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INDIANAPOLIS - IUPUI embarks on its first road trip of the season on Thursday, when it travels north to Valparaiso, Ind., to take on the Valparaiso Crusaders at 8 p.m. ET.

GAMEDAY INFORMATION

• Thursday's game will be IUPUI's first road game of the season following three games at home to start the season.
• The game can be heard live on IUPUIJags.com beginning just prior to tip. Morgan Adcock will have the call.

ABOUT VALPARAISO

• The Crusaders come into the week with a 0-3 record against some solid competition in the early portion of their schedule.
• Valpo has lost to Saint Louis, Illinois and No. 6 Notre Dame in the first two weeks of play.
• Chara Richardson leads Valparaiso in scoring, averaging 11.0 ppg, while Liz Horton is the team's other double-figure scorer averaging 10.3 ppg in just 18.0 minutes of action per game.
• The Crusaders have struggled shooting the ball early in the season connecting on just 33.3 percent of its attempts from the floor, including 21.8 percent from three.
• They have been outrebounded by an average of 11.7 rpg, and committed 28 more turnovers than their opponents thus far, but they have been sharp from the free throw line hitting 78.9 percent of their tries.

THE SERIES WITH THE CRUSADERS

• Valpo leads the all-time series, 20-5, but IUPUI won the last meeting, 75-69, last season in Indianapolis.
• The Jaguars are just 1-12 all-time when playing Valparaiso on its home floor, with the lone win occurring on Feb. 17, 2001, by a 56-53 score.

LAST TIME OUT ...

• A career-high 25 points from DeAirra Goss and a double-double from Shanika Maddox led IUPUI to a 76-65 victory over the visiting Bears of Missouri State Sunday afternoon (Nov. 17) at The Jungle.
• Goss scored 14 of her game-high 25 points in the second half, while Maddox and Nicole Rogers chipped in 13 points and 12 points, respectively. Maddox also led all players with 10 boards, marking the first double-double of her career.
• Goss came out with an aggressive mindset on the offensive end of the floor in the first five minutes hitting four of her first shots from the field to help the Jags take a 13-5 lead.
• The up-and-down, frenetic pace continued, and the Bears were able to get a few transition buckets to close within two, 18-16, with just under 10 minutes to play.
• A Kenzie Williams jumper with 4:36 to play in the first half gave the Bears their first lead of the game, but on the next trip down the floor, Nicole Rogers buried a three from the left wing to quickly put the score back in IUPUI's favor.
• After hitting just 1-of-6 from the free throw line in the first 15 minutes, the Jags had five players combine to score eight of IUPUI's final 10 points from the free throw line pushing the lead to six, 40-34, entering the half.
• A put-back from Goss, a reverse lay-up from Maddox off a Goss feed, and a three from the left wing in transition from Nicole Rogers escalated IUPUI's halftime lead to 13 points, 47-34, just 2:20 into the second half.
• Missouri State came back with an 8-0 run of its own following IUPUI's initial spurt to shrink its halftime deficit from six to five with 15:26 remaining. Goss broke the run by connecting on two free throws, but a three on the other end from Hannah Wilkerson trimmed the Missouri State deficit to four, 49-45. Two Goss baskets, a triple from the left wing from Kelsi Byrd with the shot clock winding down and an Akilah Sims put-back offset a Tyonna Snow jumper to widen the advantage back to 11, 58-47, at the under 12-minute media timeout.
• The Bears cut their deficit to 10 multiple times, but each time they looked to trim that lead into single digits, the Jags responded with a bucket to keep the lead at 10 or more.
• Missouri State finally closed within eight with just over three minutes to play, but two defensive stops and a Maddox mid-range jumper from the baseline pushed the IUPUI lead back to 10 with 1:40 to go. Down the stretch, the Jags held Missouri State without a point to earn a 76-65 win.
• IUPUI connected on 52.8 percent from the field, including 45.5 percent from the three in the win, but the Jags made just 15-of-30 from the free throw line.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS

• IUPUI's next home game will be on Tuesday, Nov. 26, when the Jags host Ohio Valley at 7 p.m. With Thanksgiving being just two days later, the IUPUI Department of Athletics has announced that fans who attend the game will receive free admission.

UPCOMING ROAD SWING

• The Jaguars opened the season with three games at home, but now will begin a lengthy road swing beginning Thursday at Valparaiso.
• The Jags will play six of their next seven away from The Jungle, with their lone home game during that stretch coming on Nov. 26, vs. Ohio Valley.
• Following Thursday's game at Valpo, the Jaguars will make their way to Chicago, Ill., to take on Chicago State on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 3 p.m.
• After returning home on Nov. 26, IUPUI heads to Greenville, N.C., Nov. 29-30, for the ECU Pirate Thanksgiving Tournament. In Greenville, the Jags will take on East Carolina and Cleveland State.
• The road trip winds down Dec. 4 and Dec. 9, when IUPUI travels to Western Michigan and Indiana State.

RETURNING TO FORM

• DeAirra Goss entered the season as IUPUI's leading returning scorer from last season, but she did not get off to the start she wanted to in games against Belmont and Purdue.
• Goss scored just four points in the opener against Belmont, before posting 10 in a loss vs. #22 Purdue.
• She struggled from the floor shooting a combined 5-of-16 (31.3%) and committed eight turnovers.
• However, Goss was determined to change that trend against Missouri State and came out with an attacking mentality from the start against the Bears.
• She scored a career-high 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting (58.8 %), while adding three assists, three steals and two blocks.
• Goss is now averaging 13.0 ppg to lead IUPUI in scoring, and she has upped her field goal percentage to 45.5 percent.

IMMEDIATE IMPACT

• In just three games as an IUPUI Jaguar, Shanika Maddox has made an impact in the IUPUI frontcourt.
• Maddox sat out the 2012-13 season after transferring to IUPUI from Coastal Carolina, but the Fishers, Ind.-product has been nothing short of consistent through three games.
• In her first two seasons at Coastal Carolina, Maddox went from 3.1 ppg and 4.2 rpg during her freshman season to 6.9 ppg and 7.1 rpg during her sophomore season.
• This season, Maddox is averaging 9.0 ppg and she leads the team with 8.0 rpg. She is also shooting a team-high 63.2 percent from the floor.
• She started the season with eight points and eight rebounds against Belmont, before reaching double figures in scoring for the first time against Purdue with 10 points while adding six boards.
• In IUPUI's last game, Maddox went for 13 points and 10 boards, marking the first double-double of her IUPUI career.