LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University women's basketball will play two road Great Lakes Valley Conference games in the span of three days in the state of Missouri beginning on Thursday, Jan. 27 and concluding on Saturday, Jan. 29.
The Bearcats will open the road trip with a 5:30 p.m. contest on Thursday in Liberty, Mo., with William Jewell College and then will travel to Kirksville, Mo., to face Truman State University for the second time this season on Saturday at 1 p.m.
This weekend's two games will be the second of three two game trips to Missouri this season for the Bearcats as they play in two weeks at Missouri S&T in Rolla, Mo., and Drury University in Springfield, Mo.
The Bearcats come into play this week sporting a 2-13 overall record and a 1-7 mark in the GLVC after its setbacks last Monday at Southern Indiana, last Thursday at home against Quincy and this Saturday at home against Illinois-Springfield. The Bearcats have lost three straight after earning their first GLVC win of the season with a 63-58 victory on Jan. 13 at home over the University of Indianapolis.
In Saturday's game against UIS, redshirt junior guard Kaelyn Froebe (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln) paced the way for the Bearcats with a team-high 14 points and added 11 rebounds for her first career double-double, while senior guard Sydney Diekhoff (Pekin, Ill./Pekin Community) added a season-high 13 points off the bench and sophomore guard Erin Golden (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) chipped in with 11 points in the loss. UIS' win was keyed by 17 points off turnovers as the Bearcats turned the ball over 21 times.
ABOUT McKENDREE
The Bearcats, who are playing its ninth and 10th GLVC games of the season and their sixth and seventh road games of the year this week, are led offensively by Christy Fortune (Appleton, Wis./Appleton West), who is averaging 12.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game and is shooting 44 percent from the field, 39.3 percent from the 3-point line and 74.1 percent from the free throw line. She has scored in double figures in seven of 14 games and has pulled down seven or more rebounds in nine games, including a career high 10 boards against both Blackburn and UIS. Fortune is currently 21st in the league in scoring, 11th in rebounding, tied for fourth in made treys per game (2.4) and is tied for fifth in made 3-pointers (33).
In addition to Fortune, the other Bearcat averaging in double figures is Clare Breden (Jerseyville, Ill./Jerseyville Community) as she is averaging 10.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game and is shooting 40.4 percent from the field, 26 percent from the 3-point line and 71 percent at the free throw line. Breden has reached double figures in scoring in a team best nine games, including three games of scoring 20 or more points.
A third Bearcat is averaging over 8.5 points per game as Golden is third in scoring as she is averaging 9.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game and is shooting 38 percent from the field and leads the team in made free throws with 33 including making 17 consecutive made free throws, while shooting 87 percent from the line on the year.
Three players (Fortune, Breden and Golden) have scored over 100 points on the season as Fortune has tallied 171 points, while Breden has scored 159 points and Golden has scored 135 points.
As a team, McKendree is averaging 51.8 points per game and is allowing 71.6 points per game and is shooting 35.5 percent from the field, 27.5 percent from the 3-point line and 71 percent at the free throw line. Additionally, the Bearcats are getting outrebounded by 9.9 boards per game and are averaging 6.7 steals per game, which is 10th in the latest league statistics. Five Bearcats led by Breden's 17 have collected 10 or more steals on the season.
Defensively, the Bearcats opponents are shooting 42.9 percent from the field, 33.5 percent from the 3-point line and 75 percent from the free throw line and their foes have scored 70 or more points in nine games. The Bearcats are one of the best teams in Division II at not fouling as they are committing just 13.6 fouls per game, which is 12th-best in NCAA Division II. On the season, the Bearcats have been whistled for a total of 205 fouls in 15 games.
McKendree is coached by Kari Kerkhoff and she is 69-105 in her seventh season as the Bearcats head coach. Her 69 wins are the third most in school history, while her seven years are tied with Ann DeBoe (1990-97) for second longest tenure in program history.
ABOUT WILLIAM JEWELL
William Jewell comes into Thursday's game sporting a 1-15 overall record and a 0-10 mark in the GLVC following their 70-57 road loss on Saturday against Maryville. The Cardinals have dropped eight straight since earning their lone victory at home on Dec. 16 with a 64-53 triumph over Graceland (Iowa).
Freshman guard Kate Hillyer is the Cardinals leading scorer for the season as she is averaging 9.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game while shooting 37.4 percent from the field, 30 percent from 3-point line, and 68 percent from the free throw line.
In addition to Hillyer, sophomore guard Libby Arnold is averaging 9.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game and is shooting 35 percent from the field, 26.5 percent from the 3-point line and 65 percent from the free throw line.
As a team, William Jewell is averaging 48.8 points per game and have been held under 60 points in its last eight games and 14 times overall on the season.
William Jewell is coached by Jill Slominski in her 26th season. Slominski has amassed a 455-336 record at WJC after starting out as an interim head coach at Ottawa University in January 1996. Was a four-year starter in basketball and softball at Northwestern College (IA).
Thursday's game will mark the ninth all-time meeting in the series between the two schools with William Jewell holding a 6-2 edge in the series. The Bearcats have lost four of the last five games in the series with McKendree's lone win coming during the 2019-20 season as the Bearcats picked up a 78-74 win on William Jewell's home court. William Jewell leads 3-1 at McKendree and holds a 3-1 lead at the Mabee Center.
ABOUT TRUMAN STATE
The Bulldogs, who host Southern Indiana on Thursday, enter this week's action sporting a 13-5 overall record and a 9-1 mark in the GLVC after winning 10 consecutive games that includes a 79-55 win over McKendree on Jan. 8 and a 67-66 win over then No. 1 ranked Drury.
One of the strengths of TSU's team is their ability to take care of the ball as they are averaging 12.8 turnovers per game. Along with taking care of the ball, another strength for TSU scoring as they are third in the league as they average 71.8 points per game. The Bulldogs are shooting 45 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free throw line.
Truman State is allowing 63.1 points per game. The Bulldogs are holding opponents to 41 percent from the field and 32.8 from the 3-point line.
Junior guard Hannah Belanger is second in the GLVC in scoring as she enters play this week, averaging 18.0 points per game and she is second in the league in assists as she is averaging 4.4 per game. Belanger is shooting 41 percent from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line.
Belanger is one of three TSU players averaging in double figures on junior forward Ellie Weltha is second in scoring at 15.1 points per game while averaging 10.2 rebounds while leading the league with 10 double-doubles and senior guard Katey Klucking is third in scoring at 11.2 points per game and is shooting 44 percent from the field and is second in treys with 28 while shooting 85.7 percent from the free throw line.
Theo Dean is in his third season as the Bulldogs head coach and has compiled a 51-18 record and is 40-8 in GLVC play.
Saturday's game will be the second meeting this season and 19th all-time in the series with Truman State holding a 17-1 edge in the series. Earlier this season, the Bulldogs recorded a 79-55 win in Lebanon, Ill., behind Klucking's 28 points and sophomore guard Claire Rake's 21 points. McKendree has lost 12 straight games in the series to Truman State.
UP NEXT
Following this weekend's action, McKendree will return home for two games at the Melvin Price Convocation Center next week as they host Southwest Baptist for a 5:30 p.m. game on Thursday, Feb. 3, before hosting Rockhurst for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 5.
