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WOMEN'S HOOPS GAME AT BUTLER TO BE SEEN ON HORIZON LEAGUE NETWORK

Jaguars to make six-mile trek north to Hinkle Fieldhouse for non-conference tilt

12/20/2011 7:24:00 AM

By: John Berry, IUPUI Sports Information
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INDIANAPOLIS - IUPUI has its shortest road trip of the year when it heads six miles north to take on the Butler Bulldogs for a noon tip on Wednesday, Dec. 21, at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
  • Butler comes into Wednesday’s contest with a 3-7 overall record. It has registered back-to-back wins over Ball State and Marian in its last two contests.
  • Freshman Haley Howard leads the squad in scoring averaging 12.5 ppg, and scored 18 points in the Bulldogs previous game against Marian.
  • On the season, Butler’s statistics closely mirror their opponents, but it has dropped five of its seven games by 10 points or less.
  • It is shooting 38.1 percent from the field, 31.8 percent from three, and 74.2 percent from the line.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST BUTLER
  • Following a near four-year hiatus, Butler and IUPUI resumed their all-time series a season ago with Butler defeating IUPUI, 63-51, in South Bend, Ind.
  • The Bulldogs lead the all-time series, 15-7, and are 7-3 when playing the Jaguars at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
  • IUPUI’s last road win in the series was back on Feb. 7, 1985, by a 69-62 margin.
  • Since joining the Division I ranks, the Jags are 1-4 against the Bulldogs with its lone win coming on Jan. 4, 2006 (62-54 at The Jungle).
 
A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST GAME
  • Kerah Nelson turned in a game-high 18 points to accompany her nine boards, but collectively IUPUI struggled shooting the basketball as Eastern Illinois claimed a 64-49 win over the Jaguars inside the Jungle on Saturday night.
  • A long cold spell ultimately doomed the hosts as EIU (7-2) rattled off a 14-0 run to take command of the game over the latter portion of the first half.
  • Ta’Kenya Nixon and Sydney Mitchell led EIU with 12 points each and Kelsey Wyss chipped in 10 points. IUPUI freshman Nevena Markovic finished with 16 points including hitting a season-high 4-of-5 from deep to round out the double-digit scorers.
  • Both teams struggled to find the range early as neither team reached double-figures until the game was nearly 11 minutes old. Markovic staked IUPUI to a 9-8 lead with a corner three at the 9:33 mark, giving the Jaguars their first lead since 4-2.
  • However, EIU fired back with the aforementioned 14-0 run, fueled by a three from Jessica Parker and later a Chantelle Pressley triple. Dawn Luster stopped the bleeding temporarily with a 14-footer to make it 22-11 at the 4:08 mark, but ultimately the Jags were held to just two field goals over the final 9-plus minutes en route to a 28-13 halftime deficit. IUPUI made just 6-of-29 (20.7 percent) first half attempts and 1-of-8 (12.5 percent) from deep.
  • The second half started off well as IUPUI forced a shot clock violation on the Panthers’ opening possession and cashed in at the other end with a Nelson layup. After Nixon matched Nelson’s basket, IUPUI scored four in succession thanks to its defensive pressure.
  • Dawn Luster scored in transition after Katie Comello cradled a long rebound, making the score 30-17. Then #Del’Niqua Bellamy# came up with a steal near midcourt which led to a Nelson putback to cut the EIU lead to 11.
  • However, IUPUI (4-7) was never able to get the score under 10 at any point in the second half. Down 11 with 18 minutes left, the Jaguars got three straight defensive stops but came up empty on each ensuing possession.
  • EIU led 55-37 with just under four minutes left when Markovic tried to shoot the Jaguars back in the contest. First senior Janna Eichelberger connected from the corner to make it 55-40 with 3:19 remaining.
  • After an EIU turnover, Markovic swished an unchallenged three off a Comello assist to make it a 12-point game. However EIU made free throws late and staved off Markovic’s continued hot shooting to take the win.
  • The Jaguars finished at 32.3 percent from the floor and 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) from three.
  • EIU outscored IUPUI 20-4 at the free throw line, making 20-of-22 (90.9 percent) including an 8-of-8 effort from Jordyne Crunk.
  • IUPUI went just 4-of-6 with Nelson earning five of the six attempts. Comello finished with a career-high eight assists, but had seven of IUPUI’s 19 turnovers. EIU turned it over 23 times, leading to 23 IUPUI points.
  • Pressley grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds as the Panthers outrebounded IUPUI, 43-33 overall and 32-23 off the defensive glass.
 
