Box Score Box Score (.pdf) | Box Score | Highlights | Photo Gallery | Austin Parkinson Postgame Interview

INDIANAPOLIS – The IUPUI women’s basketball team trailed for most of the game, but a 24-5 late second-half run sent the Jaguars to a 76-62 win over their in-state rivals IPFW Saturday afternoon inside The Jungle.

The win snapped IPFW’s (7-16; 4-8 Summit) five-game winning streak in the series and marked IUPUI’s (10-13; 5-6 Summit) first home win over the Mastodons since Feb. 19, 2002.

“I was proud of the ladies the way they came back in the second half. I said to them at halftime that our energy and passion wasn’t where it should be for a game like this,” head coach Austin Parkinson said. “In the second half we responded – kept chipping away and chipping away – and we knew if we kept hanging in there we could get the tides to turn.”

Kerah Nelson led four Jaguars in double figures with 23 points and just missed out on her first double-double of the season with nine rebounds. She was joined in double figures by Emily Phillips, who scored all 17 of her points in the second half, including 11 of 13 during a spurt to help the Jaguars take control.

“Kerah has had good games here in her career and is one of our better players, but tonight she put us on her back. She really kind of carried us for a while when we didn’t have much going on and made some big plays,” Parkinson said. “And to be able to have Emily, after having the foul trouble in the first half, play the way she did with that energy level and that speed was the difference in the ball game.”

Two keys to the victory were the Jaguars ability to score from the free throw line and rebound. IUPUI connected on 26-of-34 attempts from the free throw line compared to 16-of-26 for IPFW, while outrebounding the Mastodons 45-27.

“[Rebounding] is all we emphasize in practice. We say if we outrebound teams or at least stay with teams, we have a good chance of being in the game and winning,” Phillips said.

Nelson was a force at the line hitting 10-of-11 tries, while Katie Comello chipped in 13 points, including knocking down 5-of-6 from the line in her first game back since Jan. 16.

“What [Katie] did was incredible. She hasn’t played and hasn’t even practiced until yesterday,” Parkinson added. “I thought I was only going to use her like five minutes and she ended up giving us big minutes and made some key plays down the stretch.”

Both teams got off to a sluggish start until a 10-0 IPFW run fueled by a pair of Anne Boese triples gave the Mastodons a double-digit lead almost nine minutes in, 16-6.

Using the free throw line to its advantage, IUPUI was able to trim its deficit to two points, 19-17, with 6:30 to play in the opening half, but a brief 8-2 IPFW response pushed the Mastodons cushion back to eight points, 27-19.

Following a Dawn Luster lay-up with 3:51 on the clock, IUPUI scored five of its next seven points from the charity stripe as it inched within one point, 29-28, with under a minute to play.

However, a Stephanie Rosado lay-up in traffic and a pair of Sarah Haluska free throws in the final 30 seconds gave IPFW a 33-28 lead entering halftime.

Out of the break, the Jaguars weathered an early storm and went inside to Clara Mitchell who scored five quick points inside to help the Jags pull within four points, 41-37, a little more than three minutes in.

Over the next nine minutes, the Jags closed within a possession three times only to watch its deficit grow larger with an IPFW response.

However, the fourth time was the charm for the Jags. Trailing 55-50 with 8:49 to play, a Phillips trey kick started a 24-5 run over the next eight minutes giving IUPUI a comfortable double-digit lead with under a minute remaining.

From that point, two more free throws by Comello ended the scoring closing out the 76-62 win.

In addition to Nelson, Phillips, and Comello, Luster tacked on 10 points in 33 minutes of action rounding out IUPUI’s double-digit scorers. Mitchell finished with seven points and eight rebounds and did a fantastic job controlling the paint in the second half.

IUPUI is back in action on Monday, Feb. 6, when it hosts Oakland at The Jungle. Tip is set to begin at 7 p.m. and Scott McCauley will have the call on IUPUIJags.com.