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JAGS OPEN FINAL REGULAR-SEASON ROAD TRIP AT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE

Jags and Jackrabbits meet at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 25

2/24/2012 9:00:00 AM

By: John Berry, IUPUI Sports Information
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INDIANAPOLIS - The Jaguars begin their final 2011-12 conference two-game road trip on Saturday, Feb. 25, when they travel to Brookings, S.D., to take on the Summit League leading Jackrabbits of South Dakota State. Tip is set for 6 p.m. ET and Scott McCauley will have the call on IUPUIJags.com.
 
SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS
  • South Dakota State is one win away from clinching an outright regular-season title as it enters the week with a 19-8 overall record and a 14-2 Summit League record.
  • SDSU has won 10 of its last 11 games, with its lone loss coming to in-state rival South Dakota in overtime in Vermillion, S.D.
  • In their last 10 wins, the Jackrabbits have won by an average of 18.5 ppg, with only its game at UMKC on Feb. 11 decided by single digits.
  • South Dakota State is 11-1 on the season at home, including a perfect 7-0 in league play, with its only home loss coming to Kansas State on Dec. 10, 46-63.
  • SDSU has three players scoring in double figures, led by Jennie Sunnarborg’s 13.9 ppg. Jill Young and Ashley Eide are also scoring in double figures chipping in 11.9 and 10.9 ppg, respectively.
  • As a team, South Dakota State is shooting 41.2 percent from the floor, including 35.0 percent from three en route to scoring 65.8 ppg.
  • One of SDSU’s strengths lies on the glass, where it outrebounds its opponents by an average of 6.6 rebounds per game.
  • In conference play, the Jackrabbits have upped their scoring to 71.5 ppg, thanks in part to Sunnarborg’s, Young’s, and Eide’s scoring averages rising to 16.6, 13.0, and 11.2 ppg, respectively.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
  • Saturday’s meeting between the two schools will be the 11th in series history.
  • The series has been one-sided with the Jackrabbits winning all 10 meetings, including defeating the Jaguars back on Dec. 2, 74-63.
  • IUPUI is 0-4 when playing in Brookings, S.D., and has lost by an average of 27.0 ppg in those meetings. The Jags lowest margin of defeat at Frost Arena was 15 points a season ago.
 
A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST GAME
  • Trailing by as many as 12 points early in the second half, IUPUI battled back and had two opportunities to tie the game in the final five seconds, but both attempts fell off the rim allowing UMKC to hold on to a 58-56 win over the Jaguars in their final home game of the 2011-12 season Monday evening inside The Jungle.
  • The loss dropped IUPUI to 12-16 overall and 7-9 in the Summit League, while UMKC improved to 18-10 overall and 9-7 in league play.
  • Kerah Nelson led the Jaguars with 19 points and scored 12 of her game-high point total in the final 5:55 to lead a late Jaguars rally. However, Ashli Hill and Eilise O’Connor combined to score 27 points, 22 of which came in the second half including the ‘Roos last nine points of the game.
  • UMKC’s length was a problem for the Jags as it outrebounded IUPUI, 44-34, and managed to outscore the Jags 13-8 in second-chance points proving to be the difference.
  • Dayon Hall-Jones hit a triple 30 seconds in to get UMKC out to the quick lead, but the Kangaroos could not shake the Jags over the first 20 minutes. That triple by Jones, who entered as UMKC’s leading scorer averaging over 17.0 ppg, would be her only points of the night.
  • The Kangaroos lead reached as many as five points twice in the first half, but both sides continued to exchange buckets for a majority of the first 20 minutes until a late Jaguars spurt evened things up entering halftime.
  • Trailing 25-20 at the under-four media timeout, three points from Dawn Luster, an easy lay-up from Nevena Markovic, and two Katie Comello free throws with 1.7 seconds remaining in the half capped off a 7-2 Jags run in the final minutes tying things up at 27.
  • Despite shooting 30.0 percent in the first half, IUPUI outscored UMKC 8-2 at the charity stripe in the opening 20 minutes to off-set its shooting woes.
  • Out of the half, the Jags went cold from the field missing their first four shots while committing five turnovers. On the other end, UMKC, got the ball inside to Hill, who scored eight of the ‘Roos first 12 points as they took a 39-27 lead with 15:42 to play.
  • A 9-2 response from IUPUI over the next 5:46 brought the Jags within five, 41-36, but a Kim Nezianya triple kick started a 6-0 run pushing the Kangaroos lead back to 11, 47-36, with 8:15 to go.
  • Still trailing by 11 with 5:03 to play, the Jags made a last ditch effort and went on a 12-3 run to close within a bucket, 54-52, with 1:49 to go.
  • The team’s traded baskets before each team hit a pair of free throws keeping the UMKC lead at two, 58-56, with 46 seconds to play.
  • Following an offensive rebound by UMKC, the Jags had to foul O’Connor with 11 seconds left and she proceeded to miss the front end of the one-and-one to give IUPUI a chance.
  • After Parkinson called a timeout with five seconds to go to set up IUPUI’s final play, Janna Eichelberger inbounded the ball to Comello, who got around her defender at the elbow. Comello got off a runner in the lane that was too strong off the glass and fell into the hands of Markovic, but Markovic’s jumper from eight feet grazed the front iron as time expired allowing the Kangaroos to escape with a two-point win.
  • Despite UMKC outscoring IUPUI from the field and three-point line, the Jags hit 17-of-18 attempts compared to 8-of-11 for UMKC to stay in the contest.
  • Comello was the other Jaguar to score in double figures chipping in 12 points.
 
