IUPUI hits the road for its final two games of the 2010-11 season beginning with a trip to Shreveport, La., to take on Centenary on Saturday, Feb. 26, at 3 p.m. EST. The game can be heard live on IUPUIJags.com beginning at 2:55 p.m.

·         The Jaguars close out the regular season with a game at conference leading Oral Roberts on Monday, Feb. 28, at 8:05 p.m. EST.

·         The IUPUI women’s basketball team got off to a hot start, but a combined 48 points from Southern Utah’s trio of Challis Pascucci, Caitlyn Sears, and Desiree Jackson led the Thunderbirds past IUPUI, 62-45, on Senior Night in The Jungle.

·         Southern Utah (14-12; 9-7 Summit) overcame an early eight-point deficit by shooting 60 percent over the final 16 minutes of the first half to take a lead that it would not relinquish.

·         In her final game in The Jungle, Gretchen Gaskin scored seven points, had two rebounds, four assists, and four steals. IUPUI’s other senior, Laura Blaydes, played in the final minute of her final home appearance.

·         Kerah Nelson led the Jags in scoring with 12 points, her eighth double-figure scoring effort in the last 11 games, but IUPUI (4-22; 2-14 Summit) just didn’t have enough scoring power to hang with the Thunderbirds.

·         For the second consecutive game, IUPUI got out to an early lead behind some balanced scoring. All five players contributed a basket in the first four minutes leading the Jaguars to a 10-2 lead.

·         Southern Utah started the game shooting 1-of-4 from the floor with three turnovers during the Jags run, but Challis Pascucci scored 11 of the Thunderbirds next 18 points during an 18-6 surge that catapulted SUU back on top, 20-16, with 9:01 remaining.

·         A Nelson lay-up with 3:07 left in the half brought the Jags back within three points, 26-23, but a 5-0 solo run by Jackson over the final 2:05 sent the Thunderbirds into the half with a 31-23 lead.

·         Out of the half, IUPUI struggled from the floor hitting just three of its first 16 shots while committing nine turnovers during the first 11 minutes of the second half. During that span, Sears and Jackson combined to score 14 of the Thunderbirds 22 points as their lead grew to 24 points, 53-29.

·         After the lead grew to 25 points, 56-31, the Jaguars had one final spurt left in which Nelson scored eight of IUPUI’s 14 points during a 14-2 run closing the gap to 13 points, 58-45, with 2:30 to play, but that would be as close as the Jags would get as Southern Utah closed out a 62-45 win.

·         Clara Mitchell continued her solid play scoring eight points and pulling down a team-high eight boards.

·         Jackson led Southern Utah with 19 points, while Pascucci registered a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

·         Centenary enters the final weekend with an 0-23 overall record and an 0-16 Summit League record.

·         Ashley Jackson is one of three players scoring in double figures and leads the way with 12.3 ppg.

·         The other two double figure scorers are Ne-Ne Cook and Anne Farrell, who are averaging 11.1 ppg and 10.0 ppg, respectively.

·         The trio of Jackson, Cook, and Farrell account for 58.4 percent of the team’s scoring.

·         Farrell and Jackson also lead the team in rebounding, corralling 7.7 and 7.1 rpg, respectively.

·         Centenary enters the game allowing its opponents to shoot 50.8 percent from the floor and its opponents are grabbing 12 more rebounds and forcing nearly seven more turnovers per game than the Ladies.

·         Janna Eichelberger will be playing against the Ladies for the sixth time, the most of any Jaguar, in her career this weekend and she has enjoyed a good deal of success vs. Centenary.

·         Among the current players on the roster, Eichelberger ranks behind Kerah Nelson in points per game against Centenary with Nelson scoring 14.3 ppg and Eichelberger adding 11.4 ppg.

·         Eichelberger is also averaging 7.4 rebounds per game and 1.4 spg in her career against the Ladies.

·         Gretchen Gaskin has also had some success scoring 7.3 ppg in three outings vs. Centenary, including 14 points in the last meeting between the schools earlier this season.

