Mastodons Shoot Nearly 60 Percent In Victory

Thursday, February 27

Fort Wayne, Ind.

7 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

14-13, 7-6SL

Western Illinois

14-14, 6-7SL

Western Illinois

IPFW

2/27/2014 9:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOX SCORE | BOX SCORE (.pdf) | BOX SCORE (.htm)

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The IPFW women's basketball team shot 58.9 percent (33-of-56) from the floor in its 99-92 victory over Western Illinois, giving the Mastodons (14-13, 7-6) a share of third place in the Summit League standings with South Dakota.

A win on Saturday versus Omaha, and a South Dakota loss, will clinch the third seed for the Mastodons in the Summit League Tournament.

Amanda Hyde led IPFW with 32 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor and 12-of-13 at the free throw line. Haley Seibert went for 26 points including five three-pointers, while leading the Mastodons with four assists and adding three steals.

Twin sisters Rachel Mauk and Stefanie Mauk also went for double-digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Rachel had a three steals while Ariana Simmons blocked a game-high three shots.

IPFW opened the game with the first two baskets, but it would be Western Illinois with the early advantage using a 9-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game 24-11, at the 13:24 mark of the first half.

The 'Dons used a 25-7 run, capped off by a layup from Stefanie Mauk to give IPFW a 40-34 lead with 6:46 left in the half. After a pair of baskets by the Leathernecks, the Mastodons used an up-tempo offense to make a 13-1 run, leading 53-40 with two minutes to play, before heading into halftime with a 56-44 lead.

Western Illinois began the second half on a 15-5 run, cutting the IPFW led to two, 61-59, at the 14:34 mark.

With the Mastodons leading by two with 10:36 to go in the game, Hyde and Seibert combined to score the next seven points in just 1:11 as IPFW held a 74-65 lead.

The Leathernecks cut the Mastodon lead to two with 3:44 to play in the game, but IPFW answered with six straight points to pick up the victory.

The 'Dons finished the night 12-of-21 (57.1%) from beyond the arc and 21-of-22 (95.5%) at the free throw line.

The three blocks by Simmons gives her 38 on the season, one behind Kathleen Smith for the most in team history by an IPFW freshman.

Hyde now sits just one more free throw from tying the single-season Summit League record of 194 set by Kevi Luper in 2009-10. She also moved into fourth place on IPFW's all-time scoring list with 1,603 points and 11th on the Summit League career scoring list.

IPFW closes out the regular season when it hosts Omaha on March 1 for Senior Day with a 2 p.m. tip-off.

~ Feel the Rumble ~