Box Score
CINCINNATI -- Within striking distance at halftime, the IUPUI women's basketball team came out slow in the second half, allowing Cincinnati to extend a four-point lead to 11, proving too much for the Jaguars to overcome in a 67-58 defeat at Fifth Third Arena Sunday night.
IUPUI (5-4) played the Bearcats tough throughout, but opened the second half by going 1-for-4 and committing two turnovers, fueling Cincinnati's 9-2 run to start the half. Cincinnati (7-2) got out in transition for their first three baskets of the half before canning a three from the wing to push their lead to 42-31 just 2:44 into the second frame.
The Jaguars continued to play the Bearcats tough, closing to within seven points twice in the final 8:36 of the contest, but each time,Cincinnati answered with a three-pointer to kill the Jaguars' momentum.
"We just didn't come out for the first four minutes of the second half with the intensity we needed," head coach Shann Hart said. "Hopefully, we proved to ourselves that we can play at this level, against a big-conference team, but I hope we learned that we have to play for 40 minutes, not 36."
Jernisha Cann led the Jags with 17 points and 10 rebounds, posting her eighth straight double-double to extend her school record.
In the first half, IUPUI proved they could play with their brethren from the BIG EAST, as they traded leads with the Bearcats on five occasions. Cann got the Jaguars off to a solid start with a jumper from the elbow to begin the game before Cincinnati scored the next seven points of the game.
Instead of being fazed by the environment, the Jaguars responded, using an 8-0 run to grab a three-point lead. Cann hit a jumper before
Nicole James scored the next four points for IUPUI;
Brykeesha Tate followed with a runner from the left block to make it 10-7, Jags.
Cincinnati slowly gained control of the half via solid offensive sets, pushing their lead to seven on a jumper from Michelle Jones with 10:30 remaining in the first stanza. However, on the next possession,
Laura Blaydes cleaned up the glass on a
Farren Stackhouse miss and hit her first field goal of the season to start a 9-1 IUPUI run.
Cann followed that up with a jumper on the interior, cutting the deficit to three; after the teams traded a free throw apiece, Cann rolled in a layup to make it a one-point contest. On the subsequent inbounds pass,
Quanisha Turner came up with a steal and executed a give-and-go with Cann to give the Jags a 21-20 lead, forcing a quick Cincinnati timeout.
Again the Bearcats responded, holding IUPUI without a field goal for a 4:01 stretch in the closing minutes of the half. A James three from the corner made it, 26-24, in favor of Cincinnati with 4:43 to play in the half, but UC used a three and two free throws to push their lead back to seven.
With under a minute in the first half, Whitted hit a turnaround jumper in the lane and Stackhouse drained a three from the left wing as the game clock expired, pulling the Jaguars to within 33-29 at the half.
However, Cincinnati came out with a 9-2 run to seize control of the game.
James finished the contest with 15 points, hitting 2-of-4 three-point field goals. Whitted had 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while Turner had a career-high 6 assists.
Cincinnati shot 8-for-19 from three-point range and was led by Angel Morgan, who had a game-high 18 points and 12 rebounds.
The Jaguars will continue their month away from The Jungle when they travel to South Padre Island, Texas, for the South Padre Island Shootout. IUPUI will face Virginia Tech on Friday, Dec. 19, with tip-off from the South Padre Island Gymnasium scheduled for 5 p.m. CT.
