GAMEDAY CENTRAL
(3/4) IUP Crimson Hawks (20-1, 15-1 PSAC)
at Pitt-Johnstown Mountain Cats (12-11, 8-8 PSAC)
Wednesday, February 13, 2019 | 5:30 p.m.
Johnstown, Pa. | Sports Center
*Rankings reflect WBCA/D2SIDA Top 25 Polls

HOW TO FOLLOW
Stats: PittJohnstownAthletics.com | Sidearm Stats
Watch: PittJohnstownAthletics.com | Stretch Internet
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)
UPJ W. Basketball Preview

COMING UP
Wednesday, February 20 vs. Clarion, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 23 at Cal, 1 p.m.

THE GAME AT A GLANCE
No. 3-ranked IUP women's basketball (20-1, 15-1) goes for its sixth straight victory Wednesday night with a road matchup at Pitt-Johnstown (12-11, 8-8 PSAC). Tipoff is 5:30 p.m. The Crimson Hawks become the first PSAC team to 20 victories with a 66-52 road win over Gannon Saturday. The Mountain Cats have won back-to-back road games, including a 63-51 victory at Clarion last weekend.  

TIPOFF NOTES
>> The IUP defense forced 7 turnovers and outscored Gannon 19-6 in the fourth quarter of Saturday's clutch road win. IUP scored 13 points off those turnovers and went 8-10 from the foul line in the last 10 minutes. 
>> Sr. G Carolyn Appleby scored a game-high 23 points to go along with 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. She and R-Sr. G Lauren Wolosik each went 9-9 from the foul line. 
>> IUP clinched its 12th all-time 20-win season with the victory. 10 of those seasons have come in the last 13 seasons including five straight. 
>> It was IUP's third straight regular season sweep of Gannon. The Crimson Hawks are outscoring the Lady Knights by +19.3 points per game during that span. 
>> IUP is the only Division II team to be ranked in the top five of each poll this season.
>> IUP is 9-0 on the road with the win, including 5-0 against PSAC West opponents. Six of their wins have come by at least 20 points, including four 30-point victories at Cheyney, Kutztown, Millersville and Slippery Rock. 
>> IUP HC Tom McConnell is 11-1 against Pitt-Johnstown, including six straight wins dating back to 2015-16.
>> IUP won the first meeting of the season 73-45 at home on Jan. 5.  
>> The Crimson Hawks are 4-1 against UPJ during McConnell's tenure with an average scoring margin of +13.4. IUP's loss came Jan. 13, 2016 by a score of 87-86 in overtime.  

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE MOUNTAIN CATS
>> Pitt-Johnstown is 12-11 overall and 5th in the PSAC West with an 8-8 league record. 
>> UPJ sits just one game back of 4th place Seton Hill (9-7) and one game in front of Gannon and Slippery Rock (7-9) in the standings. The top six teams in each division make the conference tournament. 
>> UPJ is a better road team this season, holding a 3-5 record at the Sports Center compared to a 9-6 mark in road/neutral site games. UPJ's last home win came over Clarion 69-57 on Jan. 2. 
>> The Mountain Cats have won back-to-back games, both on the road, including a big 73-68 victory over Edinboro last Wednesday. UPJ outscored the Fighting Scots 23-10 in the 4th quarter for teh comeback win. 
>> UPJ's longest win streak of the year is three games (twice) and went into its first meeting with IUP with wins over Cheyney, Millersville and Clarion. 

CRIMSON HAWKS BACK UP TO NO. 3 IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
>> The Crimson Hawks moved up to No. 3 in the WBCA Coaches' Top 25 after a pair of wins last week.
>> They have been ranked in the top 3 in nine of the 13 polls released - the most of any team.
>> IUP was ranked No. 1 for three straight weeks in January, 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. 4 in this week's D2SIDA Media Top 25, up two spots from last week.
>> They remained at the top of the D2SIDA media regional rankings with four of six first place votes. 

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 79.9 PPG.
>> They have scored 80 points 10 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 7th in the country with a 47.9 FG%. They've converted at least 50 percent from the field eight times this year, including six times in the last 10 games.
>> Four players average double-figures in scoring (Appleby 17.8, Wolosik 13.0, Robinson 11.4, Griggs 10.1) 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 5th in Division II in assists per game with 19.0. 
>> With 399 assists on 651 made field goals, IUP assists on 61.3 percent of its made buckets. 
>> The Crimson Hawks have nine 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 6 in the PSAC in assists per game. Wolosik is 7th in Division II at 6.4 APG.
>> IUP is 2nd in Division II with a 1.49 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Crimson Hawks have less than 10 turnovers three times in their last five games (51 combined, 10.2 PG) and average a PSAC-low 12.9 turnovers per game this year.

