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INDIANAPOLIS - For the first time since the 2008-09 season, the IUPUI women’s basketball team owns a winning record and is 1-0 in Summit League action after downing North Dakota State, 49-39, in a defensive struggle Wednesday evening in the conference opener for both schools.

The Jags are 4-3 on the young season and in just seven games, IUPUI has equaled its win total from last season. The Jaguars have won three of their last four games, including a pair of games at the BTI Classic in Lawrence, Kan., last weekend and it was at that tournament where head coach Austin Parkinson believes the team started to find their identity.

“I think the Kansas trip was huge for us. We had a lot of good bonding as a team off the court, but on the court I thought we started to develop a toughness on the defensive end,” Parkinson said. “Roles started to be established and I think they are starting to believe in themselves and realize that we’re a pretty good team when we play together and do the things we talk about.”

Similar to IUPUI’s three previous wins, the Jags scoring output Wednesday evening came from the trio of Kerah Nelson, Katie Comello, and Nevena Markovic, but it didn’t come easy in the first half as the Jags hit just three of its first 20 attempts from the floor while trailing 15-6 with just under six minutes to play in the first half.

“We had a rough start to say the least, but the good news is defensively we played very well and it kept us in the game,” Parkinson said. “Nevena Markovic in the first half kind of carried us in scoring to just keep us in the game. We regrouped at halftime, the ladies came out ran the floor harder and pushed the tempo a little bit and I thought that was the difference in the game.”

A Markovic jumper with 5:37 to play sparked an IUPUI spurt in which the Jags hit six of their final 10 shots of the first half to trim its deficit to 21-18 entering intermission.

Out of the half, the Jags used buckets by Clara Mitchell and Comello, and a free throw by Nelson to knot the score at 23-23, before a fast break lay-up courtesy of Janna Eichelberger with 15:32 to play gave IUPUI its first lead of the game, 25-23.

With the game tied at 27, Comello hit a three with 12:07 on the clock and scored six straight points before Nelson buried a trey from the left baseline that capped off a 9-0 run as the Jags stormed in front, 36-27, midway through the final 20 minutes.

“Katie [Comello] is known a lot for her offensive ability, but in the second half she turned it up defensively and really created some turnovers, boxed out and got some big rebounds for us, which really set the tempo,” Parkinson said. “When she did that, that kind of raised everybody else’s level of play and we were able to finish the game out and get a good conference win.”

Down the stretch, the Bison cut their deficit to five points twice, but IUPUI responded with a jumper from Nelson on the first occasion and a trey by Markovic the next time around to keep its lead at three possessions and never looked back en route to a 49-39 win.

Nelson led all scorers with 16 points, followed by Comello with 14 and Markovic with 11. Nelson also posted a team-high eight rebounds, while Comello and Emily Phillips each dished out a game-high tying five assists.

As a team, IUPUI posted 14 assists on 21 made field goals and committed just 14 turnovers, while turning over the Bison 25 times.

The Jaguars outscored NDSU 31-18 in the second half and outscored the Bison 10-0 in fast break points proving to be the difference.

IUPUI returns to the floor on Friday, Dec. 2, when it welcomes South Dakota State to The Jungle for a 7 p.m. tip. The Jackrabbits won their Summit League opener, 82-56, over Western Illinois Wednesday evening.

“The Jackrabbits have been the golden standard of our league going to the NCAA Tournament the last three years. I think Coach Johnston does as good a job of anybody with his basketball team. For us, it’s about defensively getting after it and offensively sharing the ball,” Parkinson said.