LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University women's basketball played its first game of the 2022 calendar year here Saturday afternoon as they suffered a 79-55 setback to Truman State in Great Lakes Valley Conference action on both Alumni and Camper Day at the Melvin Price Convocation Center.
 
With the setback, McKendree falls to 1-10 overall and 0-4 in the league, while Truman State extended its win streak to five straight games to move its record to 8-5 overall and 4-1 in the league.
 
Saturday's game was the first game for the Bearcats since closing its non-conference schedule on Dec. 15 in Maryville, Mo., against Northwest Missouri State. McKendree's previous two games to open the New Year with Southern Indiana last Sunday and at the University of Indianapolis were canceled due to health and safety protocols in the Bearcats program.
 
After the two teams scored a combined 47 points in the first half, they would heat up in the second half as they combined to score 87 points in the second half of Saturday's contest.
 
Sophomore guard Erin Golden (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) led the way offensively for the Bearcats as she scored 14 points, while second-year freshman guard Clare Breden (Jerseyville, Ill./Jerseyville Community) added 11 points and sophomore guard Christy Fortune (Appleton, Wis./Appleton West) chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds.
 
Truman State got off to a strong start in Saturday's game as they scored the first three points and led 11-2 just a little over five minutes into the game against the rusty Bearcats.
 
McKendree, though, would score six straight points to pull within 11-8 following a lay-up from senior guard Jenna Krause (Seymour, Wis./Seymour) with 1:25 left in the opening quarter. Allison Thomas would make a lay-up with 44 seconds left to give TSU a 13-8 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play.
 
The Bulldogs, who are now 17-1 all-time against the Bearcats, opened the second quarter on a 13-6 run to push its lead to 26-14 following a basket by Gabby Nielsen with 2:23 left in the period.
 
McKendree, who has now lost six straight games on the season, would respond by closing the quarter on a 7-0 run thanks to baskets by Golden and Krause and a 3-pointer from Breden to cut Truman's lead to 26-21 at the half.
 
In the opening half, the two teams combined to shoot 21-for-68 (30.9 percent) from the field as McKendree was 10-for-31 (32.3 percent) and Truman was 11-for-37 (29.7 percent).
 
Golden would score the first basket of the third quarter to pull the Bearcats within three at 26-23, but Truman State would respond 22-5 run to push out to a 48-28 lead with 1:25 left in the period. The Bulldogs run was keyed by a combined 18 points from Claire Rake (10 points) and Katey Klucking (8 points).
 
A three-pointer from redshirt senior guard Sydney Diekhoff (Pekin, Ill./Pekin Community) stopped the Bulldogs run and pulled McKendree within 48-31 with 1:10 left in the quarter. Truman would score three of the final five points to the period to give the Bulldogs a 51-33 lead after three quarters of play.
 
The fourth quarter would be a wild one as the two teams combined to score 50 points and combine to make 19 of their 39 (48.7 percent) field goal attempts. In the quarter, McKendree scored 22 points and shot 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from the field, while Truman scored 28 points and shot 50 percent (10-for-20) from the field.
 
McKendree opened the quarter by scoring five of the first eight points to pull within 54-38 just 99 seconds into the period. After Truman scored the next three points to push its lead back out to 20 points at 58-38, the Bearcats use would a 10-3 run that began with a lay-up by Breden and was capped by a lay-up from Fortune to pull within 61-48 with 5:31 left in the period.
 
That would be as close as the Bearcats would get as Truman responded with a 12-2 run that was capped by back-to-back baskets from Rake to push out to a 73-50 advantage with 2:30 remaining.
 
Froebe would score the final five points of the game for the Bearcats to pull within 73-55 with 1:33 left, before Truman score the final six points of the game to cap the scoring.
 
Klucking and Rake would combine to 49 points for the Bulldogs as Klucking scored a career high 28 points, while finished with a career high 21 points, including going 6-for-14 from the 3-point line. The third double-digit scorer for Truman was Ellie Weltha, who scored 10 points and added 14 rebounds.
 
McKendree's defense held Truman's leading scorer Hannah Belanger to a season low three points. Belanger entered the game third in the GLVC in scoring as she was averaging 19.7 points per game.
 
For the game, McKendree shot 35 percent from the field and 22 percent (5-for-23) from the 3-point line and was 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Truman finished the game shooting 42 percent from the field, 33 percent (9-for-27) from the 3-point line and 76.9 percent from the free throw line.
 
Truman State won the rebounding battle, 50-33, including holding a 17-8 edge on the offensive boards and that led to 20 second chance points for the Bulldogs.
 
McKendree finished with a season low nine turnovers and they forced Truman into 10 turnovers that led to eight points for the Bearcats.
 
The Bearcats will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 13 as they host the University of Indianapolis for a 5:30 p.m. GLVC contest at the Convocation Center.