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CHICAGO – On the back of a big second half, IUPUI defeated Chicago State (1-4) 68-47 Saturday afternoon at the Jones Convocation Center in Chicago. With the win, the Jaguars moved to 4-1 for the first time since the 1989-90 season and extended their win streak to three games.

Nevena Markovic led the Jaguars with a career-high 22 points and is the fifth player to lead the Jaguars in scoring this season. Dawn Luster came off the bench and added a season-high seven assists.

"It was great to see (Markovic) and (Luster) have big games in their hometown of Chicago," said coach Austin Parkinson. "Their play sparked us in the second half." Of Luster's seven assists, six of them came in the second half.

The Jaguars trailed 16-13 with 8:30 remaining in the first half, but went on an 8-0 run to take back the lead. Dee-Dee Bellamy assisted on two-straight baskets to Markovic and a third to Mikale Rogers. They would never relinquish the lead, but Chicago State kept the game close through the first half and into the second.

Five minutes into the second half, IUPUI still only led by two points, 33-31, but slowly started to put Chicago State away. Luster came on and spurred a quick 6-0 run on a Nicole Rogers three-pointer and Shanika Maddox layup, both assisted by Luster. Maddox drew a foul on the play and converted the free throw to give the Jags a 39-31 lead with 13:12 to go.

A few possessions later, Chicago State's Paris Williams knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the lead to five, but Rogers answered with her second three, again assisted by Luster. The Jags forced a turnover on the next possession and out of a timeout, Luster found Mikale Rogers under the basket for her fourth assist of the half and fifth overall.

Up 50-39 with eight minutes to go, IUPUI pushed the game out of reach with a 15-3 run. Markovic capped off the run with eight-straight points. Luster hit Markovic for a jumper to put IUPUI up 59-42. Markovic grabbed a rebound on the other end, then drew a foul on the layup for an and-one opportunity. After converting the free throw, she came up with a steal on the ensuing possession and Luster dished out another assist as Markovic laid it in, again drawing the foul and completing the and-one.

Markovic's 22 points and five rebounds were a big reason for IUPUI's dominance in the paint where they outscored the Cougars 36-20 and enjoyed an 18-2 advantage in second-chance points.

The biggest difference for the Jaguars was the turnovers. They forced 28 turnovers, 15 of them in the second half, and scored 32 points off them compared to only four points off 16 turnovers for Chicago State.

"I'm proud of the kids for sweeping this road trip," said Parkinson. "It's great to see our ladies playing so well early in the season."

This was the Jaguars second-straight road win and third-straight overall. They've won four straight over the Cougars and hold an 11-9 edge overall.

IUPUI will continue play this week hosting Ohio Valley at the Jungle this Tuesday (Nov. 26) at 7pm before travelling to Greenville, North Carolina for the ECU Pirate Thanksgiving Tournament next weekend.