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Box Score
CEDAR CITY, Utah – The IUPUI women’s basketball team struggled from the floor shooting 30.6 percent and hit just 6-of-12 free throws, and that combination hurt the Jaguars as they fell to Southern Utah, 58-49, Saturday evening in Summit League action at Centrum Arena.
The loss dropped IUPUI to 11-14 overall and 6-7 in conference play and snapped its three-game win streak. SUU improved to 6-19 overall and 2-12 in league play.
“We just got beat by a team that was more physical and tougher than we were and they played with more desperation than we did tonight,” said head coach
Austin Parkinson. “We came out and approached the game in a casual manor and when you play that way you are going to get results like we did tonight.”
IUPUI was led by
Nevena Markovic’s 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting, but her teammates combined to hit only 12-of-47 attempts from the field ultimately hurting the Jaguars chances of making any type of run.
On the other side, Kimie Hawkins scored 16 points and grabbed 17 rebounds leading the Thunderbirds to the victory.
“[Nevena] came out and gave a good effort and was aggressive,” Parkinson added. “However, we didn’t move the basketball and at the end of the day when our best players don’t play at the level they are capable of, we are going to struggle. Also give Kimie Hawkins credit for the game she played. We didn’t play great defense in the post and she took advantage of that.”
Over the last three games, one of IUPUI’s keys to victory was its ability to dominate the glass, but Southern Utah controlled the boards outrebounding the Jaguars, 48-29.
“It wasn’t a shock to us that rebounding and defense would be keys and when you don’t buy in to that you are going to have a hard time winning,” Parkinson said. “We need to find an entire unit of ladies out there that want to buy in and rebound.”
The Jags struggled from the floor shooting 28.6 percent in the opening half and didn’t help themselves with nine turnovers.
Three of those turnovers came on the first three possessions allowing the Thunderbirds to take a 4-0 lead. However, a 9-2 response by IUPUI over a 1:58 stretch flipped a four-point deficit into a three-point lead with 16:13 to play.
A 7-0 run from Southern Utah put the Thunderbirds back on top, 13-9, and that IUPUI deficit was still at four following a
Dawn Luster lay-up with 2:39 to go in the opening half. In the final two minutes, Southern Utah outscored the Jags 4-0 to take a 29-21 lead entering halftime.
Out of the break, the Jags got a lay-up from Luster and jumpers from Markovic and
Emily Phillips, but Carli Moreland scored Southern Utah’s first eight points, all in the paint, helping the Thunderbirds widen their lead to double figures, 37-27, forcing Parkinson to burn a timeout at the 14:37 mark.
IUPUI held Southern Utah without a field goal for the next 10:07, but poor shooting continued to hinder the Jags ability to take advantage of the SUU scoring drought. A Markovic three with 5:19 to go brought the Jags within three points, 42-39, but a 10-2 surge from the Thunderbirds pushed their lead back to double figures, 52-41, with 3:01 remaining.
The Jags closed within six points with 1:40 play, but that would be as close as they got as Southern Utah finished off a 58-49 victory.
In addition to her 16 points, Markovic set a new career high with five blocks.
The Jaguars are back in action on Monday, Feb. 13, when they head to Tulsa, Okla., to take on Oral Roberts. Tip is set for 8 p.m. ET and Scott Taylor will have the call on IUPUIJags.com.
