Box Score

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas -- It was a game to which Sisyphus could easily relate.  The IUPUI women's basketball team, given fresh life with three minutes to play, missed several chances to tie or take the lead late in the contest, narrowly falling to Jacksonville, 59-56, in the championship of the South Padre Island Shootout.

In a game in which the Jaguars seemingly pushed a boulder uphill only to see it roll back down, IUPUI (6-5) went 1-for-5 from the free throw line over the final 2:16 of the game, missing four free throws that would have tied the contest.  The Jaguars also had two turnovers down the stretch, the most critical coming with the score 57-56.  After a Julia Whitted rebound, the outlet pass from Quanisha Turner to Nicole James gave James a clear path to the go-ahead layup, but James fumbled the pass, giving Jacksonville (5-5) the ball back.

Still, IUPUI got a reprieve when the Dolphins missed the front end of a 1-and-1 chance.  On the offensive end of the court, Brittany Ransom drove to the basket and was fouled, giving her two free throws with 9 seconds ledt on the game clock.  Ransom missed the first free throw, and after a Jacksonville timeout, Ransom's second attempt went halfway down the cylinder before spinning out.

Forced to foul yet again, Jacksonville's DaVina Hamilton hit both free throws to create the game's final margin.  IUPUI's final attempt to force overtime was broken up before they had a chance to get a shot off.

"This is one of those games that is going to stick with me for a while," head coach Shann Hart remarked.  "I wish we had a game tomorrow to get this one out of my system.  Unfortunately, we had several chances to win tonight and missed all of them."

"We just have to learn from it and capitalize on the opportunities we have next time."

Despite 24 turnovers, the Jaguars were able to give themselves a chance down the stretch with some clutch shooting.  Trailing 51-40 with 6:30 to play, IUPUI went on a 13-2 run over the next three minutes to knot the game for the first time since the 3:43 mark of the first half.

Hampered by foul trouble, Whitted reemerged in the post for the Jaguars, hitting a jumper from the left block to make it a 51-42 game; using a 1-2-1-1 zone press, Ransom came away with a steal and layup to swing momentum to IUPUI's side.  After a Virginia Gregoire jumper, two Whitted free throws made it a seven-point contest with a little over four minutes left to play.

Up until that point in the game, IUPUI had struggled from behind the arc, misfiring on their first 10 attempts from downtown.  However, Turner came alive, firing from the top of the arc and banking in a three to slice the Dolphin lead to four. 

Whitted came up with a block on the defensive end, one of her five in the game, and Turner fired again from downtown, hitting the three while being fouled.  Her free throw knotted the game at 53 with 3:15 to play, getting IUPUI to the brink of pushing the boulder to the top before suffering their Sisyphian fate.

The Jaguars came out sluggish to start the game, falling behing by seven points as Jacksonville barraged IUPUI from the three-point arc.  JU hit three three-pointers in the first 4:34 of the game to build a 15-8 lead.

Still, IUPUI steadily grabbed hold of the pace of the game, limiting Jacksonville's opportunities to run in transition.  Getting the ball to Whitted consistently, IUPUI took their first lead at the 8:37 mark on a Jernisha Cann layup off a feed from Brykeesha Tate.

Another Cann bucket gave the Jags a three-point lead, but the Dolphins closed the half on a 10-2 run, taking a 31-26 lead into halftime.

Whitted led all scorers with 21 points, a season high, while Cann continued her school record streak with her 10th straight double-double.  The senior posted 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

Cann was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 18.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in the tournament.

Turner had 9 points, a new career best.

IUPUI will take time off for the holidays before preparing for their next contest, at Kentucky.  The Jaguars and Wildcats will square off on Tuesday, Dec. 30, with tip-off from Memorial Coliseum scheduled for 7 p.m.