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INDIANAPOLIS - IUPUI looks to build off a big win last Saturday when it welcomes Kansas City to The Jungle on Thursday, Jan. 24, for an important Summit League contest. Tip is set for 7 p.m.
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION

• Thursday’s tip at The Jungle between Kansas City and IUPUI is set for 7 p.m. ET
• Jon Schade will have the call on IUPUIJags.com beginning just prior to tip.
• Fans can also follow live stats and watch live through IUPUIJags.com.

 
ABOUT KANSAS CITY

• The Kangaroos enter Thursday’s game with a 6-13 overall record and a 2-4 Summit League mark.
• After a 0-3 conference start, Kansas City has bounced back with two league wins in its last three games, including wins over South Dakota and Fort Wayne.
• Eilise O’Connor leads the team in scoring averaging 17.1 ppg, and is coming off a week where she averaged 30.0 ppg. The other double-figure scorer for UMKC is Kim Nezianya, who averages 15.1 ppg.
• Nezianya also leads the team in rebounding at 6.7 rpg, while O’Connor dishes out a team-best 4.0 apg.

 
THE SERIES WITH THE KANGAROOS

• Kansas City owns a slight 15-14 lead in the all-time series between the two programs.
• The Kangaroos have won two straight over the Jaguars, including a two-point win in The Jungle last season.
• When playing in Indianapolis, IUPUI is 8-6 against Kansas City.

 
LAST TIME OUT ...

• For the first time in school history, IUPUI defeated South Dakota State, 57-56, on the road Saturday evening at Frost Arena to pick up arguably its biggest Summit League win in program history.
• The win upped the Jags overall record to 10-8 and their Summit League mark to 4-2, while the Jackrabbits dropped to 14-6 overall and 6-1 in the conference.
• DeAirra Goss scored 22 points and Kerah Nelson chipped in 11 to pace the Jaguars, while Gabrielle Boever led the Jackrabbits with 15 points.
• Both teams struggled to score in the early going and combined to hit just 7-of-23 shots from the floor in the first 10 minutes resulting in an 11-7 Jackrabbits lead midway through the first half.
• Still trailing by four, 15-11, Nelson led an IUPUI charge scoring IUPUI’s next seven points from the 7:48 mark to the 5:58 mark to put the Jags in front, 18-15, with just under six minutes to play.
• A Goss jumper with 2:42 to go in the first half upped the Jaguars lead to six, 23-17, but South Dakota State went on a quick 6-0 run to knot the score at 23. However, Katie Comello hit a shot at the buzzer to send IUPUI into the half with a 25-23 lead.
• Out of the half, the Jags quickly upped their two-point halftime lead to nine thanks to a 9-2 run over the first 3:21 highlighted by a pair of triples from Comello and a three from Goss.
• The lead reached as many as 10 points following a pair of Goss free throws with 13:07 to go, but a 7-0 response over the next 3:12 trimmed the Jaguars lead to 39-37 with a little less than 10 minutes to go.
• SDSU stayed within striking distance and cut the Jaguars deficit to one three times, with the last occurring with 25 seconds to play, but each time IUPUI went on a brief run to push its lead back to two possessions.
• Leading 54-53 with 25 seconds to go and Leah Dietel at the line shooting a free throw, the Jags were able to corral the missed free throw and hit three of four free throws down the stretch to push the lead to 57-53 with five seconds to go. Boever hit a three as time expired, but the Jags took down the final unbeaten team in the conference, 57-56.
• Defensively, the Jaguars held the top 3-point shooting team in the league to 13.3 percent shooting from three (3-of-23) and 35.2 percent shooting from the floor (19-of-54), while the Jags connected on 43.2 percent (19-of-44) of its shots including 46.7 percent from three (7-of-15).

 
GOSS CLAIMS WEEKLY AWARD

• After helping the Jaguars split a weekend road trip, which included the program’s first win over South Dakota State in team history, junior guard DeAirra Goss was named the CollegeSportsMadness.com Summit League Player of the Week, the website announced on Monday (Jan. 21).
• Goss started the week with 13 points, including eight in the second half, in a last-second loss at North Dakota State, before leading the Jags to a win at South Dakota State on Jan. 19.
• Goss scored 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting against the Jackrabbits, helping IUPUI defeat the lone unbeaten in the Summit League while snapping their 17-game home conference winning streak.
• For the week, Goss averaged 17.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.0 apg and 1.0 spg, while shooting 45.8 percent from the floor, 40.0 percent from three, and 78.6 percent from the free throw line.

 
JAGS CLAIM FIRST WIN OVER SOUTH DAKOTA STATE

• For the first time in 13 tries, IUPUI defeated South Dakota State on Saturday, Jan. 19, to inch within a game of the Jackrabbits in the conference standings.
• IUPUI had previously never lost by less than 14 points before the Jaguars were able to eke out a one-point win, 57-56. South Dakota State was the lone unbeaten team left in the conference.
• The Jags win also snapped the Jackrabbits 17-game home Summit League win streak.

 
CHART WATCH

• In IUPUI’s win over Omaha on Jan. 10, senior Kerah Nelson moved into the Top 5 on IUPUI’s career scoring chart, and she is also closing in on the Top 5 of several other IUPUI career charts while continuing to move up the school’s scoring chart.
• Nelson has played in 100 games in her career and scored 1,424 points (14.2 ppg). She needs just 46 points to move into fourth on IUPUI’s career scoring chart.
• Additionally, Nelson is 11 field goals away and 22 free throws away from moving into the Top 5 on those respective charts.
• Nelson is also just 22 rebounds away from moving into the school’s Top 10 in career rebounds.

 
DEFENSE LIVES HERE

• Since head coach Austin Parkinson took over the IUPUI women’s basketball team, the team has prided itself on its effort on the defensive end of the floor.
• Defense has been part of the reason the Jags improved from four wins in 2010-11, to 13 wins last year.
• So far this season, defense has been the key to the Jags success early in Summit League play.
• In its four conference wins, the Jags are giving up an average of 53.8 ppg, while holding their opponents to 36.0 percent shooting and 15.8 percent shooting from three.
• During the four wins, IUPUI has also turned its opponents over an average of 20.0 times per game, while outrebounding its opponents, 39.5 - 32.0.
• In three of those four wins, the Jags have kept their opponents to 56 points or less.
• In its two conference losses, however, IUPUI’s opponents have shot 51.0 percent from the field, 30.0 percent from three, and average 69.5 ppg.

 
HOME SWEET HOME

• This season, the Jags are 7-2 at home and are outscoring their opponents by an average of 17.0 ppg on their home floor.
• At home, IUPUI is shooting 42.7 percent from the floor and 35.6 percent from three, which is up from 41.0 percent shooting and 29.2 percent shooting from three in all games.
• Kerah Nelson leads the team in scoring at home averaging 15.1 ppg, while DeAirra Goss and Katie Comello are averaging 11.7 ppg and 9.4 ppg, respectively.
• IUPUI has also been strong on the glass at home outrebounding its opponents, 40.8 - 35.7 (+5.1).
• While the Jags are forcing their opponents into 23.3 turnovers per game for the year, opponents are averaging 25.9 turnovers per game inside The Jungle this season.