Box Score | Austin Parkinson Postgame Interview

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half, Katie Comello led an IUPUI charge scoring a career-high 29 points to send the Jaguars to a 79-74 come-from-behind win in its Summit League opener Friday evening at the Gates Sports Center.

The win pushed IUPUI back above .500 at 7-6 overall and 1-0 in the Summit League, while Fort Wayne fell to 4-9 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

In addition to Comello’s career-high night, DeAirra Goss added 18 points, while Jordan Barton came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points, 11 of which came in the second half, and add a career-high 11 rebounds for her first career double-double.

IUPUI got off to a slow start in the opening minutes falling behind 8-2 by the first media timeout, but it was able to lock down on defense for the next three minutes and use a pair of free throws from Comello and baskets from Goss and Dawn Luster to close within two, 10-8.

However, from the 11:18 mark to the 8:09 mark, the Mastodons went on a 17-5 run fueled by three triples to open 27-13 advantage with just over eight minutes to play.

Comello broke the run when she got a jumper to fall from the left baseline with 7:48 to play and then made back-to-back triples in a 30-second span to bring IUPUI within eight, 29-21, with 6:44 to go.

The frenzied scoring pace continued for the remainder of the half, but a Demetria Nunley-Lash lay-up with 23 seconds to play trimmed IUPUI’s deficit to seven, 46-39, entering halftime.

Fort Wayne hit 18-of-29 shots (62.1 percent) from the field in the opening half, while the Jags overcame a 2-for-6 start in the first eight minutes by shooting 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) from the floor in the final 11:35.

Out of the half, IUPUI erased its seven-point halftime deficit in less than three minutes thanks to four points from Barton, but Erin Murphy scored the next four points for the Mastodons to quickly put them back on top, 51-47, at the 16:26 mark.

Seven consecutive points Barton followed Murphy’s scoring surge, including an old-fashioned three-point play, to give the Jags their first lead of the game, 54-53, with 12:05 remaining.

Goss took over from there scoring the Jags next nine points to give them a 63-55 lead with nine minutes to go.

With the Jaguars leading by six, 65-59, Fort Wayne managed to go on an 8-0 run of its own to catapult in front, 67-65, at the 6:07 mark.

Still trailing by one, 70-69, with 2:14 remaining, the Jaguars managed to buckle down enough defensively and pick up seven points from Comello in the final 1:06 to earn the 79-74 road win.

The Jags shot 53.8 percent from the field in the second half and managed to hold the Mastodons to 30.4 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes, including just 1-of-12 shooting from three.

IUPUI continues its road trip on Sunday, Dec. 30, when it travels to Rochester, Mich., to take on Oakland. Tip is set for 2 p.m.