INDIANA, Pa. – Looking to remain unbeaten and finish out a season-opening homestand on a high note, the IUP women's basketball team squares off with Ohio Dominican to finish out November. Tipoff for the Thanksgiving Eve clash from the KCAC is set for 5:30 p.m.
IUP enters with a 3-0 mark following a resounding victory Rosemont on Education Day last week. The Crimson Hawks set multiple school records in the 102-20 victory against the Falcons and have been stout all season long defensively under first-year head coach
Craig Carey.
Ohio Dominican notched a narrow 72-70 victory on Monday night (November 21) against Maryville. The Panthers enter with a 2-2 mark on the season for first-year head coach Melanie Balcomb.
GAME INFORMATION – OHIO DOMINICAN
IUP NEWS AND NOTES
- IUP steamrolled Rosemont in front of a record attendance of 2,992 grade-school students last week. The 82-point margin of victory was the second largest in program history, while the five points allowed in the first half tied a program record.
- IUP held Lincoln to four points in the opening quarter and Rosemont to just two points in the opening stanza.
- All 12 players currently on the roster got into the scoring column against Rosemont. Hope Cook (15), Anna Rafferty (15), Grace Spadaro (13) and Daniela Shaughnessy (13) all recorded double figures in the victory. Rafferty and Spadaro each recorded the first double-doubles of their collegiate careers.
- IUP leads the nation in field goal percentage defense (21.9), defensive rebounds (39.0) and scoring defense (38.0) in the early going of the season. Part of the strong defensive effort has been an aggressive team approach with IUP notching at least nine steals in two of the first three games in 2022-23.
- The Crimson Hawks own a 61-9 mark in home games since the start of the 2017-18 season.
- Carey has had a chance to work in the entire lineup at some point throughout the initial three games of the nonconference season.
- While the defense has been nothing short of spectacular against some poor-shooting opponents, IUP is also second in the PSAC in scoring offense (79.3).
- The Crimson Hawks defeated Ohio Dominican by a 76-61 margin last November in Columbus. It marked a return for IUP to the site of the 2019 NCAA DII Elite Eight as Gina Adams tallied her first career double-double behind 14 points and 11 rebounds.
- The guard duo of Kiera Baughman (12.7 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 14 Ast, 7 Stl) and Maria Cerro (12.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 55.6 FG%) have been catalysts for the IUP offense this season, stepping into more prominent roles in the starting lineup.
SCOUTING OHIO DOMINICAN
- 2022-23 Overview | Overall: 2-2 | G-MAC: 0-0 | Home: 2-1 | Away: 0-1 | Neutral: 0-0
- Gabby Stare posted her second 30-point outing of the season with 34 points in a 72-70 win against Maryville earlier this week.
- Stare went 6-of-7 from beyond the arc and posted a career-high six steals in leading the Panthers.
- Maryville chipped away late with an 11-2 run as the Panthers held on for the victory.
- Head coach Melanie Balcomb is in her first season at the helm of the ODU women's program, but owns 24 years of head coaching experience and 37 years overall in the profession. She has served on the coaching staffs of South Carolina, Texas Tech, Purdue and others.
- Balcomb was the head coach at Xavier for seven seasons from 1995-2002, spending 14 seasons as the head coach at Vanderbilt and collecting over 300 victories with the Commodores.
