Purdue Fort Wayne
UMKC
Mastodons Drop First of Conference Season
1/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2010
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Fort Wayne, IN – The IPFW Mastodons were unable to overcome a 12-point second half deficit, despite cutting the gap to as few as three halfway through the second half, as the UMKC offense had four players reach double figures in scoring, with the IPFW dropping their first of the conference season, 76-64 on Saturday afternoon.
The loss drops IPFW to 5-1 in the Summit League, 7-9 overall, and into a first-place tie with UMKC, who is 8-9 overall and also 5-1 in league play.
“If somebody would have told me that through six games we would be 5-1 and in a first-place tie in the conference, I would have taken it,” said IPFW head coach Chris Paul. “I’m not going to put too much into the loss, because we are still in first place – we are just sharing it right now. What I’m disappointed in is that I didn’t see the sense of urgency that we had at Oral Roberts.”
Anne Boese scored a team-high 15 points for the Mastodons, with Jordan Zuppe scoring 12, and Stephanie Rosado 11. Sydney Weinert narrowly missed double figures with nine points, as Chelsey Jackson scored eight and Eva Ivanova seven off of the bench.
Weinert pulled down five rebounds to lead the team, as IPFW was out-rebounded by a margin of 40-to-20. Boese dished out four assists for tops on the squad, with Zuppe giving out three scores. Jackson had a team-high two steals, with Ivanova blocking two shots.
“UMKC came in here and out-worked us,” said Paul. “We’ve always tried to pride ourselves on the fact that we work hard, because we may not have the most talent in the league, but we are going to go to out-work teams. Tonight when I look at these numbers, I have to give my hat off to UMKC. They out-worked us, and that is why they won this basketball game.”
IPFW jumped out of the gate with a three-pointer by Anne Boese on the Mastodon’s first possession; however, UMKC countered with a quick 6-0 run to take a three-point, 6-3 lead just over two minutes into the game.
IPFW re-took the lead on Boese’s second three-point basket of the game, before a 4-0 run gave the Kangaroos 12-10 lead, one they would not give up for the rest of the game. UMKC led by as many as seven, the last time in the first half following a Dayon Hall-Jones basket with 1:33 left before halftime, before Zuppe hit a three-pointer with 41 seconds left cutting the deficit to four. LeAndrea Thomas followed by hitting a basket to send the ‘Roos into the locker room with a 34-28 halftime lead.
After being held to her second and fourth lowest scoring games against the Mastodons last season (11 and 8), UMKC’s all-time leading scorer and Summit League Preseason Player of the Year Chazny Morris erupted in the second half. The senior scored five points in the first half, before pouring in a dozen in the first five and a half minutes of the second half, including a stretch of nine straight for the ‘Roos, as the visitors pushed their lead to as many as a dozen with 13 minutes left in the game.
Trailing by 12, IPFW answered by scoring the next nine points, including a pair of Boese baskets and a team 5-of-6 effort at the charity stripe, cutting the deficit to three with 10:35 to play in the game. That would be as close as the Mastodons would come, as the Kangaroos held onto their lead, which increased to as many as 14, and cut to 12 at the final buzzer.
“We got some good looks from our shooters late in the game,” said Paul. “They just didn’t go in. Then we couldn’t make a stop on the other end. You have to give credit to UMKC; when the shot clock went down, they make some tough shots – a big three here, an offensive rebound there. We just couldn’t get over that hump.”
Morris scored a game-high 19 points, with Kim Nezianya and Dayon Hall-Jones scoring 17 and 15, each. Simone Bridges added 11 points off of the bench. Morrs and Nezianya each had eight rebounds, with Morris dishing out four assists and picking up two steals.
IPFW stays at home for two games in the immediate future, as the ‘Dons play host to Southern Utah on Monday, January 18 with a 7:00 PM tipoff at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center, before hosting Chicago State two nights later, also with a 7:00 tipoff at the Gates Center.
~Dons~
