GAMEDAY CENTRAL
(5/10) IUP Crimson Hawks (17-1, 12-1 PSAC)
vs. Mercyhurst Lakers (8-12, 5-8 PSAC)
Saturday, February 2, 2019 | 5:30 p.m.
Indiana, Pa. | Kovalchick Complex (4,000)
*Rankings reflect WBCA/D2SIDA Top 25 Polls

HOW TO FOLLOW
Stats: IUPAthletics.com | Statbroadcast
Watch: IUPathletics.com/watch | IUP-TV
Video App: PSAC Sports Network
Radio: WQMU 92.5 FM | u92radio.com
Audio App: U92.5 Sports App (Android & iPhone)
Social Media: Twitter | @IUP_WBB

GAME PREVIEWS
IUP Game Notes (PDF)
Mercyhurst W. Basketball Home Page

COMING UP
Wednesday, February 6 vs. Slippery Rock, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 9 at Gannon, 1 p.m.

THE GAME AT A GLANCE
No. 5-ranked IUP women's basketball (17-1, 12-1) opens the second half of its divisional schedule with a home matchup against Mercyhurst (8-12, 5-8 PSAC) Saturday. Tipoff is 5:30 p.m. at the Kovalchick Complex. The Crimson Hawks started another win streak with a 72-57 victory at Seton Hill Wednesday night. The Lakers have lost their last two games including an 80-70 defeat at Edinboro earlier this week. 

TIPOFF NOTES
>> All five IUP starters scored in double-figures at Seton Hill, including Sr. G Carolyn Appleby who had a team-high 18 points and had 4 steals in the return to her hometown.
>> Appleby averaged 17.8 PPG in four career games against Seton Hill in Greensburg. 
>> IUP forced the Griffins into 26 turnovers the most since forcing Gannon into 27 on January 2. 
>> The Crimson Hawks are now 8-0 on the road this season with an average scoring margin of +26.7.
>> IUP is the only Division II team to be ranked in the top five of each poll this season.
>> The Crimson Hawks are 9-1 in home games this season with eight wins of 20-plus points.
>> The Crimson Hawks defeated Mercyhurst 74-57 in Erie on January 9, their first game playing as the No. 1 team in the nation. Appleby had a team-high 17 points and R-Sr. G Lauren Wolosik had 8 assists with 0 turnovers. 
>> IUP HC Tom McConnell has a 9-3 record against Mercyhurst including a 6-0 mark at home. Those six home wins have come by an average of 21.5 points including an 89-38 victory last January. 
>> IUP is 11-0 against Mercyhurst at home since the Lakers joined the conference in 2008-09. Nine of those wins of come by 10+ points including six of more than 20 points. 
>> The Crimson Hawks are 31-9 under McConnell in the second half of their divisional schedule. IUP posted 7-1 records in its second go-around with PSAC West teams each of the past two seasons. 

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE LAKERS
>> Mercyhurst is 8-12 overall and 8th in the PSAC West standings with a 5-8 conference record. 
>> The Lakers are 3-5 against PSAC West schools, including losses to IUP, Cal and Edinboro. 
>> Their marquee wins have come over 13-6 Walsh (78-76) and 11-9 Kutztown (74-70), both at home.
>> Mercyhurst is 2-9 away from home, including 2-7 in true road games. Those two victories came at Shippensburg (79-74) and at Clarion (62-60). 

CRIMSON HAWKS REMAIN IN TOP 5 OF NATIONAL RANKINGS
>> The Crimson Hawks dropped to No. 5 in the WBCA Coaches' Top 25 after their first loss of the year last week.
>> They held down the No. 1 spot in the poll for three straight weeks, going 5-1 as the top-ranked team. 
>> It marked the first time in program history that IUP was No. 1 in a Division II poll.
>> The Crimson Hawks have been ranked in the top 5 of the WBCA poll all year, starting off at No. 5 in the preseason rankings. They are the only Division II team to be included in the top 5 of every poll this season. 
>> The Crimson Hawks are ranked No. 10 in this week's D2SIDA Media Top 25, falling from No. 3 last week.
>> They are also the No. 2 ranked team in the media's Atlantic Region poll.

IUP IS ONE OF THE TOP SCORING TEAMS IN DIVISION II
>> The Crimson Hawks lead the PSAC and are ranked 11th in Division II with a scoring average of 80.2 PPG.
>> They have scored 80 points eight times and 90 or more points five times, including two 100-point outings.
>> Those 100-point games - 101 vs. Ohio Valley and 100 vs. Cheyney - are the 14th and 15th 100-point performances in program history. 
>> The 95 points against Alderson Broaddus is the 2nd most by IUP in a season opener (96 vs. Ohio Valley, 2002).
>> IUP leads the PSAC and ranks 8th in the country with a 47.8 FG%. They've converted at least 50 percent from the field six times this year, including four times in the last seven games (48.7 FG% during that span). 
>> Four players average double-figures in scoring (Appleby 17.7, Wolosik 12.7, Robinson 11.4, Griggs 10.3) while all 13 who have seen the court average better than 2.0 points.

