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INDIANAPOLIS – A career-high 25 points from DeAirra Goss and a double-double from Shanika Maddox led the IUPUI women's basketball team to a 76-65 victory over the visiting Bears of Missouri State Sunday afternoon at The Jungle.

Goss scored 14 of her game-high 25 points in the second half, while Maddox and Nicole Rogers chipped in 13 points and 12 points, respectively. Maddox also led all players with 10 boards, marking the first double-double of her career.

"We were really excited to see the kids bounce back the way that they did. Obviously, DeAirra struggled the first couple of games, but really got it going – she had the right mindset tonight against a quality Missouri State team," head coach Austin Parkinson said. "I was proud of the way our kids bounced back after a tough game against Purdue."

Goss came out with an aggressive mindset on the offensive end of the floor in the first five minutes hitting four of her first shots from the field to help the Jags take a 13-5 lead. The up-and-down, frenetic pace continued, and the Bears were able to get a few transition buckets to close within two, 18-16, with just under 10 minutes to play.

A Kenzie Williams jumper with 4:36 to play in the first half gave the Bears their first lead of the game, but on the next trip down the floor, Nicole Rogers buried a three from the left wing to quickly put the score back in IUPUI's favor.

After hitting just 1-of-6 from the free throw line in the first 15 minutes, the Jags had five players combine to score eight of IUPUI's final 10 points from the free throw line pushing the lead to six, 40-34, entering the half.

A put-back from Goss, a reverse lay-up from Maddox off a Goss feed, and a three from the left wing in transition from Nicole Rogers escalated IUPUI's halftime lead to 13 points, 47-34, just 2:20 into the second half.

Missouri State came back with an 8-0 run of its own following IUPUI's initial spurt to shrink its halftime deficit from six to five with 15:26 remaining. Goss broke the run by connecting on two free throws, but a three on the other end from Hannah Wilkerson trimmed the Missouri State deficit to four, 49-45. Two Goss baskets, a triple from the left wing from Kelsi Byrd with the shot clock winding down and an Akilah Sims put-back offset a Tyonna Snow jumper to widen the advantage back to 11, 58-47, at the under 12-minute media timeout.

The Bears cut their deficit to 10 multiple times, but each time they looked to trim that lead into single digits, the Jags responded with a bucket to keep the lead at 10 or more.

Missouri State finally closed within eight with just over three minutes to play, but two defensive stops and a Maddox mid-range jumper from the baseline pushed the IUPUI lead back to 10 with 1:40 to go. Down the stretch, the Jags held Missouri State without a point to earn a 76-65 win.

IUPUI connected on 52.8 percent from the field, including 45.5 percent from the three in the win, but the Jags made just 15-of-30 from the free throw line.

"The bottom line is that I was proud that we got 30 free throws. That means that we're attacking the rim and not settling for jump shots, but we do have to work on our free throws and get better," Parkinson added.

The Jags will hit the road for the first time this season when they embark on a three-day, two game road trip at Valparaiso and Chicago State next weekend. IUPUI will head to Valparaiso, Ind., to take on the Crusaders on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m. ET, before making their way to Chicago, Ill., to square off against the Cougars on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 3 p.m. ET.