INDIANA, Pa. - Senior guard Courtney Alexander broke the program single-game record with nine 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points as the No. 8-ranked IUP women's basketball team defeated Shippensburg 79-46 Sunday afternoon at the Kovalchick Complex. 

The blowout victory was a bounce back performance for the Crimson Hawks, who were coming off their first loss of the season on Saturday. 

Alexander's nine treys broke her own single-game record of eight, which she shared with Marina Wareham, and tied earlier this season. She finished 10-of-18 shooting, made her nine 3's on 16 attempts from deep, and went 2-of-2 from the foul line. She scored her 31 points in just 29 minutes on the court. 

Alexander and the Hawks improved to 10-1 overall and 4-1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). Shippensburg fell to 7-4 overall and 3-2 in the league. 

How it happened
The game was tight early with the Raiders hitting three of their first four shots to lead 7-5. IUP countered with an 11-2 run, as Alexander hit a pair of 3-pointers and freshman guard Kiera Baughman also connected from deep, to go on top 18-9 with under three minutes left in the first. 

The Raiders cut that deficit to four points just over a minute later but IUP scored four straight to take a 24-16 lead after 10 minutes.

The Hawks put together a huge second quarter, hitting on nine of their first 10 shots and going on a 23-5 run to take a commanding 47-23 lead. IUP ended up scoring 29 points in the quarter, connecting on 13-of-16 from the floor with three 3-pointers, while forcing seven turnovers defensively. Alexander and Baughman each scored eight points in the quarter and IUP took a 53-24 lead into halftime. 

IUP put it on cruise in the second half, outscoring the Raiders 26-22 to get the 33-point win. After scoring 16 points with four 3-pointers in the first half, Alexander went 5-of-11 from deep and scored 15 points in the second half. Her record-breaker came with 3:32 left in the game to put IUP on top by 35 points. 

Who stood out
Besides Alexander's career night, Baughman finished with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting in 17 minutes off the bench. Senior guard Justina Mascaro also reached double-figures with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting in 29 minutes. 

Notes
IUP entered the game ranked No. 8 in the WBCA Coaches and No. 6 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls ... IUP shot 50.8 percent (31-of-61) from the field, its best performance since shooting 53.4 percent at Ohio Dominican in November ... IUP's 12 3-pointers was a season-high ... IUP was called for 26 fouls compared to just six for Shippensburg, as the Raiders made 21-of-30 from the line and IUP made 5-of-6 ... This was IUP's fourth win of 30-plus points and the second-biggest victory of the season (66, Mount Aloysius). 

Up next
This was IUP's last action of the 2021 calendar year. The Hawks return to action on Wednesday, January 5 at Cal U (8-1, 3-1 PSAC). Their next home game is Monday, January 10 against Slippery Rock.

Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_WBB.