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For the second time this month, the Jaguars will embark on a three-game road trip beginning with a trip to Cedar City, Utah, to take on Southern Utah at 7 p.m. EST on Saturday, Jan. 22. Scott Taylor will have the call on Saturday beginning right at 7 p.m.

·         IUPUI then moves to Kansas City, Mo., to meet UMKC at 8 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 24.

·         Sophomore Kerah Nelson scored 14 of her team-high 19 points in the second half leading a furious rally, but IUPUI fell just short in its bid for a victory dropping a 63-58 Summit League decision to North Dakota State.

·         Nelson connected on all six of her field goal attempts in the second half en route to her team-high scoring output and she was joined in double figures by Jasmine Horne, who chipped in 10 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

·         Unfortunately for the Jags, they were unable to overcome a 23-2 run from the Bison spanning from the 4:42 mark at the end of the first half until the 15:48 mark of the second half. During that run, IUPUI hit just 1-of-15 attempts from the floor reversing a four-point lead into a 17-point deficit.

·         The first half consisted of four major runs, two coming from each squad. Trailing 6-2 following the first media timeout, the Jags used a seven-point run behind an easy fastbreak lay-up off a steal from Gretchen Gaskin, and consecutive buckets by Horne to place them on top, 9-6, at the 13:14 mark.

·         North Dakota State used a 9-1 response to recapture a five-point lead, 15-10, and kept that cushion until there was a little more than seven and half minutes to play.

·         A quick 9-0 spurt by IUPUI from the 7:36 mark to the 4:43 mark, which featured baskets by four different players, catapulted the Jaguars back on top, 24-20, but the Bison jabbed back with a 10-2 run in the final four minutes to take a 30-26 lead into halftime.

·         Out of the half, the Jags couldn’t buy a basket missing its first nine looks. Meanwhile, the Bison hit five of their first six shots and a pair of free throws during IUPUI’s shooting drought, pushing their halftime lead of four points to 17 points, 43-26, just 4:30 into the second half.

·         Still trailing by 15 points with 7:30 to play, a Nunley-Lash jumper from the top of the key kick started a 9-2 run trimming the Jags deficit to single digits, 45-53, with 5:09 remaining.

·         North Dakota State held its lead at eight points with 3:21 on the clock, but Nelson outscored the Bison 7-2 over the next 2:43, bringing IUPUI within one possession, 59-56, with 47 seconds remaining.

·         Unfortunately for the Jaguars, Abby Plucker knocked down four free throws in the final seconds securing a 63-58 road victory for the Bison.

·         Free throws proved to be the difference in the game as both IUPUI and NDSU hit 24 shots, including five three’s, but North Dakota State outscored the Jaguars 10-5 at the charity stripe.

·         Southern Utah enters this weekend with a 10-8 overall record and a 4-3 conference mark after splitting games against Centenary and Oral Roberts last weekend.

·         Three-time Summit League Player of the Week Challis Pascucci paces the squad in both scoring and rebounding averaging 15.6 ppg and 8.4 rpg in seven games on conference action.

·         Pascucci also ranks among the Top 10 in Summit League-only games in field goal percentage, blocks, and free throw percentage.

·         Free throw shooting is one area where the Thunderbirds have a decisive advantage over the Jaguars. SUU gets to the charity stripe almost 20 times per game, compared to just 13.4 attempts for IUPUI.

·         Southern Utah is also converting 71.6 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe on the season compared to 60.1 percent for the Jaguars.

·         One of the Thunderbirds other strengths sits in their ability to get offensive rebounds. They lead the conference in offensive rebounds (14.9 orpg) and offensive rebound percentage (37.4 percent).

·         The IUPUI Athletics Department also announced changes to the basketball schedule for the month of February, affecting both the men’s and women’s slate.

·         IUPUI will now host Oakland University in a doubleheader at Conseco Fieldhouse on Feb. 5.

·         The women’s game will start at 4:30 and be followed by the men’s contest at 7 p.m..

·         Originally, the women’s game was to be played in The Jungle on Saturday, Feb. 5 and the men’s game was going to be on Sunday, Feb. 6 at Conseco at 1:30 p.m.

Below is where IUPUI players rank among the Top 10 in Summit League statistical categories (overall/conference):

    Rebounding.................................. Janna Eichelberger (8th, 6.6)

    Rebounding..................................     Janna Eichelberger (8th, 6.6)

·         At the midway point of the season, IUPUI has been in five games decided by 10 points or less, including three in conference, and owns a 1-4 record in those contests.

·         Poor free throw shooting has plagued the Jags all season, but it has really shown up in late-game situations.

·         In the final three minutes of the five games decided by 10 points or less, IUPUI has made its way to the foul line six times, converting on three of those attempts.

·         During that same stretch, opponents have connected on 22-of-31 attempts (.710).

·         Following a one-game absence, Kerah Nelson bounced back in impressive fashion against the Jackrabbits on Jan. 15.

·         Nelson scored 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting and grabbed five rebounds in the hard-fought loss.

·         It was Nelson’s highest scoring output since scoring 22 points vs. Oral Roberts on Dec. 4, 2010.

·         The St. Petersburg, Fla., native followed that performance with a 19-point, six-rebound outing in a five-point defeat to North Dakota State on Jan. 17.

·         Nelson hit 8-of-9 buckets, including a perfect 6-of-6 in the second half.

·         Nelson is shooting 76.1 percent from the floor in the last two games lifting her field goal percentage to 65.5 percent in Summit League contests, which ranks first in the league.