THE COACHES AND ALL-TIME SERIES
SBU head coach J.C. Carter is in his third season on the Bearcat bench, where his teams have shown improvement each season. Last year’s 10-18 mark was two games better than Carter’s first year in Bolivar.
Michael Smith begins his third season as the Truman women’s basketball head coach in 2010 after being named the ninth head coach of the Truman women’s basketball program in April of 2008. Smith previously served as an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock as well as a head coach at Moberly Area Community College.
SBU holds a 29-13 edge in the all-time series against Truman, and have won the last four meetings.
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BEARCATS
The SBU Bearcats took advantage of a big first half, leading by 24 at halftime, to knock off the Lincoln Blue Tigers on the road, 67-47. The SBU defense had one of it’s most dominant performances of the year, scoring 29 points off 28 Lincoln turnovers. Jaquavia Couch came off the bench to lead the ‘Cats in scoring, with 16 points.
Senior guard Ashleigh Gallio joined Courtney Heady and Couch in double-figures for SBU, scoring 12 points while shooting 5-of-12 from the field. Whitney Malone and LaKendra Smith each brought down a team-high nine rebounds, while Smith was just one board and two points away from the season’s first double-double. Couch led the team in scoring, largely due to her 8-for-12 performance from the free throw line. Couch’s eight free throws are the most by a Bearcat this season.
QUICK HITS
• Freshman Jacqui Zelenka leads the Bearcats with 9.7 points per game, and her 20-point performance against Central Methodist is the most points scored by a Bearcat this season.
• Senior forward Whitney Malone is one of the early front-runners for the MIAA All-Defense team, ranking fifth in the conference in rebounds (8.2/pg) and second in steals (3.3/pg).
• Although the Bearcats have one of the lowest-scoring offenses in the MIAA (62.3 ppg, 9th in the league), They have held opponents to just 55.3 points per game, the best average in the league
• Last season, the Bearcats hit a conference best 9.8 threes per game. The production from outside has slowed during this season, hitting just 5.8 treys each game (7th in MIAA).
• After leading the conference last year, senior guard Ashleigh Gallio saw continues to play a high number of minutes, leading the MIAA with averaging 35.7 this season. Gallio leads the team in assists, (2.7/pg) as well.
• Senior Courtney Heady has become SBU’s biggest deep threat, averaging 2.5 three pointers made a game, 4th most in the MIAA. Heady is averaging 36.6% from beyond the arc., ninth-best in the league.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Truman has rebounded from their 0-2 performance in the Nova-Southeastern Classic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to win three straight games, including a 2-0 start to conference play.
The Bulldogs are one of the best shooting teams in the MIAA, with a .421 field goal percentage, second in the league. Defensively, they hold opponents to just 36.6% shooting
A major weakness that Truman will have to address against SBU is the high number of turnovers the Bulldogs have given away this year. Currently, Truman ranks last in the MIAA with a -5.0 turnover margin, giving the ball away over 19 times each game.
Breanna Daniels is the main offensive threat, averaging 17 points per game (3rd in MIAA).
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