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JAGS HOST JACKRABBITS FRIDAY EVENING IN CONFERENCE SHOWDOWN

IUPUI looks for its third straight win and a 2-0 conference start

12/1/2011 10:21:00 AM

By: John Berry, IUPUI Sports Information
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INDIANAPOLIS - Coming off a 10-point win in its Summit League opener, the IUPUI women’s basketball team is in search of a 2-0 conference start and its third straight win when it takes on South Dakota State on Friday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. inside The Jungle.
 
SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS
  • South Dakota State is the defending Summit League Tournament Champions and was picked to finish in third in the Summit League Preseason Poll.
  • Senior Jenni Sunnarborg paces the Jackrabbits on both ends of the floor averaging a team-best 12.0 ppg and 5.9 rpg.
  • As a team, SDSU is shooting 40.8 percent from the floor and rebounding remains a strength as it is outrebounding its opponents, 38.9-31.7 on the young season.
  • Jill Young is the other Jackrabbits player scoring in double digits averaging 10.6 ppg, while four other players are chipping in 5.0 ppg or more this season.
  • So far this season, South Dakota State is 1-1 when playing on the road.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
  • Friday’s meeting between IUPUI and SDSU is the 10th all-time with the Jackrabbits boasting a perfect 9-0 mark.
  • The Jags are 0-4 when playing South Dakota State in Indianapolis.
 
A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST GAME
  • For the first time since the 2008-09 season, the IUPUI women’s basketball team owns a winning record and is 1-0 in Summit League action after downing North Dakota State, 49-39, in a defensive struggle Wednesday evening in the conference opener for both schools.
  • Similar to IUPUI’s three previous wins, the Jags scoring output Wednesday evening came from the trio of Kerah Nelson, Katie Comello, and Nevena Markovic, but it didn’t come easy in the first half as the Jags hit just three of its first 20 attempts from the floor while trailing 15-6 with just under six minutes to play in the first half.
  • A Markovic jumper with 5:37 to play sparked an IUPUI spurt in which the Jags hit six of their final 10 shots of the first half to trim its deficit to 21-18 entering intermission.
  • Out of the half, the Jags used buckets by Clara Mitchell and Comello, and a free throw by Nelson to knot the score at 23-23, before a fast break lay-up courtesy of Janna Eichelberger with 15:32 to play gave IUPUI its first lead of the game, 25-23.
  • With the game tied at 27, Comello hit a three with 12:07 on the clock and scored six straight points before Nelson buried a trey from the left baseline that capped off a 9-0 run as the Jags stormed in front, 36-27, midway through the final 20 minutes.
  • Down the stretch, the Bison cut their deficit to five points twice, but IUPUI responded with a jumper from Nelson on the first occasion and a trey by Markovic the next time around to keep its lead at three possessions and never looked back en route to a 49-39 win.
  • Nelson led all scorers with 16 points, followed by Comello with 14 and Markovic with 11. Nelson also posted a team-high eight rebounds, while Comello and Emily Phillips each dished out a game-high tying five assists.
  • As a team, IUPUI posted 14 assists on 21 made field goals and committed just 14 turnovers, while turning over the Bison 25 times.
  • The Jaguars outscored NDSU 31-18 in the second half and outscored the Bison 10-0 in fast break points proving to be the difference.
 
THE LAST TIME ...
  • With the win in its Summit League opener against North Dakota State, IUPUI enters the month of December with a 4-3 record and a 1-0 conference record.
  • The four wins in November matched the Jaguars win total from the entire 2010-11 season.
  • The last time the Jaguars boasted a winning record entering December was back during the 2008-09 season, when IUPUI was 4-3 entering the final month of the calendar year.
  • That same year was the last time the Jags won their Summit League opener.
  • The Jags are in search of their third consecutive win on Friday and if they would pull off the victory, it would be the first three-game winning streak since Jan. 17-24, 2009, in which IUPUI defeated Centenary, Oral Roberts, and IPFW.
 
DEFENSE IS THE BEST OFFENSE
  • One of the keys to IUPUI’s second-half comeback win over North Dakota State was its ability to get out into transition and score.
  • The Jaguars outscored the Bison 10-0 in fast break points on the game, proving to be the difference.
  • On the season, IUPUI has outscored its opponents in fast break points six times and has scored eight or more fast break points four times.
  • The Jags average 7.7 fast break points per game compared to 4.5 for their opponents.
 
