INDIANAPOLIS - The Jaguars continue their three-game road trip when they return to conference action on Saturday, Jan. 8, by heading to Fort Wayne, Ind., to take on IPFW. Tip is set for Noon and is the opener of a men’s and women’s doubleheader, with the second game featuring the IUPUI men’s team at IPFW.

·         IUPUI concludes its first conference road weekend by meeting the Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Monday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m. in Rochester, Mich.

·         Coming into Tuesday’s (Jan. 4) non-conference game at Murray State, the IUPUI women’s basketball team had been hurt by poor free throw shooting and an excess of turnovers on the road.

·         Despite reversing those trends against the Racers with 76.9 percent shooting from the charity stripe and committing 15 turnovers, the Jaguars could not overcome 24.6 percent shooting and dropped a 71-42 decision to Murray State at the CFSB Center.

·         The Racers, who came into the game shooting 27.2 percent from behind-the-arc, connected on 9-of-19 tries from deep and continuously halted IUPUI runs with their three-point shooting.

·         Kerah Nelson and Janna Eichelberger combined to score 25 of IUPUI’s 42 points and hit 45.0 percent of their field goal attempts (9-of-20), while the rest of the Jaguars hit just 5-of-37 shots from the floor.

·         The Jags shooting woes started from the get-go by missing their first five shots and Murray State jumped out to a 7-0 lead by the first media timeout.

·         A Nelson lay-up on a dish from Shea Collins with 15:07 to play got IUPUI on the board, before Eichelberger scored seven straight points for the Jaguars to bring Jags within two points, 11-9, at the under 12-minute break.

·         Still trailing by two points, 14-12, following a Shakeeta Cotton three at the 10:32 mark, Murray State retaliated with four treys of their own during a 15-3 run that blew open a 29-15 advantage with 3:18 to play.

·         Even though IUPUI doubled their scoring output over the final 3:18 than the previous 7:14, the Jaguars found themselves in a 37-21 hole entering the half.

·         By the first media timeout of the second half, the Jags reduced their 16-point halftime deficit to 14 points, 39-25, but a cold spell from the field coupled with a pair of Racers triples with the shot clock winding down deflated IUPUI and moved the Murray State advantage to 52-30 at the mid-way point of the second half.

·         A 6-0 Jaguars run brought the IUPUI deficit back to 16 points with 9:00 to play, but IUPUI could not inch any closer and the Racers pulled away to a 71-42 triumph.

·         The Mastodons enter this weekend with an overall record of 8-5 and a Summit League mark of 2-2 after splitting a pair of conference match-ups at Centenary and Oral Roberts last weekend.

·         IPFW opened last weekend at Oral Roberts and fell to the Golden Eagles, 91-78, before bouncing back with a resounding 94-65 triumph over the Ladies.

·         Stephanie Rosado, a preseason first-team all-conference selection, leads the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 17.7 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game.

·         Rosado’s scoring and rebounding numbers both rank third in the conference.

·         As a team, the Mastodons ranks second in scoring offense (76.2 ppg), free throw shooting (.753), and 3-point field goal shooting (.352), while leading the conference in turnover margin (+ 3.7).

·         IPFW possesses one of the top 3-point specialists in the conference in Anne Boese, whose 3.5 treys per game, which leads the conference, helps translate into 13.9 points per game.

·         Boese’s 3.5 triples per game ranks third nationally, and she is connecting on 43.7 percent of her 3-point opportunities.

·         IUPUI has set its game time for Martin Luther King, Jr., Day against North Dakota State for 2 p.m., at The Jungle.

·         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.

·         When the Jaguars head to Fort Wayne, Ind., to take on IPFW, IUPUI will be looking to erase its road losing skid.

·         The Jags are 0-4 on the road this season, losing at then- No. 16 Notre Dame on Nov. 26, St. Francis (NY) on Dec. 12, Savannah State on Dec. 28, and IPFW on Jan. 4.

·         IUPUI’s last road win came on Feb. 28, 2009, when the Jaguars closed out the 2008-09 regular season with a win over Western Illinois.

·         After going 0-14 away from home last season and dropping its four road games this season, the Jaguars will look to end their 18-game road losing streak.

·         Through 13 games this season, IUPUI has had seven home games and six road/neutral games.

·         All three of IUPUI’s wins have come at home and the Jaguars have simply performed better when playing in The Jungle.

·         In home games this season, IUPUI is averaging 59.6 ppg, with four players averaging over 8.0 ppg led by Kerah Nelson’s 13.8 ppg.

·         When in the Jungle, IUPUI is averaging 20.4 turnovers per game, they are shooting 42.1 percent from the floor, and 16.6 assists per game.

·         However, in either road or neutral games, the Jags are averaging 43.7 points per game and they do not have any players averaging over 8.0 ppg.

·         In those six road/neutral contests, IUPUI is shooting 30.4 percent from the field, committing 23.5 turnovers per game, and distributing 10 assists per game.

·         Junior Kayla Cripe saw her first action in an IUPUI uniform against Western Illinois on Dec. 31 after transferring from Kankakee Community College.

·         In two seasons at Kankakee CC, Cripe averaged 9.8 ppg and 6.9 rpg in 70 contests.

·         During the 2008-09 season, Cripe helped lead Kankakee to a fifth-place finish in the NJCAA Division II women’s basketball championship and was named to the All-Tournament Team.

·         During that season, she nearly averaged a double-double in 35 games scoring 12.6 ppg and grabbing 9.8 rpg.

·         In 2009-10, Cripe averaged 9.8 ppg and 6.9 rpg as the team finished fourth in the NJCAA Division II women’s basketball championships.

·         Cripe scored her first two points in an IUPUI uniform in a loss at Murray State on Jan. 4 in 10 minutes of play.

·         Against Western Illinois on Friday, Dec. 31, Shea Collins single-handedly kept IUPUI in the game against the Leathernecks with her 3-point shooting.

·         Collins scored 15 of her career-high 24 points in the first half and connected on seven tries from behind-the-arc.

·         The seven made 3-pointers marked the most made three’s in a game since Amy Cook connected on five treys vs.. Evansville on Dec. 2, 2006.

·         Collins’ 24-point outburst also marked the fourth 20-plus point effort by a Jaguar this season.

·         She has hit at least one 3-pointer in IUPUI’s last seven games, including hitting three or more in four of those contests.

·         Three games into the conference season, several IUPUI players rank among the Top 10 in several statistical categories.

·         Following her 24-point outing against Western Illinois, Shea Collins is 10th in the Summit League in scoring, averaging 15.3 ppg, while her 4.3 treys per game leads the conference.

·         Janna Eichelberger ranks among the league’s best in four categories. Eichelberger is fifth in field goal percentage (.600), sixth in rebounding (7.3 rpg) and defensive rebounds (5.3), and is tied for ninth in blocks (1.0 bpg).

·         Kerah Nelson and Gretchen Gaskin give IUPUI three players that rank in the Top 10 in field goal percentage. Nelson ranks seventh in league play shooting .581, while Gaskin is ninth shooting at a .563 clip.

·         Freshman Dawn Luster ranks among the league leaders in assists (6th, 4.0), steals (t-10th, 2.3), and assist-to-turnover ratio (10th, 1.2).

·         Del’Niqua Bellamy rounds out the group sitting in a tie for fourth in steals with 3.0 thefts per game.