INDIANA, Pa. - The No. 9 IUP women's basketball team (8-0, 2-0 PSAC) opens up a week-long homestand against Millersville (1-5, 0-2 PSAC) Tuesday night at the Kovalchick Complex. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The Crimson Hawks started league play with a pair of road wins two weekend's ago, defeating Kutztown and West Chester to remain undefeated. Millersville has lost four straight, including games to Clarion and Pitt-Johnstown to open December. 

TIPOFF NOTES
>> Sr. G Courtney Alexander averaged 23.0 PPG in IUP's wins last weekend, scoring a career-high 28 points with 8 3-pointers in the win over Kutztown. The 8 3FGs made tied an IUP single game record. 
>> Jr. F Teirra Preston scored a career-high 13 points against Kutztown. Fr. G Kiera Baughman and Jr. G Rajah Fink each scored 12 points against West Chester. 
>> IUP was outscored a combined 37-11 in the first quarters of its wins over Kutztown and West Chester. The Hawks then outscored their opponents 41-22 in the second and 50-25 in the third quarters. 
>> The Hawks shot 50.9 pct. (28-57) in the second half last week compared to 34.5 pct (20-58) in the first. 
>> IUP has won four of its last five meetings with Millersville dating back to the 2013-14 season. The only loss was the 89-86 triple OT defeat in the 2018 PSAC Championship game at the Kovalchick Complex. 
>> The Hawks are 88-9 (.907) at home since the 2014-15 season, including 59-6 (.908) in PSAC home games.
>> IUP is 79-10 (.887) against conference foes since the 2016-17 season.
>> The Hawks rank 7th in Division II by allowing just 50.2 PPG and 8th with a defensive FG pct of .314.
>> IUP gave up just 42.0 PPG over the first four games but opponents have averaged over 58 points the last four.
>> Alexander has been the Hawk's leading scorer in each of the last three games, averaging 23.3 PPG during that span. Over the previous five games she was averaging 7.2 PPG. 

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE MARAUDERS
>> Millersville is 1-5 overall and is 0-2 in the PSAC.
>> The Marauders lone win came against a 3-5 Shaw team during the CIAA/PSAC Challenge in November.
>> MU has lost four straight regular season losses by an average margin of 13.0 points.
>> Lauren Lister (13.0 PPG) is the only Marauder scoring in double-figures. She has three games of 18+ points and three games of 6 or fewer points. 
>> MU is 2nd in the PSAC with 10.83 steals per game. 

IUP IN THE POLLS
>> The Crimson Hawks are No. 9 in the WBCA Coaches' Poll and No. 8 in the D2SIDA Media Poll (as of Dec. 7).
>> The Hawks were receiving votes in both preseason polls and jumped up to No. 9 in the media poll after the opening week. 
>> It's the 55th time in the last 56 polls the Hawks have been eligible for that they rank in the top-25, dating back to the 2017-18 preseason poll. 
>> IUP has been ranked in the top-10 in 44 weeks of those 56 possible polls. 

IUP OFF TO ANOTHER UNBEATEN START
>> The Crimson Hawks finished their non-conference schedule in November with a 6-0 record.
>> This is the third time in the last four seasons the Hawks went unbeaten in regular season non-league play.
>> IUP opened PSAC play with wins over Kutztown and West Chester on the road to improve to 8-0.
>> The best start in program history was 16 straight wins to open the 1999-00 season. 
>> IUP also opened the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons with 15 straight wins. 

IUP DEFENSE HAS BEEN KEY
>> IUP traditionally boasts a strong defense under HC Tom McConnell and this year is no different, ranking 7th in Division II in points allowed (50.2) and 8th in FG% defense (.314).
>> IUP leads the PSAC in FG% defense and scoring defense, ranks 4th in blocks (4.0), and 6th in steals (8.6).
>> The Hawks have held opponents under 60 points six times and under 40 points twice.
>> Sr. F Maura D'Anna is 5th in the PSAC and 56th in Division II with 1.62 blocks per game. 
>> IUP had a season-high 18 steals against Mount Aloysius, the most since 19 against Shippensburg in Dec. '18.

WINNING THE BATTLE OF THE BOARDS
>> The Hawks lead the PSAC and rank 5th in Division II with a +13.1 rebound margin. 
>> IUP has won the battle of the boards by at least +11 in seven of its eight games, including +30 (50-20) against Mount Aloysius.
>> IUP's 42.1 rebounds per game is 2nd in the PSAC and 47th in Division II. 
>> Sr. F Maura D'Anna leads the team with 7.4 RPG, Fr. F Gina Adams is 2nd at 6.4 RPG and Jr. F Teirra Preston is 3rd at 5.4.

ALWAYS LOOKING TO HELP
>> IUP leads the PSAC and ranks 26th in Division II with 16.6 assists per game (133 total)
>> IUP has assisted on 59.6 pct of its 223 made buckets.
>> Six players have double-digit assists, including three with 21+ led by So. G Maria Cerro with 25 (3.1 APG).
>> IUP also leads the PSAC in assist-turnover ratio (1.04-1). 

MASCARO BRINGS CONSISTENCY
>> Sr. G Justina Mascaro is IUP's top scorer at 13.4 PPG and has led the Hawks in scoring in three of eight games.
>> She has seven double-figure scoring games, including a season-high 17 against Livingstone.
>> Mascaro is 8th in the PSAC with a 51.2 FG% (43-84) and has shot better than 50 percent five times.
>> She earned first team All-PSAC West honors in her first year at IUP in 2019-20, scoring 14.2 PPG with shooting percentages of .528/.433/.768.

ALEXANDER LOOKS TO CONTINUE BREAKOUT
>> Sr. G Courtney Alexander is averaging 23.3 PPG over the last three games. She posted back-to-back career-highs of 24 points at Ohio Dominican and 28 points at Kutztown.
>> Alexander is shooting 54.3 pct. (25-46) in the last three games, and has made 18-38 (47.4 pct) from deep.
>> She tied an IUP single game record with 8 threes (8-14) in the Hawks' win at Kutztown.
>> Alexander leads the PSAC and ranks 10th in Division II with 26 3FGs made. She's also tops in the league and 8th in the nation with 3.25 made 3s per game. 

CERRO STEPPING UP IN SECOND SEASON
>> So. G Maria Cerro has proven to be an effective scorer from her point guard position, ranking 3rd in the team with 8.4 PPG through eight games.
>> She averaged 13.3 PPG over a 4-game stretch after scoring 4 combined points in the opening two games.
>> Cerro had a career-high 23 points on 7-12 FGs and 7-9 FTs in the win over the Dist. of Columbia.
>> Cerro also leads the team with 25 assists.

D'ANNA PROVIDES EXPERIENCE IN THE POST
>> Sr. F Maura D'Anna is tied for 4th on the team with 7.8 PPG and has a team-best 7.4 RPG. 
>> She tallied her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds vs. Livingstone.
>> She ranks 5th in the PSAC with 1.62 blocks per game, including a career-high 4 against Virginia State.
 
FRESHMEN GETTING IT DONE
>> After sitting out last season due to the pandemic, Fr. F Gina Adams and Fr. G Kiera Baughman have impressed early in their first seasons.
>> Adams is averaging 7.1 PPG and 6.4 RPG in eight starts.
>> She had her first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds at Ohio Dominican.
>> Kiera Baughman is averaging 14.0 MPG and is IUP's top bench scorer at 7.8 PPG. 
>> The point guard scored a season-high 16 points in the win over Mount Aloysius.