Game Notes (.pdf) | Live Stats | Listen Live | Watch Live
 
INDIANAPOLIS - IUPUI is in search of its second conference weekend sweep of the season when it welcomes Oakland to The Jungle on Monday, Feb. 6, for a 7 p.m. tip. Scott McCauley will have the call on IUPUIJags.com beginning just before tip.
 
SCOUTING THE OAKLAND

• Oakland comes in losing two straight to South Dakota State on Jan. 30 and Western Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 4.
• The Golden Grizzlies have an overall record of 10-11 and a Summit League mark of 6-6 entering Monday’s contest.
• In conference play, OU is 4-2 when playing at home and 2-4 when playing on the road.
• Bethany Watterworth leads the Golden Grizzlies in scoring averaging 19.0 ppg, which is second in the conference.
• In the last meeting between the schools, Watterworth carried Oakland to the four-point win scoring 27 of the team’s 54 points.
• In addition to scoring 8.3 ppg, Brittany Carnago leads the team and is second in the conference in blocked shots averaging 3.3 per game.

 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST OAKLAND

• Monday’s meeting between the two schools will be the 34th in series history.
• OU leads the all-time series, 23-10, and has won eight straight. That is the longest winning streak in series history.
• The Jaguars also have lost three straight at home against OU and are 7-8 all-time against the Golden Grizzlies in Indianapolis.
• IUPUI’s last home win against Oakland came on Jan. 28, 2008, by a 64-61 margin.

 
A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST GAME

• IUPUI trailed for most of the game, but a 24-5 late second-half run sent the Jaguars to a 76-62 win over their in-state rivals IPFW Saturday afternoon inside The Jungle.
• The win snapped IPFW’s (7-16; 4-8 Summit) five-game winning streak in the series and marked IUPUI’s (10-13; 5-6 Summit) first home win over the Mastodons since Feb. 19, 2002.
• Kerah Nelson led four Jaguars in double figures with 23 points and just missed out on her first double-double of the season with nine rebounds. She was joined in double figures by Emily Phillips, who scored all 17 of her points in the second half, including 11 of 13 during a spurt to help the Jaguars take control.
• Two keys to the victory were the Jaguars ability to score from the free throw line and rebound. IUPUI connected on 26-of-34 attempts from the free throw line compared to 16-of-26 for IPFW, while outrebounding the Mastodons 45-27.
• Nelson was a force at the line hitting 10-of-11 tries, while Katie Comello chipped in 13 points, including knocking down 5-of-6 from the line in her first game back since Jan. 16.
• Both teams got off to a sluggish start until a 10-0 IPFW run fueled by a pair of Anne Boese triples gave the Mastodons a double-digit lead almost nine minutes in, 16-6.
• Using the free throw line to its advantage, IUPUI was able to trim its deficit to two points, 19-17, with 6:30 to play in the opening half, but a brief 8-2 IPFW response pushed the Mastodons cushion back to eight points, 27-19.
• Following a Dawn Luster lay-up with 3:51 on the clock, IUPUI scored five of its next seven points from the charity stripe as it inched within one point, 29-28, with under a minute to play.
• However, a Stephanie Rosado lay-up in traffic and a pair of Sarah Haluska free throws in the final 30 seconds gave IPFW a 33-28 lead entering halftime.
• Out of the break, the Jaguars weathered an early storm and went inside to Clara Mitchell who scored five quick points inside to help the Jags pull within four points, 41-37, a little more than three minutes in.
• Over the next nine minutes, the Jags closed within a possession three times only to watch its deficit grow larger with an IPFW response.
• However, the fourth time was the charm for the Jags. Trailing 55-50 with 8:49 to play, a Phillips trey kick started a 24-5 run over the next eight minutes giving IUPUI a comfortable double-digit lead with under a minute remaining.
• From that point, two more free throws by Comello ended the scoring closing out the 76-62 win.
• In addition to Nelson, Phillips, and Comello, Luster tacked on 10 points in 33 minutes of action rounding out IUPUI’s double-digit scorers. Mitchell finished with seven points and eight rebounds and did a fantastic job controlling the paint in the second half.
• IUPUI is back in action on Monday, Feb. 6, when it hosts Oakland at The Jungle. Tip is set to begin at 7 p.m. and Scott McCauley will have the call on IUPUIJags.com.

 
LOSING SKID NO MORE

• Behind a total team effort, IUPUI snapped a 36-game road losing streak when it defeated Western Illinois in overtime on Jan. 28.
• Only one person on IUPUI’s roster had picked up a road win at IUPUI in Janna Eichelberger, who was on the roster when the Jags last won on the road - ironically in Macomb, Ill., on Feb. 28, 2009.
• The losing streak spanned all of the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, and the first nine road games of this season.

 
LEARNING HOW TO WIN

• In the previous two seasons prior to the 2011-12 campaign, the Jaguars combined to pick up just seven wins. This season IUPUI has already surpassed that mark and reach double-digit wins for the first time since the 2008-09 season with a 14-point win over IPFW on Feb. 4.
• Part of the reason for IUPUI’s success this season has been finding different ways to win.
• During the 2009-10 season and the 2010-11 campaign, the Jaguars combined to just win one out of 46 games when trailing at the half.
• This season, the Jaguars are 2-10 when trailing at the half, but both of those wins have come in the last month.
• The Jags trailed Southern Utah at the half on Jan. 16 before rallying for a 56-49 win, and then trailed IPFW by five at the half before completing a 76-62 win on Feb. 4.
• In the past, the Jags have also struggled winning games when committing more turnovers than their opponents. However, that trend has reversed this season as well.
• Entering this season, IUPUI had lost its last 37 games when committing more turnovers than its opponents.
• IUPUI lost its first five games this season when turning the ball over more than its opponents, before winning its last two games despite losing the turnover margin.

 
HITTING ON ALL CYLINDERS

• For the past two seasons, Kerah Nelson has been IUPUI’s leading scorer and while she leads the team in scoring, the junior forward has been a much more consistent scorer this season.
• Nelson has scored in double figures in 17 of the team’s 23 games so far, and she has reached 20 points of more nine times.
• In her first two seasons combined, Nelson had only scored 20 points or more 10 times.
• Nelson has scored 375 pts. this season and is averaging 16.3 ppg.

 
NOT MISSING A BEAT

• Without its second-leading scorer from Jan. 21 to Jan. 28, the Jaguars didn’t miss a beat offensively thanks in part to the production of Dawn Luster.
• Luster stepped up and supplied the Jaguars with a much-needed offensive burst against South Dakota on Jan. 23 and almost carried the Jags to a win.
• Luster, who came into the game scoring in double figures just twice this season and three times in her career, got hot from the floor and hit 8-of-18 shots, including 3-of-4 from three, en route to a career-high 24 points. The eight made field goals and three triples also were career-bests.
• She scored eight of her 14 first-half points in the final three minutes of the first half against the Coyotes, and those 14 points were one shy of her career high set against Indiana on Dec. 11.
• Her offensive production has continued since that game with 11 points at Western Illinois and 10 points against IPFW, both resulting in wins.
• In her first 17 games, Luster averaged 4.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.3 apg, and 1.5 spg, while shooting 33.3% from the field, 25.0% from three, and 68.8% from the free throw line.
• Over the last four games, the Holland, Ill.-native is averaging 12.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.8 apg, and 2.3 spg, while shooting 39.5% from the field, 50.0% from three, and 81.3% from the charity stripe.