Purdue Fort Wayne
IUPUI
Late Free Throws Drop 'Dons from Tournament
3/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 8, 2009
Sioux Falls, SD - A pair of free throws by Nicole James with 3.6 seconds remaining in the game gave the IUPUI Jaguars a 61-59 victory in the quarterfinal round of the Summit Tournament on Sunday, March 8.
"It's always tough to lose a basketball game," said IPFW Head Coach Chris Paul. "It is really difficult when it comes down to the wire. To lose a game that close it is really hard to swallow. I am really proud of our I am really proud of our team. For us to do what we did at the end of the season, it means a lot. We have a special group of players that kept working. They would not quit and I think it showed in our effort"
Eva Ivanova scored 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds, while Tina Moen scored 15 and Chelsey Jackson 11 in the losing effort. Chelsey Jackson dished out four assists, while Courtney Reed nabbed a quartet of steals.
IPFW came out flat to start the game, falling behind by 11 points at 16-5 nine minutes into the contest. The `Dons fought their way back into the game, closing within two when Nan Moore hit a fast-break lay-in four seconds left in the opening half at 29-27.
IPFW, which did not trail over the entire game in their last meeting with the Jaguars, took their first lead of this game a minute into the second half when Ivanova converted an old-fashioned three-point play, giving the `Dons a 30-29 lead.
IUPUI then scored the next nine points to push themselves back to a comfortable eight-point advantage just over two minutes later.
The `Dons once again showed their resiliency, using an 11-1 run to close the gap to a single point at 42-41 with 11:50 remaining in the contest.
The teams traded baskets over the next two minutes, before IPFW used a basket by Moen with 9:06 remaining in the game to push ahead to a one-point, 47-46 lead. The back-and-forth battle continued as the teams were tied at 49, before the `Dons scored five straight points, on a pair of free throws by Jackson and a three-point-play by Moen.
The lead increased to six with 4:29 to play after Ivanova made both of her free tries, giving IPFW their largest lead of the game at 57-51.
IUPUI proceeded to score six straight points over the next three minutes, erasing the half-dozen point lead.
IPFW re-took their lead on two free throws from Jordan Zuppe, before BryKeesha Tate hit a leaning running jumper as the shot clock expired to knot the teams at 59. An IPFW turnover was followed by a missed jumper by Whitted, giving IPFW the ball with 32 seconds left on the clock.
Jordan Zuppe scored five points and pulled down three rebounds, as IPFW fell to IUPUI 61-59  |
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A Tina Moen 15-foot jumper bounced off the rim, as the senior was then whistled for her fifth foul on the rebound attempt, 94-feet away from the Jaguar basket. James proceeded to calmly make both charity stripe attempts, as Jordan Zuppe's three-point heave at the buzzer went awry, sending the 'Dons home with the two-point loss.
p>"You have to give them credit for battling back," said Paul. "We played and defeated them about (two weeks) ago. That might not have been a good thing. I think tonight they were able to make the adjustments against us."
The Mastodons made 19-of-47 (40.4 percent) shots in the game, while hitting on 4-of-13 (30.8 percent) three-point attempts, and 17-of-21 (81.0) free throws. The Jaguars were 21-of-50 (42.0 percent) from the field, and made three of their five three-point attempts, and 16-of-21 (76.2) from the free throw line.
IUPUI was led by their post duo of Whitted and Jernisha Cann, who scored 17 and 16 points, respectively. Cann added a game-high 12 rebounds, six of those from the offensive end, as three players, Cann, Tate, and James each dished out three assists.
The Mastodons were out-rebounded 36-28 in the game, while holding a slim 17-16 advantage on turnovers.
IPFW ends the season with a 9-21 record, including winning seven of their last ten games of the year.
~Dons~
