INDIANA, Pa. - The IUP women's basketball team put together its most dominant overall performance of the season, excelling in all phases in a 92-41 victory over visiting Clarion at the Kovalchick Complex Wednesday night. 

The Crimson Hawks shot a season-best 54.7 percent, tied a season-high with 12 3-pointers, outrebounded Clarion 48 to 17, dished out 23 assists, and tied a season-low with eight turnovers. 

Senior guard Courtney Alexander had the top individual effort with 25 points in 25 minutes, knocking down 9-of-12 from the field, including 7-of-10 from 3-point range.

The Hawks improved to 20-7 overall and 14-7 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play, moving into third place in the West Division after the win. 

How it happened
The Hawks dominated from the start, making eight of their first 10 shots to get out to an 18-6 lead at the 3:28 mark of the first quarter. Four players scored on the early run, with junior guard Rajah Fink scoring seven points and freshman guard Kiera Baughman adding six. 

IUP exploded for a 15-0 run over a 5:04 span in the second quarter to build a 41-15 lead with three minutes before half. Alexander hit two straight 3-pointers and senior guard Justina Mascaro added another to cap the run. The Hawks would end up taking a 31-point lead at 49-18 into the break after scoring eight straight points over two minutes to end the half. 

The dominance continued in the third with another huge run as the Hawks outscored Clarion 20-2 over the final 5:41. Freshman forward Gina Adams put an exclamation mark on things with a bang-bang steal and 3-pointer as time expired in the quarter to put IUP on top 82-27. 

After scoring 24 and 25 points in the first two quarters, respectively, IUP scored 33 points on 13-of-18 shooting - including five 3-pointers - in the third quarter alone. The 33 points is the second highest in a quarter this season, following the 36 in the first against Mount Aloysius. 

IUP's +31 rebounding margin was its largest of the season, with the Hawks scoring 17 second chance points on their 18 offensive rebounds. 

Who stood out
This was Alexander's fifth 20-point game of the season, including her second in the last four games. It was also her third game of 7+ 3-pointers as she ran her season total to 70, which is tied for fifth in IUP history despite missing six games with an injury. 

Mascaro scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, in 26 minutes. Fink added 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 2-of-2 free throws. She also had five assists.

Baughman scored eight points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out five assists and had two steals. Senior forward Maura D'Anna added six points, 10 rebounds, and four assists. 

Notes
IUP entered the game at No. 6 in the NCAA Atlantic Region rankings ... IUP has reached the 20-win plateau for the seventh straight season ... IUP has 14 20-win seasons in its history ... IUP swept the regular season series with Clarion for the seventh time in the last eight full seasons, winning by an average margin of +33.5 in two games ... IUP head coach Tom McConnell is now 14-1 all-time against Clarion ... Justina Mascaro now has 956 career points, including 785 over two seasons (57 games) at IUP ... The Hawks are 51-12 in PSAC West games since the 2017-18 season, including 27-4 at home ... IUP is 104-16 at home under McConnell, including 56-8 since the 2017-18 season ... IUP is 53-11 in February and March over teh last five seasons, including 25-4 at home.

Up next
The Crimson Hawks wrap up the regular season on Saturday with their Senior Day game against Pitt-Johnstown (12-15, 10-11 PSAC). Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the KCAC.

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