FACILITATING THE OFFENSE
  • Emily Phillips is in her first season with IUPUI after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules.
  • As the team’s point guard, Phillips struggled taking care of the ball committing 18 turnovers while dishing out just 11 assists in the team’s first four games.
  • However, over the last three games that trend has gone through a 180-degree transformation.
  • Since taking on Kansas, Phillips has posted 12 assists compared to just five turnovers, including dishing out five assists against one turnover in her Summit League debut against North Dakota State.
  • On the season, she now owns an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.0 and leads the team in assists averaging 3.3 apg.
 
KERAH AND KATIE
  • Kerah Nelson and Katie Comello come into Friday’s contest as IUPUI’s leading scorers averaging 14.6 ppg and 12.4 ppg, respectively.
  • Each has scored in double figures five times this season, and both have scored in double figures in each of IUPUI’s four wins along with Nevena Markovic.
  • In IUPUI’s win over St. Francis (NY) on Saturday, Nov. 19, Comello and Nelson scored 25 points and 23 points, respectively, leading the Jaguars to a 75-56 win over the Terriers.
  • With Comello and Nelson both surpassing 20 points, it marked the first time since Feb. 16, 2008, that the Jags had multiple players score over 20 points in a game.
  • Julia Whitted and Jernisha Cann were the last duo to accomplish the feat scoring 26 points and 21 points, respectively, in a 69-66 win over Oral Roberts.
  • Nelson and Comello came close to repeating that feat in the Jags 27-point win over Lamar on Nov. 27, with Nelson scoring 22 points and Comello pouring in 17 points, and continued to lead the team in scoring combining for 30 of IUPUI’s 49 points in the Summit League opener against North Dakota State.
 
SCORING SPARK
  • In her first seven games of her career, Nevena Markovic has been a spark off the bench for the Jaguars.
  • In her collegiate debut, she came off the bench and scored 11 of her team-high 14 points in the first half against the nationally-ranked Boilermakers on 4-of-9 shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 from downtown.
  • The Wheaton, Ill.-native accounted for half of the Jags first-half point total as they trailed then-No. 21 Purdue 28-22 at the half and her 14 points were the most points scored by a freshman in her debut since Janna Eichelberger scored 15 points in her first game against Northern Illinois on Nov. 14, 2008.
  • Markovic has scored in double-figures five times this season, including twice in the BTI Classic.
  • In the BTI Classic opener, she scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds en route to her first career double-double.
  • In her Summit League-debut, Markovic carried the Jags in the first half scoring eight of her 11 points in the opening 20 minutes before her teammates rallied to her side in the second half to pick up the win.
  • On the season she is third on the team in scoring averaging 10.6 ppg, while shooting 51.1 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from three. She is second on the team in rebounding pulling down 5.3 rpg.
 
DEFENSE LIVES HERE
  • During her freshman campaign, Del’Niqua Bellamy, who goes by Dee-Dee, was known for her tenacious on-the-ball defense.
  • While her defensive intensity remains the same, Bellamy has done a little bit of everything so far this season.
  • Her all-around game was on display in IUPUI’s win over St. Francis (NY) on Nov. 19 where she scored five points, had a career-high nine rebounds, a career-high tying four steals, and three assists in the win.
  • Against Indiana State on Nov. 22, Bellamy continued to fill the stat sheet with four points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
  • The 5-6 guard from Detroit had the best offensive night of her career against Kansas on Nov. 26, scoring a career-best 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
  • However, against Lamar, Dee-Dee reverted to her old ways and turned her focus to defense, and it may have been the best defensive performance of her career.
  • Bellamy guarded Kalis Loyd, Lamar’s leading scorer averaging 19.0 ppg coming into the contest, and Bellamy held Loyd scoreless in 22 minutes of action. Loyd, who stands at 6-2 and owns an eight-inch height advantage over Bellamy, mustered up only two shot attempts.
  • For her all-around play at the BTI Classic, Bellamy was named to the All-Tournament Team.
  • On the season, Bellamy is averaging 4.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 spg, and 1.7 apg.
 
FIRST HALF SCORING
  • In its two wins at the BTI Classic over Florida Atlantic and Lamar, the Jaguars scored over 40 points in the first half.
  • Prior to scoring 42 points in the first half against the Owls, the last time IUPUI scored 40 points in a first half was back in 2008 when it scored 47 points against Centenary on Feb. 18.
  • On the season, IUPUI has outscored its opponents, 210-205, in the first half and is 3-0 when leading at halftime.
 
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