GAME NOTES
INDIANAPOLIS – IUPUI is looking to keep its hold on the No. 2 spot in the Horizon League standings when the Jags play host to Youngstown State on Thursday night (Feb. 8).
The game between the Jaguars and the Penguins will be broadcast on ESPN3 with Scott Agness on the call.
The game will be sponsored by Citizens Energy and will also be Housing/Res Life and School of Science night.
The last time the Jags took the court, they beat UIC 68-43.
Danielle Lawrence led the Jags with 20 points, hitting six threes, as IUPUI hit double-digit threes for the fourth time this season.
Tamya Sims finished with 12 points and
Sydney Hall posted 11.
The game started slowly with IUPUI up 10-4 after the first quarter, but a second quarter explosion, that included IUPUI going 7-for-9 from the three point line, put the Jags up for good in the win over the Flames.
The last time IUPUI and Youngstown State met, IUPUI held the Penguins to just 43 points, the lowest total for an IUPUI opponent at that time. The Jags finished with 10 threes, as Hall finished 6-for-7 from the three point line and scored a career-high 24 points on 9-for-11 shooting.
The defense for the Jags put together their second-best defensive performance of the season in the first meeting, allowing just 43 points and holding the Penguins to 28.8 percent from the field, the second lowest shooting percentage of the year allowed by IUPUI.
SCOUTING YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Youngstown State (10-13, 6-6 Horizon) comes in to the game on a two-game winning streak and have won four of their last five games. The Penguins winning ways have come as freshman Chelsea Olson has started to make more of an impact. Olson has led Youngstown State in points twice and rebounds in four of the last five games. She has also been named Horizon League Freshman of the Week for the last three weeks and won this week averaging 10 points, nine rebounds and 4.5 assists.
Sarah Cash leads the team as the only player in double-figures, averaging 12 points per game. Alison Smolinski (9.6 ppg) and Indiya Benjamin (9.4 ppg) are second and third on the team, respectively. Smolinski has not played since a game on Dec. 20. The Jags held Cash to 11 points in the first meeting and no other Penguin scored more than seven points.
QUOTABLE
"Youngstown is coming off of two big road victories last weekend and playing with a lot of confidence," said head coach
Austin Parkinson. "They have quality inside play surrounded by a lot of shooters."
The Jags will stay at home to take on Cleveland State on Saturday in IUPUI's annual Breast Cancer Awareness game. Help the Jags ROAR Against Cancer by donating to the IWIN Foundation here:
https://app.etapestry.com/onlineforms/IndianaWomeninNeedFoundati/donation-1.html
