SCOUTING INDIANA (PA)
The third-seeded Crimson Hawks have won three straight games and their 22 victories on the season are second-most in the PSAC behind only Gannon. They survived a scare from six-seed Mercyhurst on Saturday in the PSAC First Round, though, holding on for a 62-56 victory after trailing for much of the contest. Lindsay Stamp led all scorers with 20 points for IUP and also added 14 rebounds in a stellar effort. Sarah Pastorek also registered a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards and Ashley Stoner gave the Hawks a third double-figure scorer with 10 points. IUP overcame a 30-25 halftime deficit to the Lakers (7-20) by showing a large improvement in their shot efficiency – after shooting just 22.8 percent (8-for-35) in the first half, IUP totaled a 41.3 percentage (12-29) in the second period.
 
>Sarah Pastorek, the school's 20th 1,000-point scorer, has played in three games since missing a month with an injury. The senior forward sustained a knee injury on Jan. 23 at Edinboro and returned on Feb. 23 vs. Slippery Rock. She scored just two points that day, but finished with 20 points in a win over Lock Haven to close the regular season.
 
>Following the injury to Pastorek, Erie native Lindsay Stamp joined IUP's starting lineup. The sophomore from Mercyhurst Prep added an offensive jolt right away – she averages 10.3 points per game for the season and 15.5 points per contest in 11 games since becoming a regular starter on Jan. 26.
 
>IUP's calling card has been defense all season long – the Crimson Hawks are the top-ranked defense in the PSAC, allowing 55.0 points per game during the regular season.
 
>The Crimson Hawks are also strong on the boards, ranking second in the PSAC in rebounding margin (+6.1), with three players averaging more than five boards per game (Melanie Todd, 6.0 rpg; Sarah Pastorek, 5.6 rpg; Ashley Stoner, 5.1 rpg).
 
>IUP boasts one of the youngest rosters in the PSAC. Pastorek is the team's only senior among five freshmen, six sophomores and three juniors.
  
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE CRIMSON HAWKS
Edinboro leads, 44-36
This marks the second consecutive year Edinboro and IUP will meet three times in one season after the Boro captured all three games against their PSAC West rival last season including an NCAA Tournament match. The Boro's two regular season wins vs. IUP this year pushed their winning streak to six straight dating back to Jan. 26, 2011, when IUP took a 69-56 decision at McComb Fieldhouse. Prior to Edinboro's recent run of dominance, the series belonged to the Crimson Hawks as they captured 10 straight games over the Fighting Scots between 2006-10. Last year marked the first Edinboro season sweep of the Hawks since the 2003-04 campaign.
 
Edinboro has battled IUP in the PSAC Tournament three previous times with IUP owning a 2-1 edge in those games. The last time the schools met in the conference playoffs came in 2007 when IUP came away with an 81-58 victory on their home court in a quarterfinal game. The previous season, Edinboro walked away with a 65-54 quarterfinal triumph at IUP. The first PSAC Tournament contest between the schools came in 2003 when IUP won, 86-59. Edinboro has never previously hosted IUP at McComb Fieldhouse in the PSAC Tournament, although the Fighting Scots defeated the Crimson Hawks, 70-56, at home in last year's NCAA Atlantic Regional Semifinal.
 
THE SEASON SERIES
Edinboro swept the season series for the second straight year, winning by double digits in both meetings. In the first contest, the Fighting Scots scored a 73-62 win at home over then-No. 19 IUP. Edinboro ran out to a 22-point lead in the second half before an 18-3 IUP run cut the lead to just four with three minutes to play before the Scots restored order. Four Scots found double-figure scoring that day – Samantha Blazetic (18 points), Kiara Brown (13 points), Aignee Freeland (12 points) and Lauren Hippo (11 points) while Amy Fairman notched 17 points for IUP and Sarah Pastorek (14 points) and Melanie Todd both finished in double figures as well. On that night, Edinboro reached a school-record 15 blocks led by Blazetic's eight.
 
The teams met again less than two weeks ago at the Kovalchick Complex and it was the Boro winning 57-45. Edinboro held IUP to an anemic 19.4 percent from the field (12-of-62) despite being outrebounded, 52-39. Blazetic tied her own school record with eight blocks and Brown led all scorers with 19 points. Lindsay Stamp had 18 points for IUP while Fairman and Zhane' Brooks each scored 10 points.
 
