Purdue Fort Wayne
North Dakota State
`Dons Unable to Shrug Off Slow Start in Loss
1/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2009
Fort Wayne, IN – The IPFW Mastodons were unable to shrug off a slow start in the game in which the hosts hit just two of their first 19 shots and scored just 16 first-half points, falling to the Bison of North Dakota State by a 63-59 final score at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center on Monday evening.
Chelsey Jackson missed a career-high scoring night by putting in 19, with Jordan Zuppe adding 18. Sarah Haluska also finished in double figures for IPFW (2-11, 1-3 Summit League), as the trio scored 48 of the team’s 59 points in the game. Haluska and Maggie O’Connell each pulled down a team-leading six rebounds, with Jackson dishing out a trio of assists to pace the squad.
Both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net to start the contest, as the teams combined to score just seven points through the first five minutes of the game. Ahead by one at 5-4, North Dakota State (5-7, 3-1 Summit League) rattled off nine straight points to open a ten-point 14-4 lead before Zuppe drilled a three-point basket with 9:04 to play in the half to cut the deficit to seven at 14-7.
IPFW’s struggles continued, as they were only able to make two of their first 19 shots, before the cold streak ended with field goals on back-to-back possessions; however, they could not get any closer than seven over the rest of the half, as the ‘Dons headed into the locker room trailing by 11 at 27-16.
 Jordan Zuppe scored 18 points in a loss to North Dakota State  |
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The second half was a much different story, as the frame started as the Chelsey Jackson and Inger Hodgson show, with each scoring their team’s first eight points of the half, and IPFW totaling a dozen second-half points by the first media timeout of the second half.
IPFW used an 8-2 run to close a 42-30 deficit to just six at 44-38 following a Zuppe jumper with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game. After the teams traded two-point possessions, the Bison ran off five straight points to seemingly run away with the second half, leading by 11 with 6:44 remaining.
The feisty ‘Dons would not give up, however, scoring the next ten points to close to within one following a Haluska lay-up with 2:40 to play in the game.
Despite the furious comeback, IPFW was unable to snag a lead, as NDSU countered with a 5-0 run, and then made 7-of-12 free throws down the stretch to ice the game in the 63-59 Bison victory.
IPFW shot a miserable 19.2 percent in the opening 20 minutes, hitting just 5-of-26 shots before making 13-of-33 in the second half for an overall game percentage of 30.5 (18-of-59). The Bison struggled almost equally, making just 17-of-53 shots (32.1 percent) in the game.
The ‘Dons, recently ranked eighth in the country for fewest turnovers per game, committed just five in the loss, their lowest single-game total this year; however, the squad was out-rebounded 52-32 in the loss.
Hodgson scored a game-high 21 points in the victory, as she was the only Bison player in double figures in the game, with Katie Birkel and Whitney Trecker each scoring nine. Jerri Penly scored seven points while pulling down a career-high 17 rebounds, as Jill Zaruba also reached double-figures in the rebounding column with seven, while also adding seven points.
The ‘Dons next take to the road for a trio of games of the next week, with the first of the series coming on Wednesday, January 7, when the squad travels to Ames, Iowa, to take on the Cyclones of Iowa State University with tip-off slated for 8:00 PM Eastern Time at the James H. Hilton Coliseum.
The road trip then continues for IPFW, as they travel south to take on the Ladies of Centenary on January 10th at 1:00 PM, before ending the road swing with a January 12 match-up with the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts University with tip-off on the weekend’s second conference game set for 8:05 PM.
~Dons~
