INDIANAPOLIS – Despite knocking down just six field goals in the second half, the IUPUI women’s basketball team sent their seniors off to The Summit League Tournament in victorious fashion, defeating Western Illinois, 47-45, Saturday afternoon at The Jungle.

IUPUI (15-15, 11-7 Summit) clinched the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Summit League Tournament with timely free-throw shooting in the final minute of play.

After watching a 14-point lead dissolve over a 10:49-stretch, the Jaguars dug deep, getting a jumper from Julia Whitted to go ahead 44-42 with 1:36 to play. A Katy Davenport three-pointer pushed Western Illinois (14-15, 12-6 Summit) ahead with just over a minute remaining, but senior Christina Cunningham drove the lane and was fouled with 54 ticks on the clock.

The senior hit both to put IUPUI back out front, and the Jaguars forced a missed shot by Western Illinois on the defensive end. Following two fouls to put the Jags in the bonus, Cunningham hit 1-of-2 free throws to create a 47-45 margin for the home team with 18 seconds remaining.

IUPUI harassed Western Illinois into a contested jumper over Whitted, which hit the back of the rim and came down in the hands of Jernisha Cann. Despite grabbing only five rebounds in the game, Cann saved the most important one for last, corralling the carom and dribbling out the clock.

Halfway through the second half, it did not appear that the Jaguars would need any last-second stands, as they built a 14-point lead with 14:01 remaining. Three of IUPUI’s six second-half buckets came during an 8-0 run that put IUPUI in a position when Western Illinois rallied to tie the game.

Controlling the action from nearly the tip, the Jaguars created havoc in the opening eight minutes of play, forcing 11 Western Illinois turnovers and converting the miscues into 11 points.  Cann had eight of those points as IUPUI opened a 13-2 lead with 11:26 to go in the half. 

The Westerwinds rode the shooting of Katy Davenport to stay within striking distance in the first half, as the junior knocked down four field goals in six attempts. Whitted came alive towards the end of the half to halt a WIU run, scoring five points and grabbing 3 rebounds over the last five minutes of play as the Jaguars took a 29-21 lead into the locker room.

Whitted had a career-best 15 rebounds in the win, while Cann finished the game with a team-high 17 points and 5 boards. The five rebounds gave her a double-double for the season, averaging 13.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.   

Prior to the game, the Jaguars honored seniors Ashley Conner, Amy Cook and Cunningham. Cunningham also received the Emily Seiler Award for her courageous return from injury, while Cann took home the Shannon R. McPherson Award for her unselfish dedication to the game.

The Jaguars will now head to The Summit League Tournament in Tulsa, Okla. The most likely scenario for IUPUI will be playing No. 6-seeded Southern Utah in the opening round of the tournament.  Should that happen, their first game will be on Sunday, March 9, with the tipoff from the John Q. Hammons Arena at the UMAC scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT.