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INDIANAPOLIS - On Saturday, Jan. 26, a pair of 5-2 Summit League teams will look to stay within striking distance of league leader South Dakota State when the IUPUI women’s basketball team hosts South Dakota at The Jungle at 3 p.m.
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION

• Saturday’s tip at The Jungle between South Dakota and IUPUI is set for 3 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 SOUTH DAKOTA

• The Coyotes have won three straight games to even their overall record at 10-10 and improve to 5-2 in the Summit League.
• USD most recently handed Western Illinois its first home loss of the season, 63-60 (Jan. 24).
• Three players are scoring in double figures for the Coyotes led by Nicole Seekamp’s 14.6 ppg. Polly Harrington and Tempestt Wilson are the other two players in double figures averaging 12.2 ppg and 11.4 ppg, respectively.
• South Dakota comes into the game as the top rebounding team in the Summit League corralling 42.7 rpg. It is led in that category by Margaret McCloud’s 7.4 rpg, which ranks third in the conference.
• Additionally, Alexis Yackley runs the offense and averages 5.1 apg, while committing just 2.2 turnovers per game.

 
THE SERIES WITH THE COYOTES

• The all-time series between USD and IUPUI began last season and after two games, the series is tied at 1-1.
• South Dakota won the first meeting between the schools, 73-65, on Jan. 23, 2012, in Vermillion, S.D., but the Jags were on the right end of a 52-42 decision on Feb. 18, 2012, in Indianapolis.

 
LAST TIME OUT ...

• Trailing by four with just more than a minute to play, IUPUI scored five unanswered points in the final 1:01 to escape with a 47-46 victory over Kansas City Thursday evening at The Jungle.
• The win upped the Jags to 11-8 on the season and 5-2 in the Summit League, while Kansas City fell to 6-14 overall and 2-5 in the conference.
• The low-scoring affair featured more combined turnovers (46) than field goals (34), but the Jags were able to prevail thanks to Dawn Luster’s game-winning lay-up with seven seconds to go.
• Coming off back-to-back 30-plus point performances, O’Connor scored 24 of Kansas City’s 46 points on 8-of-15 shooting to lead all scorers.
• Sloppy play characterized the first 20 minutes as both teams combined for one more field goal (17) than turnovers (16).
• Early on, the Jags used buckets from Katie Comello, Kerah Nelson, DeAirra Goss and Dee-Dee Bellamy to jump in front, 10-4, a little more than five minutes in.
• The Kangaroos managed to close with two, 10-8, with 11:25 to go, but an 8-2 Jags response over the next 3:19 widened their advantage to eight, 18-10.
• The IUPUI lead fluctuated from four to seven points for the next six minutes until a fade-away jumper from Nelson and a three from the left baseline from Nevena Markovic quickly pushed the lead to nine, 26-17, with 1:56 on the clock.
• However, four points in the final 1:45 from O’Connor brought the Kangaroos within five, 26-21, entering halftime.
• Out of the half, the Jags were only able to increase their halftime lead to six before Kansas City made a run and took a 35-32 with 12:41 to play.
• IUPUI clamped down defensively and managed to hold UMKC to just six points over the next 8:56, but the Kangaroos still held a one-point lead, 42-41, with 3:45 remaining.
• After a Clara Mitchell free throw tied the game at 42, Hailey Houser made a pair of shots in the lane on consecutive possessions to place UMKC back in front, 46-42, with 2:08 on the clock.
• IUPUI finally cut the lead in half with 1:01 to play on a Nelson floater in the lane, before forcing a turnover and getting fouled with 43 seconds to go. Already in the double bonus, Bellamy went to the line and missed the first of two free throws, but buried the second to cut the deficit in half again, 47-46.
• The Jags’ pressure defense forced another turnover with 25 seconds to go, and that’s when Luster came through.
• Following the Luster lay-up, Emile Blakesley got off a three from the corner just before the buzzer went off, but her shot fell short giving the Jags the one-point win.
• The Jags failed to have a player score in double figures, but Nelson and Markovic both chipped in nine to lead the team.

 
LEARNING HOW TO WIN

• From the 2009-10 season to the 2011-12 campaign, IUPUI played in just five games that were decided by one possession and were 1-4 in those games.
• This season alone, the Jags have already played in four games decided by one possession while playing in several other close contests.
• Of the four games decided by three points or less, the Jags are 2-2, including two straight one-point wins over South Dakota State (1/19) and Kansas City (1/24).
• The back-to-back one-point victories marks the first time in school history that the Jaguars have picked up back-to-back one-point wins and just the second time in the Division I era that IUPUI has claimed consecutive wins by three points or less.
• IUPUI has now played three consecutive games that have gone to the wire.
• On Jan. 17, the Jags lost to North Dakota State as the Bison converted an old-fashioned three-point play with less than five seconds to go to defeat the Jaguars, 71-68.
• On Jan. 19, IUPUI pulled off a 57-56 win over South Dakota State in Brookings, S.D., giving the Jags their first win over the Jackrabbits in program history.
• Then in its last game, IUPUI scored five unanswered points in the final 1:01 to erase a four-point deficit and escape with a 47-46 win over Kansas City.

 
SITTING ABOVE .500

• By winning four of its last five games, IUPUI has improved to 11-8 on the season and currently sits in a tie for second in the Summit League standings at 5-2 with South Dakota.
• By moving to 11-8 overall, this marks the first time that the Jags have been this many games over .500 at this point in the season since the 2005-06 season.
• That season, the Jags were 12-7 through 19 games.