Box Score Box Score I Box Score (.pdf) I Photo Gallery I Video Highlights I Austin Parkinson Postgame

INDIANAPOLIS - Junior Kerah Nelson turned in a game-high 18 points to accompany her nine boards, but collectively IUPUI struggled shooting the basketball as Eastern Illinois claimed a 64-49 win over the Jaguars inside the Jungle on Saturday (Dec. 17) night. A long cold spell ultimately doomed the hosts as EIU (7-2) rattled off a 14-0 run to take command of the game over the latter portion of the first half.

"I thought we came out well defensively. They average about 75 points a game and for us to hold them to what we did was good on our part," head coach Austin Parkinson said. "Offensively we had some struggles and that was where they were able to get out to a big lead and it was just too much for us to come back from."

Ta'Kenya Nixon and Sydney Mitchell led EIU with 12 points each and Kelsey Wyss chipped in 10 points. IUPUI freshman Nevena Markovic finished with 16 points including hitting a season-high 4-of-5 from deep to round out the double-digit scorers.

Both teams struggled to find the range early as neither team reached double-figures until the game was nearly 11 minutes old. Markovic staked IUPUI to a 9-8 lead with a corner three at the 9:33 mark, giving the Jaguars their first lead since 4-2. However, EIU fired back with the aforementioned 14-0 run, fueled by a three from Jessica Parker and later a Chantelle Pressley triple. Dawn Luster stopped the bleeding temporarily with a 14-footer to make it 22-11 at the 4:08 mark, but ultimately the Jags were held to just two field goals over the final 9-plus minutes en route to a 28-13 halftime deficit. IUPUI made just 6-of-29 (20.7 percent) first half attempts and 1-of-8 (12.5 percent) from deep.

The second half started off well as IUPUI forced a shot clock violation on the Panthers' opening possession and cashed in at the other end with a Nelson layup. After Nixon matched Nelson's basket, IUPUI scored four in succession thanks to its defensive pressure. Dawn Luster scored in transition after Katie Comello cradled a long rebound, making the score 30-17. Then Del'Niqua Bellamy came up with a steal near midcourt which led to a Nelson putback to cut the EIU lead to 11.

However, IUPUI (4-7) was never able to get the score under 10 at any point in the second half. Down 11 with 18 minutes left, the Jaguars got three straight defensive stops but came up empty on each ensuing possession.

EIU led 55-37 with just under four minutes left when Markovic tried to shoot the Jaguars back in the contest. First senior Janna Eichelberger connected from the corner to make it 55-40 with 3:19 remaining. After an EIU turnover, Markovic swished an unchallenged three off a Comello assist to make it a 12-point game. However EIU made free throws late and staved off Markovic's continued hot shooting to take the win.

The Jaguars finished at 32.3 percent from the floor and 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) from three.

"They're a big, athletic team. They're very long. They packed the paint and we kind of got stagnant offensively," Parkinson said. "When we move the ball and when we got some inside-and-out looks, we were pretty good. In the second half, we shot a percentage that was respectable.

"Over the course of the game we had too many turnovers and that's something that we've been a little bit better about this year up to this point."

EIU outscored IUPUI 20-4 at the free throw line, making 20-of-22 (90.9 percent) including an 8-of-8 effort from Jordyne Crunk. IUPUI went just 4-of-6 with Nelson earning five of the six attempts. Comello finished with a career-high eight assists, but had seven of IUPUI's 19 turnovers. EIU turned it over 23 times, leading to 23 IUPUI points.

"When Kate plays under control, she's probably our best passer in that she gets in the paint as well as anybody," Parkinson said. "She can create some different things because she can make shots so the defense is going to run at her."

Pressley grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds as the Panthers outrebounded IUPUI, 43-33 overall and 32-23 off the defensive glass.

"We've been talking about rebounding a lot more. We were within 10. You're going to have a lot of rebounds when you miss as many shots as we did," Parkinson said. "Our rebounding has improved a little bit and our defense was able to get a little bit better."

The loss dropped IUPUI to 2-3 all-time against Eastern Illinois and 1-2 in the three meetings in Indianapolis.

IUPUI will return to action on Wednesday (Dec. 21) when they head across town to take on Butler University inside Hinkle Fieldhouse. Tipoff is slated for noon Eastern from the near Northside and the broadcast can be heard on IUPUIJags.com as Scott McCauley (pxp) calls the action, beginning at approximately 11:50 a.m..