INDIANA, Pa. – Following back-to-back victories to start 2014, the Bloomsburg women's basketball team (9-3, 2-2 PSAC East) travels to IUP (11-1, 2-1 PSAC West) for a Wednesday showdown vs. the Crimson Hawks in a re-match of last year's NCAA Tournament game. Wednesday marks the final PSAC crossover game of the season.
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TWEETABLES (Huskies facts in 140 characters or less)
-Bloomsburg had a season-high 15 steals vs. UPJ led by
Jocelyn Ford (Lansing, NY/Lansing) who had a career-high five.
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-The Huskies are 5-1 on the road this season and 4-1 vs. PSAC West teams.
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-@BU_WBB shot 54.2% in the win vs. UPJ on Saturday and leads the PSAC at 47.4% for the year.
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Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) had a career-high 30 points vs. UPJ. Eleven Huskies have matched or set career highs in points this year.
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BU PSAC PLAYER RANKINGS
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Catherine Noack (Bethlehem/Liberty) ranks fifth in the PSAC in scoring at 17.6 ppg, fourth in field goal percentage (.538), second in three-point percentage (.481) and 3's per game (3.3).
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Adreana Sadowski (Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights) stands 13
th in scoring at 15.3 ppg, second in field goal percentage (.615) and fifth in blocks per game (1.3).
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Maggie Borski (Philadelphia/Nazareth Academy) is third in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.9 and ninth in assists per game at 3.8 apg.
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Jocelyn Ford (Lansing, NY/Lansing) is sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.8 and 13
th in assists per game (3.6 apg).
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HALFWAY THERE
When leading at the half this season, Bloomsburg is a perfect 8-0.
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MILESTONE WATCH
Senior
Catherine Noack (Bethlehem/Liberty) continues to close in on 1,000 career points in maroon and gold. Noack enters Wednesday's game with 975 career points and is averaging 17.6 points per game this season with double figure points in 11 of 12 contests. She has scored 25 or more points twice this season, both on the road – 25 at Wilmington on Nov. 16 and 26 at Shippensburg on Dec. 7.
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ON RECORD PACE
Bloomsburg enters Wednesday's game shooting 47.4 percent for the season as a team from the field. That percentage equals the school record of 47.4 percent set during the 1987-88 season when Bloomsburg finished the year with a 21-6 overall record including a 10-1 mark in the PSAC.
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SCOUTING IUP
IUP has opened the season red hot, winning 11 of 12 games including five straight entering Wednesday. IUP's only setback came in a 63-62 loss at Seton Hill on Dec. 7. Many of IUP's games have been easy wins – the Crimson Hawks are second in the PSAC in scoring margin at +16.3, trailing only Gannon (+18.0) and just ahead of Bloomsburg's +15.4. IUP averages 71.8 points per game, but has been especially impressive on the defensive side of the ball where the Crimson Hawks allow a PSAC-low 55.5 points per game, allowing 60 or more points only five times, though three of those occurrences have come in a row vs. Eastern foes Kutztown, Mansfield and Lock Haven.
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Offensively, IUP does much of its damage from beyond the arc, shooting a conference-best 38 percent from long range, led by junior guard Lindsay Stamp who shoots better than 49 percent overall and over 44 percent on the perimeter. Stamp has been dynamic for the Crimson Hawks, averaging over 20 points per game while junior forward Ashley Stoner adds 10.7 ppg and 7.1 rpg.
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THE BLOOMSBURG-IUP SERIES
IUP leads, 23-16
The Crimson Hawks have been a thorn in the side of the Huskies in recent years, winning the last three matchups including NCAA Tournament victories in 2012 and 2013. IUP ended Bloomsburg's season last year with a 72-59 win in the first round of the Atlantic Regional in Erie as Ashley Stoner and Lindsay Stamp combined for 38 points for IUP. Bloomsburg forced IUP into 23 turnovers, but shot only 32.8 percent (19-for-58) from the floor.
Kayla Oxenrider (Ashland/Tri-Valley) had 17 points while
Catherine Noack (Bethlehem/Liberty) and
Dana Wieller (Bethlehem/Liberty) each added 10. IUP also won during the regular season, 68-54, on Dec. 18, 2012, at the Kovalchick Center. The Crimson Hawks ended BU's 2011-12 season in heartbreaking fashion, 77-76, also in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Bloomsburg's last win vs. IUP came in the 2012 PSAC semifinals – a 75-67 victory in Edinboro when Noack lit up IUP for a game-high 22 points.
