Purdue Fort Wayne
IUPUI
Sharp-Shooting Jaguars top IPFW 70-61
1/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2009
Fort Wayne, IN - Despite four players reaching double figures in the scoring column, the IPFW Mastodons fell victim to a season-high-tying seven three-point baskets from IUPUI, dropping the key Summit League match-up 70-61 at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.
Anne Boese scored a team-best 11 points, with Sarah Haluska, Jordan Zuppe, and Tina Moen each scoring 10 in the losing effort. Haluska pulled down six rebounds to lead the team, while also dishing out a team-best five assists.
IUPUI got the action started with a basket by BryKeesha Tate, and lead 4-2 before Chelsey Jackson put the IPFW on the scoreboard with a fast break lay-up with 16:00 on the first-half clock. The `Dons took their first lead at 5-4 when Haluska drilled a three-point basket five and a half minutes into the game.
The `Dons kept their lead for the next two and a half minutes, until Jernisha Cann knocked down a jumper with 10:52 to play in the half. IPFW quickly knotted the game, but could not recapture their lead, with the Jaguars leading by as many as six in the opening frame.
The feisty IPFW squad would not back down; however, cutting the deficit to a single point at 25-24 by the halftime break.
IUPUI opened the second half strong, out-scoring IPFW 28-12 to start the second frame, opening a 12-point, 40-28 lead behind a 10-0 run in which the Jaguars scored four times over a five possession span.
The Jaguar lead remained in double figures until Boese hit a three-point basket with 2:33 to play in the game, cutting the deficit to nine. IPFW closed to within as few as five at 64-59 following Jordan Zuppe's second three-point basket of the game with 37.8 seconds remaining in the contest. That would be as close as the `Dons would come, with IUPUI icing the game by hitting 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch.
Three players, Boese, Zuppe and Courtney Reed each made multiple three-point baskets, as Haluska also made 5-of-6 free throw attempts.
IPFW made 41.8 percent (23-of-55) of their shots in the game, and 8-of-27 (29.6 percent) from long range. IUPUI hit 44 percent (22-of-50) from the field, while making half of their 14 three-point attempts. Despite holding an advantage in both field goals made, and three-point field goals made, the margin for the game was decided at the free throw line, where IPFW was out-scored 19-7.
An Achilles heel this season for IPFW was points in the paint; however, the `Dons were able to neutralize IUPUI posts Julia Whitted and Jernisha Cann, as the pair scored a combined 12 points, with the Mastodon bench out-scored the reserves from IUPUI by a 19-16 margin.
IUPUI also put a quartet of players in double figure scoring, led by BryKeesha Tate's 17 points, with Janna Eichelberger scoring 13, and Nicole James and Brittany Ransom chipping in 12 and 11, each. Whitted pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, with Tate dishing out five assists to tie for the game-high.
The `Dons remain at home, as the squad plays host to the Westerwinds of Western Illinois University on Monday, January 26, with tip-off set for 7:00 PM at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center.
~Dons~