THE IUP DEFENSE ALSO AMONG THE BEST IN THE NATION
>> IUP leads the PSAC and ranks 7th in Division II in scoring defense, allowing 52.2 points per game. They also rank 6th in 3FG% defense (.253) and FG% defense (.337), 10th in blocks (5.0 BPG) and 27th in steals (10.5 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 21 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 6.7 points below their current averages. Ariel Jones (Shippensburg) averages 26.4 points but was held to just 10 on December 8. 

COACH MCCONNELL NEARS LANDMARK VICTORY
>> HC Tom McConnell carries a 138-35 (.798) overall record in his sixth season at IUP.
>> He's just 4 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 .798 win percentage is 1st in program history, ahead of Cindy Martin's .753 from 2005-08.
>> He averaged 23.6 wins in his previous five seasons at IUP with four straight 20-win campaigns. The 30 wins last year set a program record and he has three of the eight seasons in school history. 

CAROLYN APPLEBY IS IUP'S TOP SCORING THREAT
>> Sr. G Carolyn Appleby ranks 9th in the PSAC with 178 PPG. She's also 7th with 145 made field goals, 15th with a 43.4 FG%, and is 8th in the conference with an 82.1 FT%.
>> She's led the Crimson Hawks in scoring 13 times in 21 games.
>> Appleby has eight 20-point games this year, hitting the mark six times against PSAC teams.
>> Appleby is averaging 18.7 PPG against PSAC teams, including a season-high 25 at East Stroudsburg.

LAUREN WOLOSIK RUNS THE POINT WITH PRECISION
>> R-Sr. G Lauren Wolosik is one of the top distributors in Division II, ranking4th in the country with a 3.19 assist-turnover ratio and 7th with 6.4 APG. She leads the PSAC in both categories. 
>> Since returning from injury Jan. 2 against Gannon, she's averaging 6.7 assists with just 25 turnovers in 12 games. 
>> She posted her first double-double with career-highs of 33 points and 10 assists against Edinboro on Jan. 21.
>> Wolosik has dished out 8 or more assists eight times this year, including four times in the last seven games.

BRITTANY ROBINSON CONTRIBUTES ON BOTH ENDS OF THE FLOOR
>> Sr. F Brittany Robinson is 3rd in IUP history with 157 career blocks, including a team-high 28 this year. 
>> She's 4th in the PSAC with 1.4 BPG while her 28 blocks are 5th. 
>> She has at least 1 block in seven straight games, posting 14 during that span. 
>> She's 3rd on the team in scoring at 11.4 PPG, including 13 double-figure scoring games.
>> Robinson's 59.7 FG% (104-175) would rank 2nd in the PSAC and 11th in Division II but falls under the minimum requirement of 5.0 made FGs/game.
 
LEXI GRIGGS PROVING VALUABLE IN HER FIRST YEAR AS A STARTER
>> Jr. F Lexi Griggs leads the team in rebounding (6.6 RPG) and is 4th in scoring (10.1 PPG), and assists (40).
>> She also 2nd on the team with a 55.0 FG% (94-171) and 18 blocks. 
>> Griggs has three double-doubles this season, including a 17-point, 10-rebound performance at UPJ.
>> She has 12 games of 10+ points, including a recent run of three straight games where she averaged 14.7 PPG. 

NATALIE MYERS ADDS TO TALENTED STARTING GROUP IN FIRST YEAR AT IUP 
>> Jr. G Natalie Myers is averaging 7.4 PPG and is 2nd to Griggs with 6.3 RPG. 
>> She is coming of her best scoring game with the Crimson Hawks, finishing with 17 points on 6-6 FGs (5 3s) in the win over Slippery Rock. 
>> Myers has three double-doubles this season, posting 16 points and 12 rebounds in the win at Slippery Rock. 
>> Myers leads the team with 34 3-pointers, shooting 39.5 percent. 

KENDALL HUNTER AND ANA HOLLEN ARE TOP PLAYERS OFF THE BENCH
>> Sr. F Kendall Hunter is the first player of the bench for IUP, leading all reserves in minutes at 16.4 MPG. 
>> She also leads all reserves with 4.8 PPG, 3.6 RPG and 11 blocks.
>> Hunter had a career-game at Millersville, scoring 16 points with 12 rebounds in 28 minutes.  
>> Jr. G Ana Hollen provides guard depth, averaging 4.2 PPG with 19 3FGs and 27 assists.
>> Hollen has two 11-point games this season and has hit 3 3FGs three times. 

THE CRIMSON HAWKS LOVE PLAYING AT HOME
>> IUP is 11-1 and averaging 81.9 PPG playing at home this season. 
>> In six years under McConnell, the Crimson Hawks have a 75-10 (.882) 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 359-130 (.734) playing at home, including a 16-3 (.842) home playoff record.