IUPUI (8-15, 3-7 Mid-Con) at VALPARAISO (12-11, 5-5 Mid-Con)

WHEN: Saturday, February 22, 2003, 2:05 p.m.

WHERE: Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000), Valparaiso, Ind.

RADIO: WVUR (95.1-FM), Valparaiso. Steve Rhodes will provide the play-by-play, with Drew Wolf adding the color commentary.

TV: None.

THE COACHES: Valparaiso is led by Keith Freeman, who is in his 15th season of coaching, and 9th with the Crusaders. He is 278-151 overall and 149-104 with Valpo. IUPUI is led by Kris Simpson, who is 89-123 in her 8th season overall and with the Jaguars.

SERIES RECORD: Valparaiso leads the overall series with IUPUI 11-3. The Crusaders have won the last three meetings between the two schools.

LAST MEETING: The Crusaders downed IUPUI 70-54 back on Jan. 27 in Indianapolis as Meredith Baugher scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Brown and Gold. Tiffany Kyser paced IUPUI with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

The Valparaiso Crusaders will look to snap their three-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon as the Brown and Gold entertains IUPUI to begin their final homestand of the 2002-2003 season. Valpo is coming off of a 69-66 defeat at Chicago State on Monday night.

LOOKING FOR 150: Head coach Keith Freeman shoots for his 150th victory at the helm of the Brown and Gold against IUPUI. Freeman, in his 9th season with the Crusaders, began his Valpo career during the 1994-1995 season and has averaged over 17 wins per year over his first eight at Valpo.

GRAY APPROACHES 700: Senior Jeanette Gray has moved into third place on Valpo's all-time rebounding list and into the top-ten in Mid-Continent Conference history. Her 698 career rebounds leave her just two shy of becoming the third player in Valpo history to record 700 boards. She needs five rebounds to move into second place all-time for the Crusaders.

HAMMEL MOVES UP SINGLE SEASON CHARTS: Suzie Hammel's 50 three-point field goals rank her ninth on Valpo's single season list. With two more makes, she will move into seventh place. The junior's 150 attempts are the eighth most in Crusader history.

SHARING THE WEALTH: Valparaiso is one of just seven schools in the country that have had five different players score 20 or more points in a game this season. Meredith Baugher (twice), Jeanette Gray (twice), Suzie Hammel (twice), Jamie Gutowski, and Kathryn Knoester have all done it for the Brown and Gold. Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, South Florida, and Wisconsin-Green Bay are the only other schools to have five different players tally 20+ points in a game.

BOONE BOARDS THEM AND DISHES THEM: Sophomore point guard Katie Boone barely missed out on a double-double the unconventional way on Monday night. While she scored just three points, Boone grabbed a season-high nine rebounds and dished out a career-best nine assists.

IUPUI NOTES: IUPUI looks to snap a two-game losing skid after the Jaguars fell to UMKC 73-65 on Monday evening. IUPUI has lost seven of their last eight contests overall.

Tiffany Kyser is the lone Jaguar averaging in double-figures. The Mid-Con's second leading scorer and rebounder is tallying 18.3 points per game and 8.2 boards per contest. She also ranks second in steals (2.61) in the conference.

Jessica James is IUPUI's second leading scorer, averaging 8.7 points per night. She is an 84.2% free throw shooter on the season. Brooke McAfee adds 8.0 points per night and leads the Mid-Con with 2.96 blocked shots per evening.

As a team, the Jaguars lead the Mid-Con in blocked shots (4.52) and steals (10.74), and rank second in free throw shooting (74.1%).

IUPUI concludes their road schedule on Monday evening when the Jaguars travel to Western Illinois, before closing out their season at home against Chicago State and Southern Utah.

DOWN THE ROAD: Valparaiso will close out the home portion of their schedule on Monday evening when the Crusaders welcome the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland to the ARC. Tip-off for the Senior Night contest is set for 7:05 p.m. Valpo will then take to the road for their final two games of the season. On Saturday, March 1, the Crusaders will travel to Oral Roberts for a 2:05 p.m. contest in Tulsa, before heading to UMKC on March 3 to conclude the regular season in a 7 p.m. tilt.