Box Score Box Score (.pdf)

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The IUPUI women’s basketball team could not overcome shooting below 35 percent from the field and from the charity stripe as it fell to Indiana State, 65-40, at the Hulman Center Tuesday evening in non-conference action.

Katie Comello led the team with 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting and accounted for nearly 40 percent of IUPUI’s made field goals on the night (16-of-60).

Deja Mattox tied a career high with 22 points and matched a career best with nine boards to lead the Sycamores.

“We struggled from the field and from the free throw line tonight and you are going to have a tough time winning games shooting the way we did,” said head coach Austin Parkinson. “You can’t take possessions off defensively and we didn’t play our best defense tonight. We are going to need a better effort on the defensive end of the floor this weekend against three tough opponents.”

Five missed shots and four turnovers in the opening 3:45 put the Jags in an early deficit while the Sycamores connected on four of their first eight attempts, including a pair of three’s, to jump in front, 10-0.

A free throw by Nevena Markovic and an easy lay-up off a steal from #Del’Niqua Bellamy# got IUPUI on the board, but a 7-0 Indiana State response widened its lead to 17-3 with 12:51 to play in the first half.

The Jaguars had their opportunities to remain within striking distance reaching the double bonus with just under six minutes on the clock, but six missed free throws and some missed lay-ups coupled with hot shooting from Mattox pushed the Indiana State cushion to 31-13 at the under-four media timeout.

A Comello bucket were the only points scored by IUPUI in the final 3:30 and it went into the half trailing 37-15.

Out of the half, IUPUI came out with more intensity on both ends of the floor and three points each from Emily Phillips and Comello aided a 9-2 Jags run closing its 22-point halftime deficit to 15 points, 39-24, with 14:27 to play.

The defensive pressure continued through the under-eight media timeout as Indiana State scored just nine points in the first 12 minutes, but missed free throws continued to hinder IUPUI as its deficit remained at 17 points, 46-29, with 7:59 to play.
Down the stretch, the Jags lack of depth proved to be too much to overcome and the Sycamores coasted to a 65-40 victory.

Bellamy continued to fill the stat sheet scoring four points, grabbing a team-high tying seven boards, while dishing out two assists and recording two steals.

The Jags have a busy Thanksgiving holiday playing three games in three days at the Basketball Traveler’s Inc. Tipoff Classic in Lawrence, Kan. IUPUI opens the three-day event against Florida Atlantic at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 25, before taking on tournament host Kansas and Lamar on Saturday, Nov. 26 and Sunday, Nov. 27, respectively. All three games can be heard on IUPUIJags.com.