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INDIANAPOLIS -- For a half, the IUPUI women's basketball team hung with one of the nation's top-scoring teams in Oral Roberts. However, a cold-shooting second half doomed the Jaguars to an 85-60 defeat at The Jungle in a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day matinee.
Janna Eichelberger picked up her second straight double-double for the Jaguars, finishing with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Kerah Nelson had a team-high 16 on 8-of-12 shooting, as the Jaguars shot 47.6 percent in the game's first 20 minutes.
Despite a lackluster first half in terms of overall stats, IUPUI (2-16, 1-6 Summit) trailed just 36-30 going into the locker room on account of their strong shooting. Despite committing 15 of their 33 turnovers in the game's opening half, the Jaguars were able to split Oral Roberts' (12-7, 6-2) full-court press and extended 2-3 zone enough to consistently find easy looks at the rim.
Still, Oral Roberts, who entered the game as the nation's third-highest scoring team at 83.7 points per game, led by 15 with 5:02 to go in the first half, threatening to put the game away early. Instead of folding, the Jaguars rallied, going on a 10-0 run with crisp ball movement and timely shooting.
Nelson got the rally started with a layup in close, and
Farren Stackhouse drilled a three from the corner to make it a 10-point game;
Jessica Huffman followed with a three from the left wing, and the Jaguars were down just seven with 2:54 left in the half.
Stackhouse was fouled on another three-point attempt and sank 2-of-3 freebies, making it 33-28 with just over two minutes left in the half.
Looking at the stat sheet, the Jaguars were down two possessions at the half despite an 11-rebound difference with the Golden Eagles and having taken 21 less field goals than ORU in the half.
"We knew it was going to be tough today," IUPUI head coach
Shann Hart said following the game. "We didn't play our best in the first half, and Oral Roberts didn't either, but we were optimistic that we could keep them from getting going while finding some good looks for us, too."
Unfortunately, the Golden Eagles got untracked, hitting 5-of-11 three-pointers in the half, including three in the first 9:44 of the half as ORU built a 15-point lead.
Down by 15, the Jaguars scrambled to try and get back into the game, playing into ORU's hands by trying to dribble into the teeth of the 2-3 zone. As a result, turnovers plagued the Jags throughout the game's final 10 minutes; nine turnovers kept IUPUI from mounting a serious run, while fueling ORU's transition offense.
The 33 turnovers for the Jaguars marked the fourth time this season that IUPUI eclipsed the 30-turnover mark. Oral Roberts came away with 21 steals off the miscues, a season high for an IUPUI opponent.
The Golden Eagles were led by Jaci Bigham, who finished with 21 points; Kevi Luper, the nation's second-leading scorer at 25 points per game, was limited to 19 points on 6-of-17 shooting. Jordan Pyle had 19 points off bench on 8-for-8 shooting.
The Jaguars will hit the road next week, taking on UMKC on Saturday, January 23. Tip-off from Kemper Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT, and the call of the game will be heard on IUPUIJags.com.