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INDIANAPOLIS -- Looking listless for the first 20 minutes of play, the IUPUI women's basketball team staged a remarkable comeback in the second half, only to see their efforts go for naught as UMKC forced overtime with a late three and converted their free throws down the stretch to hand the Jaguars an 80-75 overtime defeat at The Jungle Monday evening.

IUPUI (7-7, 2-1 Summit) led by as many as nine points with just over seven minutes to play, but hit just 11-of-21 free throws in the second half.  Trailing by three at halftime, the Jaguars took their first lead of the game on a three from Nicole James with 17:36 to play, moving ahead, 30-29.

The Jaguars held the lead the remainder of the half, but let UMKC (7-8, 2-1 Summit) hang around, trading baskets with the Kangaroos for most of the final five minutes of play.  IUPUI never led by more than seven points for the last 4:00 of regulation.

With just under a minute remaining, Chazny Morris hit two of her 10 made free throws to cut IUPUI's lead in half.  The Jaguars threw the ball away on their possession, but James stripped Morris and was fouled with nine seconds to play.  Needing to sink both free throws to ice the game, James hit 1-of-2, giving UMKC one last chance.

Off the inbounds, LeAndrea Thomas took the ball to the top of the circle and launched a three, where it sailed through the net with 0:00.6 left on the clock, forcing overtime with the score knotted at 70.

In the overtime, the Jaguars took a brief 72-70 lead on two free throws by Julia Whitted with 3:09 to play, but Thomas hit her second three of the game to put UMKC on top for good.  Jernisha Cann hit 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game, but three more Kangaroo freebies gave the visitors a 76-73 lead before Cann grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball back in to cut the IUPUI deficit to one.

Kalei Nance hit two free throws to push the lead back to three, and James step-back three from the wing rattled out.  UMKC, which finished the game 24-for-28 from the free-throw line, hit two more free throws to ice the game.

"I was just disappointed in our play today," IUPUI head coach Shann Hart said.  "I'm not sure of anything we did particularly well, other than knock down some three pointers.  UMKC came out aggressive and got us on our heels and we seemed to play catchup most of the game."

In fact, the Kangaroos did come out the aggressors to start the game, opening a 7-0 lead just 3:27 into the contest and forcing Hart into an early timeout.  While the Jaguars stayed within striking distance, they seemed to be revving their engines, but never able to put the car into gear, failing to convert opportunities and shooting 9-for-31 in the opening half.

The shooting changed in the second half, as the Jaguars went 15-for-24, but it did little to change the result.

Whitted led the Jaguars with 21 points to go along with 11 rebounds, her third double-double of the season.  Despite scoring just two points in the first 20 minutes, Cann tallied her 13th straight double-double with 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.  James finished with 15 points, as IUPUI lost for only the second time in the 2008-09 season when putting three or more players into double figures.

Brykeesha Tate had a season-high 8 assists for IUPUI.

The Jaguars finished just 14-for-25 from the charity stripe.

UMKC was led by Chazny Morris, who had 21 points and was 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.  Kalei Nance tallied a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The Jaguars will take their annual trip to the Dakotas this weekend, where they will face South Dakota State on Saturday.  Tip-off from Frost Arena is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET and coverage can be found on XL 950-AM.