·         In IUPUI’s last meeting against the Ladies on Dec. 6, 2010, in The Jungle, Janna Eichelberger came off the bench to score a career-high 21 points, grab 13 rebounds, block two shots, and record two steals to lead IUPUI to a 74-46 win, its largest margin of victory this season.

Below is where IUPUI players rank among the Top 10 in Summit League statistical categories through games on Feb. 21:

·         In the second-to-last home game of her career, Gretchen Gaskin paced IUPUI in the first half and helped the Jags snap a 15-game losing skid against UMKC on Feb. 19.

·         Gaskin hit three 3-pointers in the first half and scored a career-high 16 points in the first half against the Kangaroos.

·         The Orland Park, Ill., native finished the game with a career-best 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

·         Her seven made field goals against UMKC also was a career-high.

·         While she didn’t score at the same pace as she did against UMKC, Gaskin finished her final game as a Jaguar with seven points, four assists, four steals, and two rebounds against Southern Utah on Feb. 21.

·         In the second half of IUPUI’s win vs. UMKC, the Jaguars shot 57.7 percent from the floor. The second-half field goal percentage is the second highest field goal percentage in a half for the Jags this season.

·         Gretchen Gaskin set a career-high with 18 points, 16 of which coming in the first half.

·         Kerah Nelson scored 16 of her game-high 21 points in the second half, her fifth 20-plus point outing of the season.

·         Dawn Luster had nine points, a career-high seven assists, the most of any IUPUI player this season, and four rebounds.

·         Four players scored in double figures marking the second time that has happened this season. The first time came at Southern Utah on Jan. 22.

·         The win vs. UMKC snapped a 15-game losing streak and a five-game losing skid to the Kangaroos.

·         On the season, Luster is averaging 4.6 ppg while shooting 33.7 percent from the floor in 21.5 minutes per game.

·         However, over the last eight games, Luster is scoring 6.8 ppg on 37.0 percent shooting.

·         More impressively, Luster is shooting 55.0 percent (11-of-20) from three over the last eight games, which comes on the heels of shooting 12.5 percent (2-of-16) from three over her first 15 games.

·         Over the last eight games, Luster’s rebounds per game have risen in addition to her scoring. Luster is averaging 2.1 rpg in her last eight games compared to her 1.8 average on the season.

·         Luster is tied for 10th in the Summit League in assists (2.8) in league games.

·         Following a one-game absence against Oakland on Jan. 10, sophomore Kerah Nelson has been a bright spot for the Jaguars.

·         Starting with a Jan. 15 decision against South Dakota State, Nelson has scored in double figures in seven of her last 10 games.

·         Against the Jackrabbits on Jan. 15, Nelson scored 17 points, and followed that performance with a 19-point, six-rebound outing against North Dakota State just two days later.

·         The offensive improvements continued at Southern Utah, when Nelson erupted for a career-high 29 points, surpassing her previous career high of 27 points set earlier this season against IU-Southeast on Nov. 23, 2010.

·         For the fourth straight game, Nelson hit at least seven field goals as she went 7-of-9 from the floor against UMKC on Jan. 24 to score a team-high 15 points.

·         Following her scoreless output on Jan. 29 at Western Illinois, Nelson responded in a big way scoring 20 points and grabbing nine rebounds vs. Oakland on Feb. 15, her fourth 20-point scoring effort of the season.

·         On Feb. 7 vs. in-state rival IPFW, Nelson scored 17 points and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds, her first double-double of the season and the fourth of her career.

·         After not making a field goal against Western Illinois and scoring a combined eight points vs. North Dakota State and South Dakota State, Nelson bounced back with a game-high 21 points vs. UMKC.

·         16 of Nelson’s 21 points came in the second half, helping IUPUI snap a 15-game losing skid.

·         Nelson’s field goal percentage over her last 11 games is .531 (69-of-130), resulting in her scoring 14.4 ppg.

·         On the season, Nelson is eighth in all games in field goal percentage (.484), while ranking fourth in field goal percentage (.543) in conference-only play.