Truman Women Face Former Coach at Top Ranked Drury

There are a couple big storylines when the Truman State women’s basketball team visits Drury Thursday night. It will be the Bulldogs first matchup against the Lady Panthers with their former coach, Amy Eagan, on the opposite sideline. Truman coach Theo Dean, who was Eagan’s top assistant, talks about how they will handle the emotions….

The Bulldogs will also be playing the number one team in the country. The Lady Panthers are 25-0 and beating opponents by an average of 27 points per game. Coach Dean gives the formula for pulling the upset….

Truman squeezed the Lady Panthers last year before losing by six. Dean’s Bulldogs have the second-best record in the Great Lakes Valley Conference at 13-3 and bring a 17-6 overall mark to Springfield. Drury senior Hailey Diestelkamp (diss-ul-camp) set the school record for points in a game with 43 in a victory at William Jewell on Saturday. She is the reigning Division II National Player of the Year. The Lady Panthers have won 45-straight conference games and 58-straight conference games at home. Drury is the top team in the first NCAA Midwest Regional Rankings and Truman is 10th. You can hear the game on Superstation KRES and centralmoinfo.com starting with the Truman Tipoff at 5:30. Brad and Hank will have the call.

The Truman men are second in the initial set of NCAA Midwest Regional rankings. The Bulldogs trail only Indianapolis, who they lost to at the buzzer last Saturday. Truman has the best record in the GLVC at 13-3, with four games left, but trail UIndy in the Point Rating Standings, which determine seeds for the postseason conference tournament. The Bulldog men will face the hottest team in the GLVC on Thursday night. Drury has won six in a row to improve to 10-6 in league play and 17-7 overall. The Bulldogs are also 17-7.  We will also broadcast the men’s game from the O’Reilly Family Events Center in Springfield around 7:45.