Purdue Fort Wayne
IUPUI
Mastodons Out-Last Jaguars 61-56
2/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 23, 2009
Indianapolis, IN – The IPFW Mastodons led wire-to-wire, jumping out to an early nine-point lead and never giving up their advantage, running off their second straight road win, and the fourth win in their last five games with a 61-56 victory over the Jaguars of IUPUI, avenging an earlier 70-61 loss in Fort Wayne.
Chelsey Jackson, off of her career-high 27-point scoring night at Western Illinois, scored a team-high 16 points, with Eva Ivanova adding 15. Sarah Haluska and Jordan Zuppe each scored eight while Haluska led the team in both rebounds (6) and assists (4). Ivanova had two blocked shots, while Nanyamka Moore had a team-best three steals.
The win for the Mastodons is the team’s fourth in the month of February, as the team is now 4-2 and 6-10 in Summit League action, and will be in a two-way tie for seventh in the league with the winner of tonight’s Southern Utah/Oral Roberts winner.
The ‘Dons opened on the right foot as Zuppe drilled a three-point basket in the game’s first 14 seconds, giving IPFW a lead that they would hold for the remainder of the game. IUPUI center Julie Whitted answered with a basket of her own on the next possession, before IPFW scored the next eight points, on three-pointers by Zuppe and Courtney Reed, and a lay-in by Moore, giving the Mastodons a 11-2 lead at the 15:34 mark of the first half.
Over the remainder of the half, the IPFW lead fluctuated between four and 13 points, as the ‘Dons led 30-21 with 4:26 remaining in the half.
The final four minutes of the game was the Ivanova and Jernisha Cann show, as Ivanova scored each of IPFW’s nine points in the final four minutes, while Cann poured in all ten of IUPUI’s points over the same span, cutting the Mastodon deficit to eight at 39-31 at the halftime intermission.
IUPUI came out firing out of the break, running off a 10-5 streak to close the gap to three following a Elizabeth Mercer three-point basket with 13:20 on the second-half clock.
The ‘Dons were able to raise their lead to eight at 57-49 following a Jackson lay-in with 3:22 remaining in the game, giving IPFW all of the points they would need in the game.
IUPUI closed to within three on a Cann free throw with 29.5 seconds on the clock, before Haluska iced the game by calmly drilling a pair of free throws with 13 on the clock, giving the game its final score of 61-56.
IPFW made 21-of-59 (35.6%) shots in the game, including 7-of-22 (31.8%) from long range. The Mastodons, however, were able to hold IUPUI to 40.7 percent (22-of-54) shooting, including a 2-for-6 night from long range.
A big advantage in the game came on turnovers, where IPFW led 11-to-16 and free throw makes (12-to-10).
Cann scored a game-high 18 points while pulling down 15 rebounds for the double-double effort. Julia Whitted scored 11 points, with Kiara Butler chipping in eight. The Jaguars out-rebounded IPFW 40-34, committing two fewer fouls.
The Mastodons now look to add onto their three-game home winning streak on Saturday, February 28 when they play host to the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah University, with tip-off slated for 1:30 PM.
~Dons~
