To close out the Thanksgiving Break, Truman State University’s women’s basketball participated in the annual Drury Thanksgiving Classic in Springfield, Missouri, where the team split an even 1-1 record in two games.
In the first game of the weekend, the Bulldogs were narrowly behind in the first half with a score of 38-36, but fell further in the second half to the Emporia State Hornets with a score of 89-68. Senior center Cassidy Clark put up a total of 29 points with 63 percent from the field, and sophomore forward Rachel Edmundson scored 11 points on the night.
To finish off the weekend in Springfield, Truman bounced back against Oklahoma Panhandle State University a dominating 94-49 win. For the second game straight, Clark led the Purple-and-White in scoring, with a total of 18 points. Junior forward Ashley Hartwig also had 18 points on the night, and Edmundson brought 13 to the scoreboard.
Clark says Truman played really well in the first half of the game against Emporia, but things started to unravel in the third quarter. She says the team has had issues in a couple games with a strong third-quarter showing, and this gave Emporia a lead too big to catch up to. She says Truman did a significantly better job against Oklahoma offensively, defensively and in terms of playing as a team. Overall, Clark says she carried an optimistic view of the team moving toward the rest of the season.
“I thought we had good balance this weekend,” Clark says. “I thought the guards did a tremendous job on working to get the ball inside. This weekend gave us a glimpse of how good we can actually be.”
Head Coach Amy Eagan says she is not too worried about the loss against Emporia. She says Emporia is the No. 2 Div. II team in the country and very talented. However, she says an extra focus on bolstering defense would be a good step to take moving forward. She says against Oklahoma, the Bulldogs performed much better on defense, and that — combined with good execution on sharing the ball — led to the second game’s stark contrast in scores. Eagan says good defense will be key in next week’s game against Rockhurst.
“Rockhurst is going to be a tough game to open up GLVC play on the road,” Eagan says. “We are really going to have to find a way to shut down their offensive ability, especially with Mary Dineen, who is one of the best players in the league. We have to use this week to get better and prepare.”
After the Drury Thanksgiving Classic, Truman’s record moved to 4-3. The Bulldogs, who remain undefeated at home, will travel to Kansas City on Thursday for a match at 5:30 p.m., where they will face conference rival Rockhurst University.