held by the visiting Bearcats (7-13, 4-9 MIAA).
After last week featured the league’s most prolific offense followed by its most stifling defense in a pair of top-ten teams, Saturday brings one of the conference’s biggest high-risk/high-reward offensive threats in SBU. The Bearcats boast the third best scoring output in the MIAA and average the most three-pointers per game but do allow the most points and highest opponent field goal percentage, all while holding the MIAA’s worst rebounding margin.
Earlier this season, the Bulldogs built an eight-point halftime lead but were caught early in the second half and couldn’t hold on in a 63-60 loss to Southwest Baptist in Bolivar on New Years Eve. Senior Georgia Mueller and junior Laura Joya led Truman offensively with 14 points apiece with Joya nearing a triple-double by tacking on eight rebounds and seven assists.
Truman hit four more field goals than SBU, but the host Bearcats drained ten three-pointers and converted four more free throws. The Bulldogs captured a 44-29 advantage on the glass but turned the ball over 14 times to SBU’s five.
SERIES INFO:
Southwest Baptist leads the all-time series 29-11, with the Bearcats holding a 14-5 margin in games played in Kirksville. Truman defeated SBU 83-71 last January in the teams’ last meeting at Pershing Arena and has won two of the last three Kirksville showdowns.
SBU currently holds a three-game winning streak in the all-time series, including a five-point win at Municipal Auditorium in last season’s MIAA semifinals.
MEET THE COACHES:
Michael Smith is in his first season with the Bulldogs after spending time as an assistant coach at Arkansas-Little Rock and a head coach at Moberly Area Community College. He has a 106-51 (.675) career head coaching record and is 4-17 in his first season at Truman.
Smith is assisted by Taira Roth, who is also in her first season at Truman. Roth came to Truman after working in the same position at Lake Superior (Mich.) State.
JC Carter is the head coach of the Bearcats, and he is 7-13 (.350) in his first season as a collegiate head coach.
HONOR-FILLED WEEK FOR MUELLER:
Senior F Georgia Mueller (Springfield, Ill.) picked up a pair of accolades on consecutive days earlier this week that encompass her work on and off the basketball court.
On Wednesday night, her rebound off a missed Washburn three-pointer at the 6:42 mark of the first half propelled her into MIAA history, as her 824th career rebound moved her past Emily Bloss (ESU) into tenth all-time on the conference’s career rebounding chart. She finished with seven rebounds on the night (827 career) and now has her sights set on Barb Sorenson’s ninth-place mark of 850, set at Central Missouri between 1986-1990.
Then, on Thursday, Mueller was named to the ESPN The Magazine College Division Academic All-District second-team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). It was her second career second-team all-district selection after receiving the same honor last season. The 5-foot-11 senior is majoring in Mathematics with minors in Biology and Statistical Methods. She currently holds a 3.51 GPA and was just one of four MIAA players to make one of three all-district teams.
As always, a full “Mueller Watch” chart is available in the full PDF notes version of this release detailing her climb up Truman’s points, field goal, assists, blocks and games played categories.
ONE-AND-ONE:
Truman has improved its free throw shooting as each month of the season has progressed, as the Bulldogs hit 67% of its free throws in November, 71% in December and 83% in January. As a result, the Bulldogs are the MIAA’s top charity stripe team in conference-games alone, having hit 79.2% (141-for-178) of its opportunities.
DOG’GED DEFENSE:
For the second straight game, Truman’s defensive intensity nearly led to an upset of a nationally-ranked team, as the Bulldogs tight defense put the squad just two possessions back with less than five minutes to go for the second time in as many contests.
The Bulldogs nearly upset fourth-ranked Emporia State on Sunday, as the squad held the nation’s second-ranked offense nearly 20 points below its season average (66 points).
Following that effort on Sunday, the Bulldogs held No. 10 Washburn to just 61 points on just 39% shooting. The Lady Blues’ leading scorer, Janice Bright, was held to just 13 points, marking the first time in ten games she failed to reach 20.
MIAA TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK:
Half of the field is accounted for in the chase for Kansas City and the 2009 MIAA tournament. Emporia State (13-1), Washburn (11-3), Pittsburg State (11-3) and Missouri Southern (10-3) have punched their tickets to Friday’s games at Municipal Auditorium, while Central Missouri (9-5) needs just one more win to do the same.
The final three spots are currently held by Nebraska-Omaha (5-8), Fort Hays State (5-8) and Southwest Baptist (4-9), while Northwest Missouri (3-11), Missouri Western (3-11) and Truman (1-13) are looking to steal a berth with six games left to play.
The Bulldogs need help but do have a bit of an inside track to have a chance to move up, as the five teams directly ahead of them make up five of their last six games. Truman’s elimination number currently sits at four, as a combination of four SBU wins and/or Truman losses would eliminate the ‘Dogs from postseason play.
UP NEXT:
The Bulldogs will get an extra day in the middle of the week before hosting two games in three days, starting Thursday with Fort Hays State at 5:30 p.m.
Following that, Truman will turn around and host Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday the 14th at 1:00 p.m. That game will be Truman’s “Pink Zone” event, as the Bulldogs join more than 1,300 programs across the nation to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer Research.
More information about the 2009 “Pink Zone” event can be found in the full PDF notes version of this release.