Purdue Fort Wayne
Wright State
Mastodons Win Opener over Wright State 83-67
11/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2009
Box Score |
Photo Gallery 
Fort Wayne, IN – The IPFW Mastodons won their 2009-10 season opener in dominating fashion, topping the Wright State Raiders 83-67 on Saturday afternoon. Five ‘Dons reached double-figures in the scoring column, led by 15 each from Stephanie Rosado and Eva Ivanova.
“This was a great start,” said IPFW Head Coach Chris Paul. “We’ve talked about wanting to continue the momentum that we had at the end of the season last year, and we felt like we did that against Manchester, and then continued today against a very solid Wright State team.”
Rosado, in her first game in a Mastodon uniform, narrowly missed a double-double with a game-high nine rebounds in the IPFW win. Chelsey Jackson scored 14, Jordan Zuppe 13, and Anne Boese 12, as the Mastodons put five in double figures in the scoring column for the first time since December 8 of 2008, when the squad accomplished the feat in a victory over Southern Utah. Eva Ivanova grabbed four offensive rebounds and eight total boards, as Courtney Reed chipped in five caroms.
The 83 total points tops the highest point total by the ‘Dons during any game last year, and the first time they have scored at least that many since the season finale against UMKC in the 2007-08 season. Senior point guard Reed dished out a game-high six assists, with Jackson adding five, and Zuppe four, as the team had 21 assists total in the win.
“Balance is something that this team has a lot of,” noted Paul. “This team is so unselfish, that as soon as the other team starts to focus on one person, they move the basketball, and someone else steps up. The statistic that I am really proud of is the 21 assists. That is being unselfish and moving the basketball. I am proud of the team effort that we got tonight.”
Jordan Zuppe scored 13 points, hitting 2-of-6 three-point baskets in the season opener  |
|
The IPFW defense, which held Manchester scoreless for the first 9:20 of their exhibition game was out in full force, holding Wright State without a point for the first 6:26 of the game, as the hosts were able to jump ahead to a 7-0 advantage during that span. Wright State quickly battled back, scoring the next eight points to take a one-point lead at 8-7. Wright State’s lead grew to as many as three at 12-9, halfway through the opening period.
After the Raider run, IPFW ran off one of their own, scoring 13 of the next 15 points to lead by eight at 22-14. The ‘Dons would not trail again in the game, and led by as many as nine on three separate occasions in the first half, the last when Reed found Rosado for a lay-up with four seconds remaining before halftime, sending IPFW into the intermission with a 35-26 lead.
Wright State scored first to start the second half, cutting the deficit to seven, until IPFW scored 10 straight points, including three-point baskets on back-to-back possessions by Zuppe and Jackson, which was followed by a pair of lay-ins by Ivanova, pushing the Mastodons ahead by 17 at 45-28.
The Raiders fought back, closing to as few as 10 at 51-41 with 13:06 to play in the game, and used a series of mini-runs to keep the game within relative striking distance. However, every Wright State run was answered by IPFW, as the Mastodon lead never dipped into single digits over the final 19 minutes of the game, with the hosts keeping their foot on the gas pedal in the 16-point, 83-67 victory.
“During our timeouts we talked to them about holding off the Wright State runs,” said the head coach. “When Wright State made a little bit of a run, I was proud of the way that we got a defensive stop that we needed to, and then went down to the other end and put an end to the momentum by either making a three-point basket, or converted a bucket a foul.”
IPFW made 48.4 percent of their shots (30-of-62) in the game, and 52.4 percent on three-point baskets (11-of-21). The Mastodons had two blocked shots, both by Ivanova, as the team out-rebounded the strong Wright State team 33-to-31.
LaShawna Thomas scored a game-high 22 points in the loss, with Erica Richardson scoring 17 and Molly Fox a dozen. Thomas pulled down eight rebounds, four on the offensive end, while also dishing out five assists to lead the team.
The Mastodons return to action on Wednesday, November 18 when the team travels to Indianapolis to take on the Bulldogs of Butler University with a 7:00 PM tip-off at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
~Dons~
