Cold Shooting, Thunderbirds, Drop Mastodons in Summit Opener

Saturday, December 4

Fort Wayne, Ind.

4:00 PM

Purdue Fort Wayne

0-13-3; Summit

Southern Utah

1-13-5; Summit

Southern Utah

IPFW

Stephanie Rosado picked up her fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds against Southern Utah

Cold Shooting, Thunderbirds, Drop Mastodons in Summit Opener

12/4/2010 6:46:45 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOX SCORE | POSTGAME NOTES (.pdf) | PHOTO GALLERY

Fort Wayne, IN - IPFW was held to 32.4 percent shooting (23-of-71) from the field, and made just 3-of-24 from beyond the three-point arc (12.5 percent), as the Mastodons fell in its 2010-11 Summit League opener to the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds by a 69-66 score.

IPFW (3-3, 0-1 Summit League ) was led by Stephanie Rosado, who picked up her fourth double-double in the last five games with 18 points and 10 rebounds, as Jordan Zuppe tied her season-high with 15 points. Chelsey Jackson added nine points for the Mastodons, with Amanda Hyde and Sydney Weinert each chipping in seven.

Weinert and Anne Boese added seven and five rebounds, respectively, while Jackson and Zuppe each dished out a team-high two assists. Jackson had a game-high three steals, with Rosado adding a pair of blocked shots.

Southern Utah (3-5, 1-1 Summit League) jumped out quickly, and led 13--6 with 13:20 on the clock after a Challis Pascucci lay-up; however a minute later Pascucci picked up her second foul of the half and was forced to the bench, setting up an IPFW run.

Over the next six minutes IPFW rattled off a 17-2 run to turn the seven-point deficit into an eight-point lead after a pair of Hyde free throws with 7:05 left in the first half. IPFW would not trail for the remainder of the opening period, although the visitors cut the lead to just two points on four occasions, as the Mastodons took a four-point, 33-29 lead into the locker room for halftime.

Coming out of the locker room, Southern Utah rattled off a 15-2 run to push ahead to a nine-point lead after a three-pointer by Andrea Jones with 15:45 left in the contest. The nine-point lead got cut to five three times over the next ten minutes, and hit a game-high of 10 at 59-49 with 6:52 remaining.

An 11-4 run by IPFW closed the gap to three following a pair of Weinert free throws, and the Mastodons twice got to within two, the latest with 27 seconds left following a Zuppe lay-in, but three open looks at three-pointers cam up empty by the Mastodons in the last 20 seconds, falling by three in the league opener 69-66.

Desiree Jackson scored a game-high 19 points, nine coming from the free throw line, as Caitlyn Sears scored 13, and Pascucci and Jones each added 11.

The Mastodons return to action on Monday, December 6, when the squad plays host to the Kangaroos of UMKC, with tip-off slated for 7:00 PM at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center.

~Dons~