BOUNCING BACK
  • After scoring a combined 17 points in losses against South Dakota State and Southern Illinois, IUPUI’s leading scorer Kerah Nelson has returned to form in the Jags last two outings.
  • Against Indiana and Eastern Illinois, Nelson put up 25 points and 18 points, respectively, averaging out to 21.0 ppg during that stretch.
  • In those two games, Nelson also combined for 13 rebounds and her nine rebounds against the Panthers marked a season high.
  • However, Nelson isn’t the only player who has been able to bounce back this year after sub-par performances.
  • Nevena Markovic is tied for the team lead with eight double-figure scoring games, but in her three games in which she didn’t score in double figures she totaled nine points.
  • In the three games following each of her single-digit scoring games, Markovic is averaging 16.7 ppg and 7.3 rpg, which includes a 20-point, 10-rebound effort against Florida Atlantic on Nov. 25. That came after a five-point, four-rebound effort against Indiana State.
 
CASHING IN ON FREE THROWS
  • Against Indiana, Kerah Nelson led IUPUI in scoring with 25 points, but Nelson did most of her damage from the free throw line.
  • Nelson hit all 12 of her free throw attempts against the Hoosiers, making her the first player in over seven years to go perfect from the line for a game attempting a minimum of 10 shots.
  • The last IUPUI player to achieve the feat was Karima Davies, who went 10-of-10 against Eastern Illinois on Dec. 4, 2004.
  • Nelson started the season 10-of-18 from the line, has hit her last 20 free throws after going 4-of-4 against South Dakota State and Southern Illinois before hitting all 12 against Indiana.
  • Going into the Eastern Illinois game, Nelson had made her last 20 free throws, but she went 4-of-5 against the Panthers missing her first free throw since Nov. 30.
  • Nelson has made 25 of her last 27 attempts dating back to the Nov. 27 game against Lamar.
 
WINS VS. LOSSES
  • A third of the way through the season, the Jaguars four wins have come at home or on a neutral court, while four of its seven losses have come on the road.
  • In its wins this season, the Jaguars are shooting 44.1 percent from the floor compared to 31.1 percent in its losses. However, the poor shooting in losses may have something to do with shot selection.
  • When subtracting 3-point attempts, IUPUI is connecting on 47.1 percent of its shots inside-the-arc in its wins compared to 35.0 percent of its attempts in losses.
  • Two other noticeable factors for IUPUI this season are its assists and rebounding.
  • Part of the reason for IUPUI’s better shooting inside the arc in wins is due to an increase in assists. In wins, IUPUI averages 15.3 assists per game compared to only 12.0 apg in losses.
  • In wins, the Jags have at least matched their opponents on the glass grabbing 36.2 rpg against 35.8 rpg.
  • However, in losses the Jaguars are being outrebounded, 46.0 to 33.9. (-12.1 margin).
 
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
  • At this point last season, the Jags owned a record of 3-8, one game worse than IUPUI’s 4-7 record this season.
  • However, while only one win separates IUPUI’s last two squads, the Jaguars are a much more efficient team.
  • When looking at the 2010-11 stats through 11 games, the Jags were scoring 53.4 ppg and were being outscored by an average of 12.3 points.
  • IUPUI also only had one player, Kerah Nelson, scoring in double figures as she averaged 10.9 ppg through the first third of the season.
  • This season, IUPUI’s scoring is up to 57.5 ppg and it is scoring margin is down from 12.3 ppg a year ago to -4.7 this season.
  • The Jaguars also have a more balanced scoring attack as three players are scoring in double figures in Kerah Nelson, Katie Comello, and Nevena Markovic.
  • However, the biggest discrepancy is turnovers. Last season, IUPUI was turning the ball over an average of 22.5 times per game and this season that number is down to 16.0.
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