GAMEDAY CENTRAL
(4/6) IUP Crimson Hawks (18-1, 13-1 PSAC)
vs. Slippery Rock "The Rock" (9-11, 7-7 PSAC)
Wednesday, February 6, 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)
Slippery Rock W. Basketball Home Page

COMING UP
Saturday, February 9 at Gannon, 1 p.m.
Wednesday, February 13 at Pitt-Johnstown, 5:30 p.m.

THE GAME AT A GLANCE
No. 4-ranked IUP women's basketball (18-1, 13-1) goes for its fourth straight win Wednesday with a home matchup against rival Slippery Rock (9-11, 7-7 PSAC). Tipoff at the Kovalchick Complex is 5:30 p.m. This will be the second straight home game for the Crimson Hawks who defeated Mercyhurst 81-56 Saturday night for their 18th win. Slippery Rock is coming off its biggest win of the year, defeating No. 10 Cal 72-61 over the weekend. 

TIPOFF NOTES
>> Sr. G Carolyn Appleby scored a game-high 19 points and swiped 5 steals in Saturday's win. Sr. F Brittany Robinson added 16 points and Jr. F Lexi Griggs had 15 points, and helped IUP outrebound the Lakers 36-22. 
>> The Crimson Hawks shot 15-20 (.750) from the foul line, their best performance since going 13-18 at ESU. 
>> It was IUP's first 80-point game since its blowout win over Edinboro on Jan. 21. The Crimson Hawks have scored 80 points nine times this year and have 15 wins of at least 20 points. 
>> IUP is the only Division II team to be ranked in the top five of each poll this season.
>> The Crimson Hawks are 10-1 at home with an average scoring margin of +28.8. They are 7-1 at home against PSAC opponents with five wins of more than 20 points. 
>> A win Wednesday would clinch the Crimson Hawks' 14 consecutive PSAC tournament berth. It would be IUP's 22nd conference tournament since 1984 (36 years).
>> IUP is looking for the regular season sweep of Slippery Rock after picking up a 90-54 win on the road Jan. 12.
>> IUP HC Tom McConnell is 11-0 against Slippery Rock including 5-0 at home. The Crimson Hawks have outscored SRU by an average of 18.8 points in those five home games, including a 76-50 win last year. 
>> As a program, IUP has won 13 straight home games over Slippery Rock with the last loss coming on February 23, 2005 by a score of 64-59. 

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE ROCK
>> Slippery Rock is 9-11 overall and in a three-way tie for 4th in the PSAC West standings with a 7-7 league mark.
>> The Rock is one game ahead of Pitt-Johnstown (6-8) in the standings with seven games left.
>> Slippery Rock is coming off its biggest win of the year, upsetting No. 10 Cal 72-61 at home Saturday.
>> SRU is 4-7 away from home, including a 2-6 mark in true road games. It's two road wins came over Mansfield (70-39) on Jan. 18 and East Stroudsburg (75-68) on Dec. 3. 
>> SRU has the worst scoring margin (-4.9) in the division but is 3rd in the PSAC with a +2.30 turnover margin.

CRIMSON HAWKS REMAIN IN TOP 5 OF NATIONAL RANKINGS
>> The Crimson Hawks moved up to No. 4 in the WBCA Coaches' Top 25 with a pair of wins 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. 6 in this week's D2SIDA Media Top 25, up four spots from last week.
>> After spending last week at No. 2, they moved back up to the top spot in the media's Atlantic Region poll gaining four of the 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 80.2 PPG.
>> They have scored 80 points nine 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 5th in the country with a 48.1 FG%. They've converted at least 50 percent from the field seven times this year, including five times in the last eight games (49.6 FG% during that span). 
>> Four players average double-figures in scoring (Appleby 17.8, Wolosik 12.4, Robinson 11.6, Griggs 10.5) 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 19.3. 
>> With 367 assists on 598 made field goals, IUP assists on 61.4 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 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 (36 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 5th in Division II in scoring defense, allowing 52.3 points per game. They also rank 6th in 3FG% defense (.259), 8th in FG% defense (.344), 17th in blocks (4.8 BPG) and 23rd 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 19 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 26.1 points but was held to just 10 on December 8. 

COACH MCCONNELL NEARS LANDMARK VICTORY
>> HC Tom McConnell carries a 136-35 (.795) overall record in his sixth season at IUP.
>> He's just 6 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 .795 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 10th in the PSAC with 17.8 PPG. She's also 6th with 133 made field goals, has a 43.2 FG%, a 37.7 3FG%, and an 79.6 FT%. 
>> She has seven 20-point games hitting the mark five times in the last 12 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 12.7 PPG and 6.9 APG with a 47.5 FG%, 48.8 3FG%, and 3.45-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in those 10 games.
>> 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 6.5 APG and a 3.4 assist-turnover ratio, and is 6th with 2.4 SPG.

BRITTANY ROBINSON CONTRIBUTES ON BOTH ENDS OF THE FLOOR
>> Sr. F Brittany Robinson is 3rd in IUP history with 150 career blocks, including a team-high 21 this year. 
>> She has at least 1 block in five straight games and has 12 blocks over her last eight outings.
>> She's 3rd on the team in scoring at 11.6 PPG, with three games of at least 18 points.
>> Robinson is 2nd in the PSAC and 9th in Division II with a 60.2 FG% (97-161) this season. 
 
LEXI GRIGGS PROVING VALUABLE IN HER FIRST YEAR AS A STARTER
>> Jr. F Lexi Griggs leads the team in rebounding (6.8 RPG) and is 4th in scoring (10.5 PPG), and assists (39).
>> She also 2nd on the team with a 57.1 FG% (89-156) and 17 blocks. 
>> Griggs has three double-doubles this season, including two in the last nine 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 6.8 PPG and is 2nd to Griggs with 6.5 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.

ANA HOLLEN HEATING UP OFF THE BENCH
>> Jr. G Ana Hollen has a season-high 11 points twice in the last four games - vs. Cal and Mercyhurst. 
>> She's 7-12 (58.3 pct.) from 3-point range in that span, hitting three 3-pointers against Cal and Mercyhurst.
>> Hollen started five games during Wolosik's injury, averaging 21.4 minutes and 5.4 points per game. 

THE CRIMSON HAWKS LOVE PLAYING AT HOME
>> IUP is 10-1 and averaging 81.4 PPG playing at home this season. 
>> In six years under McConnell, the Crimson Hawks have a 74-10 (.881) 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 358-130 (.734) playing at home, including a 16-3 (.842) home playoff record.