Purdue Fort Wayne
IUPUI
Mastodons Hold on For 17-Point Win
1/30/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2010
Indianapolis, IN – The IPFW Mastodons jumped out early, leading by 22 points halfway through the first half, and held on late, never trailing in their Summit League match-up with the Jaguars of IUPUI, winning by 17 points, 66-49.
“It is a sign of the progression of our program when you beat your conference rival on the road by 17, and you feel like you didn’t play really well,” said IPFW head coach Chris Paul. “I knew IUPUI was going to come out and play hard, because they are our rival. I’m proud of our kids because we set the tone right away. To jump out to that 22-point lead in the first half really set the tone. I know they made that run late, but I never felt like we were in trouble. The win was also big that we snapped a two-game losing streak, and improved to 7-3 in the conference. I’m proud of the kids today.”
Chelsey Jackson led four players in double figure scoring by putting in a game-high 18 points off of the bench for IPFW, while adding a season-high six rebounds, dishing out four assists, and grabbing four steals. Young posts Sydney Weinert and Stephanie Rosado added 12 and 11 points, each, while Anne Boese scored 10.
“It is great to be able to have someone of Chelsey’s caliber that you can have coming off the bench,” said Paul. “I don’t even view her as a bench player. We view her as a starter, because when you play 30 minutes, you are basically a starter. She defended, she played hard, she rebounded, she made a big shot in the second half, and she knocked down free throws late. She has been playing very well lately, and I thought she played extremely well tonight.”
Jackson and Rosado’s six rebounds each led the team, with Jordan Zuppe’s five assists provided a game-high. Rosado and Weinert each blocked three shots.
The Mastodons and Jaguars traded baskets to start the game, before IPFW ran off the next eight points to lead 10-2. After a Farren Stackhouse basket cut the deficit to six, IPFW ran off 16 consecutive points to push ahead to a 26-4 lead after a pair of free throws from Boese.
“We came out focused and ready to go, and I was proud of them for that,” noted the head coach. “Then all of a sudden we got into some foul trouble again, and we got out of rhythm. The start set the tone. I knew that they were going to have some time of run in them. I was pleased with the focus and the energy, and that sense of urgency that we have been talking about. We had that right at the beginning.”
The rivalry between the two schools in both the Indiana University and Purdue University systems proved to be as strong as advertised, as the Jaguars fought back, and closed to within as few as 17, before Weinert made two free throws late in the first half to give IPFW a 37-18 lead heading into the locker room.
As strong as IPFW started the game, IUPUI started out the second half equally strong, using a 13-3 run to open the second half, cutting the deficit to nine following a lay-in by Ebony Davis. The Mastodons pushed the lead back to 14, until the Jaguars went on another run, dropping the IPFW advantage to seven.
The seven points would be as close as the host Jaguars would come, as IPFW scored the next seven points to push the lead to 14, and IPFW never led by fewer than 10 the rest of the way, as IPFW held on to a 66-49 victory.
Davis scored a team-high 17 points for the Jaguars, with Kerah Nelson adding 16. Davis grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, as IUPUI out-rebounded IPFW by a 52-31 margin.
IPFW next travels west to take on the Leathernecks of Western Illinois University, with tip-off slated to start at 8:00 PM EST at Waste Management Court.
~Dons~