FOR THE FIRST TIME ...
  • IUPUI junior forward Kerah Nelson and South Dakota’s Jodie Boss were named Summit League Women’s Basketball Players of the Week on Feb. 21.
  • The Player of the Week honor was the first for Nelson in her career.
  • The St. Petersburg, Fla., native opened the week with a 21-point, nine-rebound effort in a 52-42 win over South Dakota, which entered the game on an eight-game winning streak.
  • Nelson followed that performance with 19 points and five rebounds in a two-point loss to UMKC on Monday, Feb. 20. Nelson scored 12 of her 19 points in the final six minutes leading a late charge that fell just short.
  • For the week, Nelson averaged 20.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.5 bpg, and 1.5 spg, while shooting 41.0 percent from the floor, 50.0 percent from three, and 86.0 percent from the line. Nelson’s two-game scoring total of 40 points accounted for 37 percent of the Jags points.
 
SINGLE-SEASON TOP 10
  • Heading into the final week of the regular-season, Kerah Nelson and Dee-Dee Bellamy are within striking distance of reaching a few of IUPUI’s single-season charts.
  • Through 28 games, Kerah Nelson has scored 457 points this season and needs just 19 points to etch her name into the 10th spot on the single-season points chart.
  • With 43 more points, Nelson would be the seventh player in program history to score 500 points in a season and the second to do so since joining the Division I ranks during the 1998-98 season.
  • Nelson is also 19 made field goals and 18 made free throws away from joining those single-season Top-10 lists.  Nelson has connected on 165 field goals and 109 free throws this season.
  • With her team-leading 60 steals, Dee-Dee Bellamy needs just 10 more steals to reach the school’s Top-10 chart.
 
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT BERTH
  • With two games left to play, the Jags have already secured a spot in the 2012 Summit League Tournament.
  • After missing out on the tournament the past two years, the Jaguars will be making their first trip to the conference tournament since the 2008-09 season.
  • Only one player on IUPUI’s roster, Janna Eichelberger, has played in a Summit League Tournament game.
 
DEFENSE AND REBOUNDING
  • Two key components to IUPUI’s success in conference-only games this season has been its defensive pressure and rebounding.
  • In its seven conference wins, the Jags have not allowed more than 64 points and have held opponents to 50 points or less in five of those seven wins.
  • IUPUI has also controlled the boards in conference wins averaging 40.6, led by Kerah Nelson’s 8.0 rpg and Nevena Markovic’s 6.7 rpg.
  • The Jags are grabbing an impressive 76.5 percent of their opponent’s misses leading to a +5.2 rebounding margin.
  • Due to their pressure, IUPUI is also averaging 9.9 spg in conference wins.
 
DEE-DEE DEFENSE
  • During her freshman campaign, Del’Niqua Bellamy, who goes by Dee-Dee, was known for her tenacious on-the-ball defense.
  • Throughout the season, however, Bellamy has shown an improvement in other areas of her game.
  • 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.
  • Despite her improvement in other areas, she has the ability to impact a game with her defense.
  • Earlier this season in the final game of the BTI Classic, Dee-Dee had one of the best defensive performances of her career.
  • Bellamy guarded Kalis Loyd, Lamar’s leading scorer averaging 19.0 ppg at the time, 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.
  • For the second time this season, Bellamy’s defense was a key component to another IUPUI victory.
  • In a 72-48 win over Oral Roberts on Jan. 14, Bellamy got the defensive assignment on Kevi Luper, the leading scorer in the Summit League and the then-third leading scorer in the country averaging 24.2 ppg.
  • in 30 minutes of action, Bellamy held Luper to 2-of-12 shooting from the floor and six total points, marking Luper’s first single-digit scoring game of the season.
  • Another 18.0 ppg scorer was held to limited production against Bellamy on Jan. 21, as Dayon Hall-Jones scored just 12 points against Bellamy on 3-of-13 shooting.
  • In the second meeting of the season against UMKC, Bellamy did an even better job of reducing Jones’ scoring holding her to three points in the meeting on Feb. 20.
  • On seven occasions in conference play, Bellamy has guarded a double-digit scorer from the opposing team and held them below their season scoring average.
  • Only twice in those seven games has the opposing player scored in double figures and in those games combined, Bellamy holds those players 9.7 ppg below their scoring average.
  
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