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INDIANAPOLIS – Trailing by seven with five minutes to go, the IUPUI women’s basketball used a 23-12 run down the stretch to defeat Indiana State, 71-67, Tuesday evening at The Jungle.

The win upped IUPUI’s record to 3-1, breaking Indiana State’s seven-game winning streak in the series and giving the Jags their first win over the Sycamores since Jan. 24, 1980.

“I think both coaches would say it was pretty ugly – a lot of turnovers – but over the course of the game, our kids stuck with it,” head coach Austin Parkinson said. “The style that we play, it wears people out and they only play about seven kids. We turned the press up a little bit and it allowed us to finish strong.”

Katie Comello and Kerah Nelson both scored 16 points to lead the Jags offensively, but Comello scored 13 of her 16 points in the second half, including 11 points from the 4:46 mark to the 2:46 mark, to help IUPUI complete the comeback.

“I think we just kind of came out slow in that first half and the start of the second half and we really weren’t playing our game,” Comello said. “We really just needed some energy and I think we just had a couple big plays down the stretch and I helped contribute to that.”

“It was really nice that our returning players that played a lot of minutes stepped up,” Parkinson said. “Katie was huge. I mean, what Katie did tonight, allowed us to win the game.”

Additionally, Akilah Sims added 11 points, hitting on 5-of-8 shots from the floor, but it was her defensive effort that got the attention of her coach.

“I was really proud of Akilah Sims tonight. There was a stretch there defensively where we put her out there and she really turned the heat up and allowed us to play a little bit smaller,” Parkinson said.

The 43 combined points from Comello, Nelson and Sims picked up the team’s leading scorer, DeAirra Goss, who scored just seven points in 21 minutes due to foul trouble. With Goss on the bench, her replacement in Jordan Barton stepped in and also chipped in eight valuable points.

Goss got off to a quick start scoring IUPUI’s first five points in the opening three minutes, but when she picked up her second foul at the 10:42 mark, IUPUI managed to score just four points in the next 4:21 allowing Indiana State to take a 14-13 lead.
The Sycamores advantage grew to four at 25-21 with 29 seconds left, but a triple by Comello at the horn sent the Jags into halftime trailing by just one point, 25-24.

Out of the half, neither team could build a two-possession lead until Indiana State methodically built a seven-point lead, 49-42, with 9:28 to go thanks in part to getting into the bonus and capitalizing on its free throws.

Just as a Barton free throw with 6:52 to play shrunk the Jags deficit to three, 51-48, a pair of Anna Munn free throws and a Racheal Mahan lay-up expanded the ISU lead back to seven, 55-48, with 5:12 on the clock.

That was when Comello took over. Following a Sims offensive rebound, Comello buried a three from the right wing with 4:46 to go and managed to connect on an old-fashioned three-point play on the next possession to get IUPUI within three, 57-54.
A Sims put-back with 4:04 to play brought the Jags within one, 57-56, and two free throws out of the under-four media timeout from Comello placed the Jaguars in front, 58-57, with 3:39 to go.

Another Mahan lay-up switched the one-point lead in Indiana State’s favor, but Comello again retaliated with a three, kick starting a 7-1 run that eventually opened up  a 65-60 Jaguars advantage with just under two minutes to go.

With IUPUI leading by three, 69-66, and less than 20 seconds to play, Indiana State had a chance to tie the game, but a steal by Nelson on one end and a pair of free throws on the other end finished off a 71-67 Jags win.

IUPUI starts a three-game road trip on Friday, Nov. 23 when it heads south to Bloomington, Ind., to take on the Indiana Hoosiers. The Jaguars and Hoosiers are set to tip at 7 p.m. and Jon Schade will have the call on IUPUIJags.com. The game will also be televised on BTN.com.