SBU BEARCATS (5-15, 3-10 MIAA) vs
TRUMAN STATE BULLDOGS (7-14, 2-12 MIAA)

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2010 • 1:30 PM
BOLIVAR, MO • MEYER SPORTS CENTER
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SBU NOTES | TSU NOTES

BOLIVAR, Mo. -- After a seven game skid in the middle of the conference season, the SBU Bearcats have rebounded to win two straight games and look to get back in the playoff hunt with a third straight win against the Bulldogs from Truman State.

Senior Rachel Graves has climbed a few MIAA leaderboards after her showing against Pittsburg State, where she put up 24 points and went 7-for-10 and 6-for-7 from three. Graves is scoring 13.1 points per game, 10th-most in the MIAA. Graves is also among the leaders in a few other key categories, including three-pointers made, (2nd, averaging 2.8 treys a game), three-point percentage, (2nd, at 40.7%) and minutes played per game (5th, with 31.5).

Point guard Ashleigh Gallio is one of the MIAA's top passers, averaging 3.9 assists a game, ranking her fourth among the league leaders. Courtney Heady has been a strong contributor over the last month, averaging 10 points a game during the month of January. Heady's 11.2 points per game is good for 17th in the MIAA. Freshman forward Chasity Prince has heated up since earning a starting spot, averaging 15.0 points and 4.8 rebounds, since earning a starting spot three weeks ago.
 
THE COACHES AND THE ALL-TIME SERIES 
SBU head coach J.C. Carter is in his second season on the bench for the Bearcats, where he has earned a career mark of 13-35. Last season, Carter led the 'Cats to an upset of nationally-ranked Emporia State on their own floor, and earned a berth into the MIAA Tournament.

Michael Smith is in his second year in Kirksville, after leading the Bulldogs to a tie for eighth in the MIAA last season. Truman narrowly missed out on a trip to the MIAA Tournament when SBU won the four-way tiebreaker for the eighth and final spot in Kansas City. Smith has a career record of 117-67 (.636), most of which came during his time as head coach at Moberly Area CC. SBU leads the all-time series, 28-13, including wins in four of the last five matchups.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs have struggled, dropping 11 of their last 13 games, seven of which were double-digit defeats. Truman is a decent-shooting team, leading the MIAA in free throw percentage (76.1%) and three-point percentage (36.4%), but don't get to the line that often (305 FT attempts, next to last in the MIAA) and don't take a lot of deep shots (247 trey attempts, last in the MIAA). The scoring duo of sophomore Breanna Daniels and senior Laura Joya, average 12.1 and 11.2 points per game, respectively, good for 14th and 16th among league leaders.

NEXT UP FOR THE SBU BEARCATS 
The Bearcats hit the road for a rough stretch, taking on the top two teams in the MIAA in the same week, starting with conference leaders Emporia State. The Lady Hornets had a 14-game winning streak recently snapped in Warrensburg, when Central Missouri pulled out a tough four point win. Emporia is the highest scoring team in the conference, and has the second-best defense in the league. Senior Cassondra Boston leads the Hornets with 18.4 points a game, second-most in the MIAA. Alli Volkens (7.1 rpg), Negesti Taylor (6.8 rpg), and Brittany Miller (5.7 rpg) are all among the conference leaders in rebounds.