KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Trailing by nine points midway through the second half, the IUPUI women’s basketball team rallied for their first Summit League win of the season, downing UMKC, 56-51, at the Swinney Recreation Center Monday night.
IUPUI (5-10, 1-2 Summit) won for the first time this year when trailing with six minutes to play, weathering a 10-0 UMKC run midway through the half.
Down by seven with seven minutes to play, the Jaguars erased the deficit inside of a minute, getting back-to-back three-pointers by
Nicole James and
Farren Stackhouse to cut the deficit to one. On the ensuing possession,
Jernisha Cann - playing in front of at least 30 family and friends – stepped into a passing lane, broke down the left side and laid the ball off for
Christina Cunningham, who converted the pass into the go-ahead basket.
The Jags buckled down defensively, holding the Kangaroos without a field goal for the last 3:20 of the game. Down three, UMKC saw a three-pointer by Lindsay Fields rim out, giving IUPUI the ball with 2:16 remaining.
Following an unproductive possession, UMKC converted two free throws to cut their deficit to one. Running time off the clock, James missed a three-pointer, but Whitted corralled the rebound, allowing the Jags to run more time off the clock.
Two Cunningham free throws pushed the lead back to three, and the pressure defense of IUPUI forced Kangaroo guard Sierra Radke into the game-deciding turnover. Cann picked up the loose ball and threw it to James, who laid the ball in for the clinching bucket.
The Jaguars were in the game due in large part to James, who finished the night with a career-best 18 points, giving the Jags the outside shot they were sorely lacking prior to tonight. The Indianapolis native hit 6-of-14 shots for the night, including 4-of-10 from beyond the three-point arc.
James had 4 of the Jags’ season-high 6 three-point field goals.
Midway through the half, it appeared that the Jaguars, despite a passionate effort throughout the game, would drop their second straight game on this road trip.
UMKC (7-8, 0-4 Summit) turned a tight, 33-33 game into a 43-34 lead with 9:29 to play. The Kangaroos mixed two field goals in between thee-pointers from Sarah Stewart to force an IUPUI timeout with 9:04 to play.
After the timeout, the Jaguars whittled away at the lead, getting points in the paint from
Julia Whitted and Cann. However, two more UMKC layups pushed the Kangaroo lead back to seven before James, Stackhouse and Cann helped bring IUPUI back.
Using the inside-outside combination of Whitted and James, the Jaguars were able to weather a first half in which they hit just nine field goals. Whitted opened the first 20 minutes with 9 points and 5 rebounds, while James found a groove from the outside, knocking down two three-pointers on her way to 7 first-half points.
IUPUI used an aggressive defense and stingy rebounding to limit the second chance opportunities for UMKC. The Jags forced 8 Kangaroo turnovers, converting the UMKC miscues into 8 points on the other end of the court. IUPUI also pulled down 14 defensive rebounds, limiting UMKC to just 2 offensive boards.
At the end of a first half that featured 9 lead changes, the teams were tied at 23.
The Jaguars will be back in action on Saturday, January 12, when they host Summit League newcomer South Dakota State as part of a doubleheader with the men’s team. Tip-off will be at 4:30 p.m. EST from The Jungle, with Scott McCauley on the call on SummitTV.
IUPUI will complete the weekend by taking on North Dakota State at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 14. That contest will also be available on SummitTV.
