Purdue Fort Wayne
Centenary (LA)
Ivanova Leads IPFW to Second Straight Win
2/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2009
Fort Wayne, IN - Behind a second straight double-double from junior Eva Ivanova, the IPFW Mastodons won their second straight game, and their third in a row at home, to put themselves in the thick of the race for a spot at the Summit League Championships.
Ivanova, who had 20 points and 11 rebounds, recorded IPFW's first back-to-back double-doubles since Verea Bibbs accomplished the task on January 31 and February 4, 2004 against Texas-Pan American and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Ivanova added five blocks for the second straight game, while Jordan Zuppe and Chelsey Jackson totaled 14 and 12 points, each.
Tina Moen added five rebounds, with Nan Moore pulling down four, dishing out a team-high three assists, and pilfered a trio of steals. Courtney Reed scored nine points, while grabbing a career-high five steals, as the `Dons forced 27 Centenary turnovers of which they turned into 30 points, leading 30-8 in the battle of points off of turnovers.
With the win, IPFW now sits with a 4-9 conference record, a half game out of eighth place in the conference, which would earn a berth into the eight-team tournament. Sitting a half game ahead of IPFW are a pair of schools, Oral Roberts (4-8) and Southern Utah (4-8), and Western Illinois (5-8) just one game ahead of the `Dons in sixth place overall. With UMKC currently sitting in fifth place overall at 6-6 in the league, the `Dons face three of the four teams immediately in front of them, putting them in firm control of their own destiny.
IPFW struggled offensively at the start of the game, as they could not reach the scoreboard until Zuppe made-back-to-back baskets at 15:45 and 14:48 to knot the game at four apiece. The teams traded baskets; however, the Mastodons were unable to grab a lead until the hosts used a 7-0 run on a three by Ivanova, and baskets by Jackson and Zuppe to turn a 13-10 deficit into a 17-13 lead.
Centenary answered quickly with a 5-0 run of their own to re-take the lead at 18-17.
A pair of 4-0 IPFW runs sandwiched a Centenary 7-0 run, as the `Dons came out of the stretch tied at 25 with 3:47 remaining in the first half. Two IPFW 4-0 runs over the final two and a half minutes, including a buzzer-beating lay-in by Reed, sent the Mastodons into the locker room with a 33-29 lead.
The Ladies opened the second half with a 7-2 streak to take their final lead of the game at 36-35 before a pair of Reed free throws and a Zuppe three-point basket gave the `Dons a four-point cushion. IPFW led by as many as 10 on two separate occasions, the latest at 55-45 with 6:28 to play in the game.
The feisty Centenary squad would not back down, scoring five straight points to cut their deficit in half, although the visitors would only get as close as four the rest of the way, as IPFW went 8-of-8 from the charity stripe over the last minute of the game to ice the victory for the hosts.
The Mastodons totaled a season-high 15 steals in the win, while pulling down 16 offensive rebounds, the second highest total of the season.
IPFW hit 22-of-60 shots (36.7%), 3-of-11 from long range (27.3%), and 18-of-24 from the free throw line (75.0%), including a 9-for-10 performance at the charity stripe from Ivanova. Centenary hit 36 percent of their shots (18-of-50), and 33 percent (5-of-15) from long range. The free throw line was the primary area of strength for the Ladies, as they made 16-of-18 on their free tries, including a 10-of-12 performance by forward Anne Farrell. The visitors from Shreveport, Louisiana, out-rebounded IPFW 39-36, and totaled six blocks, three from Leslie Forest.
Farrell finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds for the double-double, as Ashley Jackson added 10 points.
The `Dons take to the road for their next three games, as their immediate focus is on Oakland University, their opponent on Valentines Day, February 14. The tip-off for the game is at 3:30 PM EST, as IPFW looks to avenge a 79-64 Oakland win on January 17 against the Grizzlies, now at 19-5 on the season and sitting in second place in the league standings, as they were victorious by a 79-75 score in overtime tonight over Oral Roberts.
~Dons~