CRIMSON HAWKS USED TO HELPING THEMSELVES
>> IUP leads the PSAC and ranks 4th in Division II in assists per game with 19.4. 
>> With 350 assists on 568 made field goals, IUP assists on 61.6 percent of its made buckets. 
>> The Crimson Hawks have eight games of 20-plus assists, including 27 in the opener with Alderson Broaddus.
>> R-Sr. G Lauren Wolosik and Sr. G Carolyn Appleby rank in the top 8 in the PSAC in assists per game. Wolosik is the league leader at 6.5 APG.
>> IUP also leads Division II with a 1.51 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Crimson Hawks have less than 10 turnovers three times in their last four games (22 combined) and average a PSAC-low 12.9 turnovers per game.

THE IUP DEFENSE ALSO AMONG THE BEST IN THE NATION
>> IUP leads the PSAC and ranks 6th in Division II in scoring defense, allowing 52.1 points per game. They also rank 4th in 3FG% defense (.249), 9th in FG% defense (.334), 18th in blocks (4.7 BPG) and 27th in steals (10.6 SPG).
>> IUP has held opponents to 50 or fewer points seven times, including a season-low 32 points to Shippensburg. That's tied for the 10th fewest allowed in program history and the least given up since the 2011-12 season.
>> IUP has forced at least 13 turnovers in all 18 games, including nine games of 20-plus. 
>> IUP has faced nine of the top 10 individual scorers in the PSAC, holding them to an average of 6.2 points below their current averages. Ariel Jones (Shippensburg) averages 25.7 points but was held to just 10 on December 8. 

COACH MCCONNELL NEARS LANDMARK VICTORY
>> HC Tom McConnell carries a 135-35 (.794) overall record in his sixth season at IUP.
>> He's just 7 victories shy of becoming the program's all-time winningest coach with 142. Jan Kiger went 141-121 (.538) in her 10 years at IUP from 1986-96. 
>> McConnell passed Sandy Thomas (1996-2003) for 2nd on the list with 123 in the Nov. 28 victory over Cheyney.
>> McConnell's .794 win percentage is 1st in program history, ahead of Cindy Martin's .753 from 2005-08.

CAROLYN APPLEBY IS IUP'S TOP SCORING THREAT
>> Sr. G Carolyn Appleby ranks 9th in the PSAC with 17.7 PPG. She's also 7th with 126 made field goals, has a 42.6 FG%, a 36.5 3FG%, and an 81.6 FT%. 
>> She has seven 20-point games hitting the mark five times in the last 11 outings. 
>> Appleby is averaging 18.8 PPG against PSAC teams, including a season-high 25 at East Stroudsburg.

LAUREN WOLOSIK IS ON A HOT STREAK
>> R-Sr. G Lauren Wolosik returned from on Jan. 2 just in time for divisional play and has been dominant, averaging 13.2 PPG and 6.9 APG with a 49.5 FG%, 51.4 3FG%, and 3.44-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. 
>> She scored a career-high 33 points on 14-18 FGs and dished out 10 assists in the blowout win over Edinboro. 
>> For the season Wolosik leads the PSAC with 6.4 APG, a 3.4 assist-turnover ratio, a 46.4 3FG% and is tied for 5th with 2.5 steals/game. 

BRITTANY ROBINSON CONTRIBUTES ON BOTH ENDS OF THE FLOOR
>> Sr. F Brittany Robinson is 3rd in IUP history with 148 career blocks, including a team-high 19 this year. 
>> She has at least 1 block in four straight games and has 10 blocks over her last seven outings.
>> She's 3rd on the team in scoring at 11.4 PPG, with three games of at least 18 points.
>> Robinson is 2nd in the PSAC and 11th in Division II with a 59.5 FG% (91-153) this season. 
 
LEXI GRIGGS PROVING VALUABLE IN HER FIRST YEAR AS A STARTER
>> Jr. F Lexi Griggs leads the team in rebounding (121) and is 4th in scoring (10.3 PPG), and assists (39).
>> She also 2nd on the team with a 56.1 FG% (83-148) and 17 blocks. 
>> Griggs has three double-doubles this season, including two in the last eight games. She posted a career-high 17 points in wins over Pitt-Johnstown and Clarion, and had a personal-best 12 boards at Slippery Rock.

NATALIE MYERS ADDS TO TALENTED STARTING GROUP IN FIRST YEAR AT IUP 
>> Jr. G Natalie Myers is averaging 7.1 PPG and is tied with Griggs for the team-lead at 6.7 RPG. 
>> She has three double-doubles this season, posting season-highs of 16 points and 12 rebounds in the win at Slippery Rock. 
>> Myers has given the Crimson Hawks another 3-point threat, knocking down 3 or more treys four times.

THE CRIMSON HAWKS LOVE PLAYING AT HOME
>> IUP is 9-1 and averaging 81.4 PPG playing at home this season. 
>> In six years under McConnell, the Crimson Hawks have a 73-10 (.880) mark in Indiana, including three seasons with just 1 loss.
>> Last year IUP posted a 15-0 home regular season record, including 11 wins against PSAC teams. The 16 overall home victories last year tied a program single season record.
>> McConnell and the Crimson Hawks are 18-1 against non-conference foes at home since 2013-14.
>> Since 1983-84 IUP is 357-130 (.733) playing at home, including a 16-3 (.842) home playoff record.