LEBANON, Ill. - The women's basketball team is back on the road this week as they head to St. Louis and take on the Saints of Maryville University on Thursday, January 30th, and the University of Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday, February 1st.
Against Maryville, this will be the 21st all-time meeting between the two programs, dating back to 2005. McKendree has won four of the last five matchups after the Saints took the prior five. The most recent outing was a 79-69 win for the Bearcats on their home floor in Lebanon, Illinois. The last time Maryville won on their home court was back in 2018, where they won 68-47.
A couple of days later, against UMSL, it will be the 25th meeting between the two. The Bearcats won each of the last three of the series by only a 6-point average margin, as the Tritons won the previous seven outings and 16 of the past 17.
BEARCATS CURRENTLY
McKendree has lost three of their last four games within the past couple of weeks but still shows a solid 11-6 record overall and a 7-4 mark in GLVC play. They split last week at home at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center.
In Thursday's game against Lincoln University (Mo.), the Bearcats would get off to a slow start against the Blue Tigers by only scoring 13 points in the first quarter. However, sophomore forward Baylie Parks (Lake Zurich, Ill.) would boost McKendree with 67 points in the remaining three periods of play, where the team would demolish Lincoln 80-58. Parks' 27 points in the win is a career-high since dropping 26 in the win over the University of Illinois Springfield on December 7th, 2024. She supplemented her performance with eight rebounds and an assist while going 12-18 from the field and 3-3 from the line. Freshman forward Kyra Taylor (Davenport, Iowa) scored 16 points for the second straight game, this time on 8-10 shooting while corralling four rebounds and dishing three assists. Junior guard Georgia Duncan (Washington, Ill.) rounded out the double-figure scoring for McKendree as she had 10 points, five rebounds, and one assist and steal. McKendree's 22-point win over Lincoln was the biggest win margin in conference play since winning by 26 last season against the University of Indianapolis on March 2nd.
Following in Saturday's game against Missouri S&T, the Bearcats could not keep up with the Miners as the visiting squad opened the game up with a 14-4 run and would not lose their sight of the lead for the rest of the contest. Taylor led all scorers with 20 points on 6-11 shooting while also grabbing eight rebounds while dishing out four assists and tallying three steals and a pair of blocks. She has scored 11+ in each of her last five outings and 16+ in her last three. Parks continues her perfect double-figure scoring season with 15 points this afternoon while collecting seven rebounds and a steal. Junior guard Chloe White (Brussels, Ill.) rounded out the double-digit scoring for McKendree with 10 points and swiped away a career-high in steals with five.
Parks remains a perfect 17-for-17 in double-digit scoring outputs with 11+ points in all games this season and has grabbed 7+ rebounds in all of many contests. Her 17.5 points per game leads the team and is good for fourth in the GLVC as her field goal percentage of 54.4% places second in the conference, while her seven double-doubles are a GLVC-best (28th in the nation). The sophomore's rebounding numbers are still top-three in the conference and include total rebounds per game (1st – 9.9), total rebounds (1st – 169), defensive rebounds per game (3rd – 6.8), and offensive rebounds per game (3rd – 3.2).
As a team, their 46.1% field goal percentage leads the entire conference, as well as their 15.6 made free throws per game. They also are placed in the top-three in free throw attempts per game (2nd – 20.8), free throw percentage (2nd – 75.1%), three-point percentage defense (2nd – 27.7%), and scoring offense (3rd – 75.8 ppg).
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Maryville University | Thursday, January 30th, 5:15 PM CT
Last Matchup: W, 79-69 on 11/27/2024 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
Maryville currently sits with an 8-11 record overall and a 6-5 posting in the conference slate. They lost their last two outings after going a season-best four straight wins. This will be the second time this season the two teams will face off.
Senior guard Gracie Stugart remains one of the nation's most effective all-around players despite being third on the team in scoring at 10.4 points per game. She leads the conference in all playmaking facets with 7.5 assists per game (2nd nationally), total assists with 142 (1st nationally), and a 2.49 assist-to-turnover ratio (7th nationally). Her 41 total steals and 2.2 steals per game are also third in the GLVC.
Saints' graduate guard Claire Rake is one of the conference's most lethal shooters, knocking down 2.7 a game on 33.8%, which places second and fourth in the GLVC respectively.
Much like McKendree, Maryville leads the conference in many statistcal categiries as they are top-three in assist-to-turnover ratio (1st – 1.24), bench points per game (1st – 27.7), three-point attempts per game (1st – 27.5), three-pointers per game (1st – 8.8), turnovers per game (1st – 12.3), turnover margin (2nd – 2.8), and assists per game (3rd – 15.2). Their 12.3 turnovers per game ranks third in the entire country as their 27.5 three-point attempts places ninth.
University of Missouri-St. Louis | Saturday, February 1st, 1:00 PM CT
Last Matchup: W, 74-67 on 2/24/24 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
UMSL has one of the GLVC's best overall records with a 14-4 posting while they are 8-3 in conference action. They won their last outing against Maryville, 57-52 on the road after losing at Quincy University, 53-64 the game prior. Before that, they won four straight dating back to early January. The Tritons will first take on the University of Illinois Springfield on Thursday before facing McKendree.
Like the Saints, the Tritons hold three double-figure scorers in junior forward Alex Wolff (11.9 ppg), freshman guard Katie Hamill (11.8 ppg), and graduate guard Kate Rolfes (10.1 ppg). Rolfes is another GLVC sharpshooter, as she is third in the conference in all related categories which include three-pointers made per game (2.5), three-point attempts (123), three-point makes (45), and three-point percentage (36.6%). Wolff is 11th in the GLVC in blocks with 0.9 per game (17 total).
UMSL post great numbers in both the offensive and defensive side of the ball, where they are top-three in the conference in field goal percentage (1st – 33.9%), fouls per game (1st – 12.3), scoring defense (1st – 52.3), scoring margin (1st – 14.6), three-point percentage defense (1st – 26.6%), rebounding margin (8.2), field goal percentage (3rd – 44.1%), defensive rebounds per game (3rd – 29.4), and total rebounds per game (3rd – 40.0). Their fouls per game (12.3) and field goal percentage defense (33.9%) ranks third and fourth in the nation respectively.
TUNE IN-FO
at Maryville University
WATCH: Click HERE ($ – GLVC Sports Network)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Maryville]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Maryville]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Maryville]
at University of Missouri-St. Louis
WATCH: Click HERE ($ – GLVC Sports Network)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [UMSL]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [UMSL]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [UMSL]
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