PSAC TOURNAMENT PICTURE
The winner of the Edinboro-IUP game will play the winner of the Bloomsburg-Kutztown game on Friday. Bloomsburg (21-5) is the top seed from the East Division and has earned the right to host the PSAC Final Four – if it can get past a Kutztown (17-11) team that has proven itself quite pesky to a number of top teams in the conference this season. Kutztown, which defeated Edinboro 46-40 on Jan. 11, knocked off West Chester, 83-72, to advance in Saturday's first round. Bloomsburg dropped Edinboro, 84-59, on its home floor back on Dec. 2. Should Bloomsburg lose, hosting rights would shift to the highest remaining seed from the East. Second-seeded Shippensburg plays host to No. 3 Millersville (20-7) on Tuesday as well. The other quarterfinal sees Gannon (26-3), the top seed from the West, welcome in California (Pa.) (20-7) to Erie.
 
BORO QUICK HITS
>As Edinboro starts its PSAC Tournament run on Tuesday, it seeks a championship three-peat. IUP was the last school to win three straight PSAC women's basketball championships, doing so from 2007-09. California (Pa.) also accomplished a three-peat between 2002-04. Shippensburg owns the record for most consecutive titles, winning six straight PSAC championships from 1996-2001.
 
>Senior All-American guard Kiara Brown stands as the PSAC's regular season scoring champion at 17.3 points per game to lead all conference players. The last Edinboro player to lead the conference in scoring was Marin Hightower in 2000 (23.6 ppg).
 
>Edinboro has defined the term home court advantage when playing at McComb Fieldhouse the past four years. Since the start of the 2009-10 season, Edinboro is 52-7 when playing on its home floor.
 
>The Fighting Scots have not lost to a PSAC West opponent at home this year (7-0).
 
>For the season, Edinboro has posted a +1.0 rebounding margin, a figure that ranks seventh in the conference. When the Scots manage to win the battle of the boards, they're undefeated (13-0).
 
>The Fighting Scots honored their three seniors, Samantha Blazetic, Kiara Brown and Kerry Connolly, before their regular season-ending win over Mercyhurst last Wednesday. The trio will look to add to an already impressive history – during the past four years, Edinboro is 93-23, the best four-year stretch in school history.
 
SCOTS THROW BLOCK PARTIES VS. IUP
The past three seasons, Edinboro has racked up blocks when facing IUP. Edinboro's taller lineup has put on a show of swats in those games, averaging 9.4 blocks in the past seven meetings with the Crimson Hawks. Edinboro is 6-1 in those contests. Samantha Blazetic has been the primary beneficiary of those games, totaling 16 blocks in the two games vs. IUP this season.
 
ADDING TO HER ARSENAL
Senior Samantha Blazetic has accomplished a number of recognizable feats while in red and white, standing among the school's all-time leaders in multiple statistical categories. Last Wednesday vs. Mercyhurst, the Eastlake, Ohio native celebrated Senior Night by doing something she had never before done – drain two 3-pointers in one game. The Boro's post leader has shown a soft touch from beyond the arc this season, sinking four of six 3-point attempts and is now 5-for-10 during her career from long range.
 
NOT BAD FOR A DEBUT
Freshman Aignee Freeland has been a key part of Edinboro's lineup during the season, adding an immediate impact after joining the starting five in December. Freeland has seen action in all 26 games with 20 starts and is second among all PSAC freshmen in rebounding with 7.7 per game. Freeland also has more blocks than any other frosh, 32, and averages 7.2 points in 26.3 minutes per game. She also ranks eighth all-time in Edinboro single season field goal percentage at .536 (82-for-153).
 
BORO DEFENSE CONTINUES TO IMPROVE
Edinboro ranks  fifth in the PSAC in defense, allowing 59.1 ppg. After allowing 74.4 ppg through the first five games of the year, Boro opponents have averaged just 54.6 ppg in the 21 games since, a total that would rank second overall in the PSAC over the full season.  Gannon's 71 points on Feb. 13 represent the first time an opponent has scored 70 or more vs. Edinboro since Bloomsburg did so in an 84-59 loss on Dec. 2.

SHARING IS CARING
The Fighting Scots rank second in the PSAC in assists this season at 16.2 per game, behind only Bloomsburg (17.1). Edinboro is led in assists by Darche' Jackson, who is fifth in the conference at 4.2 apg, while Kiara Brown stands 17th at 2.8 apg.
 
TURNOVER-CAUSING MACHINE
The Fighting Scots have proven to be a turnover-creating machine so far this season, forcing opponents into 22.5 turnovers per game. No opponent thus far has been immune to the turnover barrage vs. Edinboro as the Fighting Scots have caused 17 turnovers or more in every game this year.