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Akilah Sims and Kerah Nelson
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BEGINS TWO-GAME ROAD TRIP THURSDAY AT NDSU

Jags head to Fargo, N.D., to take on North Dakota State at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday

1/16/2013 2:00:00 PM

By: John Berry, IUPUI Sports Information
Live Stats | Watch Live | Listen Live | IUPUI Game Notes (.pdf) | NDSU Game Notes (.pdf)
 
FARGO, N.D. - The Jags return to the road on Thursday, Jan. 17, beginning a two-game conference road trip at North Dakota State. The Jags and Bison are set to tip at 8 p.m. ET.
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
  • Thursday’s tip between NDSU and IUPUI is set for 8 p.m.
  • Fans will be able to listen to North Dakota State’s call on IUPUIJags.com.
  • Fans can also follow live stats and watch live through IUPUIJags.com or GoBison.com.
 
ABOUT NORTH DAKOTA STATE
  • The Bison enter the week with a 2-3 Summit League record and a 6-11 overall mark after picking up a last-second win at Oakland in their last game on Jan. 12.
  • NDSU is led offensively by two of its seniors in Katie Birkel and Dani DeGagne, who are averaging 12.4 ppg and 12.2 ppg, respectively.
  • Marena Whittle leads the squad on the glass averaging 7.1 rpg, while DeGagne isn’t far behind with 6.6 rpg.
  • The Bison are the best free throw shooting team in the Summit League, hitting on 77.9 percent of their attempts from the charity stripe.
  • Hannah Linz is the top deep threat for North Dakota State as she has buried a team-high 20 triples at a 34.5 percent clip.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE BISON
  • North Dakota State leads the all-time series against IUPUI, 7-4, but the Jags claimed the season series last year, 2-1.
  • The Jags are 0-5 all-time when playing at the Bison Sports Arena, which includes a loss at the buzzer during their last trip to Fargo on Feb. 27, 2012.
  • The last time the two schools met, the Jags defeated NDSU, 80-64, in the Summit League Quarterfinals as four players scored in double figures led by Emily Phillips career-high 17 points.
 
LAST TIME OUT ...
  • Katie Comello and Kerah Nelson both scored 13 points and IUPUI held Omaha to 13.3 percent shooting (2-of-15) from three leading the Jags to a 60-49 win over the Mavericks Thursday (Jan. 10) at The Jungle.
  • The win upped IUPUI’s overall record to 9-7 and its Summit League record to 3-1, while Omaha dropped to 11-4 overall and 3-2 in the conference. Additionally, the 3-1 start in conference play equals the Jaguars best start since the 2005-06 campaign.
  • Comello got IUPUI off to a fast start hitting her first three shots, including two three’s, helping the Jags jump out to a 12-2 lead a little more than four and a half minutes into the game.
  • Just as Comello went to the bench for a breather, Nicole Rogers game into the game and picked up where Comello left hitting two triples of her own to keep the Jags in front by double-digits, 21-10, with 9:26 remaining in the opening half.
  • Despite IUPUI’s hot shooting, especially from behind-the-arc, costly turnovers and fouls built up and allowed Omaha to stay within striking distance. The Mavericks were able to reach the bonus by the 6:08 mark and scored seven of their next 12 points at the charity stripe from that mark to close within five, 33-28, with 1:45 to play.
  • Unfortunately for the Jags, they turned the ball over twice and only got one shot up in the final 1:45, while Omaha’s Casse Vaughn managed to put in a lay-up off a Jamie Nash feed with four seconds left to bring the Mavericks within three, 33-30, entering halftime.
  • Out of the break, the Jags hit only one of their first 11 shots, while Omaha managed to hit 5-of-8 on the other end to switch a three-point halftime deficit into a 41-35 lead with 14:57 on the clock.
  • Nelson broke the Omaha run with an old-fashioned three-point play with 14:05 to play, which spurred an 11-2 IUPUI response over the next 2:11 placing the Jaguars back in front, 46-43.
  • With the Jags lead still at three, 52-49, with 3:29 to play, Akilah Sims hit one of two at the free throw line just prior to DeAirra Goss adding a bucket on a fast-break lay-up to move the lead to six, 55-49, with 3:00 to go.
  • For the remainder of the game, IUPUI clamped down defensively and did not allow another point while hitting 5-of-6 from the line to finish off the 11-point win.
  • By scoring 13 points, Nelson moved into the fifth spot on IUPUI’s career scoring list and now has 1,387 points in her career. The senior from St. Petersburg, Fla., also grabbed a game-high eight boards.
 
TALE OF THE TAPE - NDSU VS. IUPUI
  • Coming into Thursday’s game between IUPUI and NDSU, on paper it would appear that the game will come down to turnovers.
  • The Bison come into the game committing a Summit League-low 11.8 turnovers per game, while IUPUI forces its opponents into a league-high 20.0 turnovers per game.
  • Another key factor in the game will be free throws. As a team, North Dakota State hits a league-best 79.3 percent of its free throws in conference-only games, while the Jags are connecting on just 62.2 percent of its attempts.
  • However, the Jaguars are second in the conference in rebounding corralling 38.0 rpg compared to 33.6 for the Bison.
 
DEFENSE AND REBOUNDING
  • Despite earning a split in its opening weekend of conference play, IUPUI head coach Austin Parkinson said that his team lost its defensive identity and needed to regain it prior to its game on Jan. 5 against Western Illinois if it was to get back on track.
  • The opening weekend against Fort Wayne and Oakland, The Mastodons and Golden Grizzlies combined to shoot 53.7 percent (51-of-95) from the field and due to that hot shooting, the Jags grabbed just 31.0 rebounds per game.
  • Since the game against Oakland, the Jags defeated both Western Illinois and Omaha and did it with defense.
  • Against the Leathernecks and Mavericks, the Jaguars forced WIU and Omaha into a combined 29.9 percent shooting (29-of-97), including 10.3 percent shooting (3-of-29) from three.
  • That poor shooting has resulted in the Jags giving up just 42.5 ppg over the last two outings, and they have also owned the glass outrebounding their opponents 45.0-36.5 during that stretch.
  • One other factor that has contributed to IUPUI’s success in the last two games has been its ability to reduce its turnovers. The Jaguars averaged 22.5 to/g in the first weekend of conference action and have since recorded 16 turnovers against Western Illinois before committing a season-low 12 turnovers against Omaha.
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