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EVANSTON, Ill. – A 15-5 run from the midway point of the second half to the four-minute mark sent Northwestern to a 72-61 win over the IUPUI women's basketball team Saturday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

The Jaguars battled with the Wildcats from the opening tip and were within two possessions as the 10:00 minute mark of the second half neared, but five different Northwestern players scored during the second-half run leading the Wildcats to their ninth win of the season. The loss for IUPUI dipped its overall record to 8-5.

"I thought our kids really battled the entire game. For 33 minutes it was a pretty even game, but around the eight-minute mark of the second half, there was a three to four minute stretch where their best player stepped up and made some plays, and we made some mental errors," head coach Austin Parkinson said.

Despite the loss, the Jaguars had four players score in double-figures led by Nevena Markovic's 15 points. Markovic also controlled the glass grabbing a career-high 17 boards, helping the Jaguars outrebound the Wildcats 51-32.

"This is the second Big Ten team in a row that we have outrebounded so that shows that we are able to play physical," Parkinson said. "[Nevena Markovic] did a great job competing for the ball today and led us on both ends of the court. They also made 23 three's over the past two games, so for us to be able to hold them to just one is a positive we can take away from today."

In addition to Markovic, Nicole Rogers added 12 points off of four made three's, while DeAirra Goss and Dawn Luster scored 10 points apiece.

Saturday's game against Northwestern was IUPUI's third game this year against a Big Ten team, and in its first two games against the Boilermakers and the Hoosiers, the Jags forced both of those teams into 19 turnovers. However, on Saturday, the Wildcats only committed seven turnovers while forcing the Jags into 21. That resulted into an 18-5 advantage in points off turnovers.

Offensively, the Jaguars aggressiveness created foul trouble for the Wildcats, including leading scorer and rebounder Nia Coffey. Coffey came into the game averaging 16.4 ppg and 8.5 rpg, but finished with 14 points and six rebounds against the Jags before fouling out. Ashley Deary, however, picked up the slack offensively scoring 21 points and dishing out nine assists for Northwestern.

The Wildcats connected on four of their first seven shots from the field as they sprinted out to an 8-2 lead almost three minutes in forcing Parkinson to use an early timeout. The timeout proved to be a good one for IUPUI as it came out and held Northwestern to just five points over the next six minutes. On the offensive end of the floor, Katie Comello and Luster combined to score eight of the Jaguars next nine points during that stretch to bring the Jags within two points, 13-11.

A three-pointer from Kelsi Byrd followed by a Markovic lay-up kept IUPUI within a point, 20-19, with 5:39 remaining, before the Wildcats used a 7-0 run over the next 1:44 to push their lead to eight. But a 9-3 Jags response over the final 3:17 brought IUPUI within a bucket, 30-28, entering halftime. During that final run, Nicole Rogers hit two three's while Markovic added the final three points on a jumper and a free throw.

A 6-2 run to start the second half gave the Jaguars their first lead of the day at 34-32 with 17:40 to play, but an 11-1 Wildcats run over the next 2:21 put Northwestern back in front, 43-35, with 15:19 on the clock.

The Jags deficit remained at six, 50-44, following a Nicole Rogers three, but over the next seven minutes a 15-5 Wildcats run pushed their lead into double digits, 65-49, with 4:20 to go.

The Jags battled to the end and reduced their double-digit deficit to eight, 68-60, on a Luster lay-up with just under a minute to go, but the Wildcats held on for the 72-61 victory.

IUPUI will have nine days off before returning to action on Monday, Dec. 30, against IU-Southeast. The game is set to tip at 7 p.m. ET, at The Jungle.

"It's been a really good start to the season and for us to have most non-conference wins in program history before Christmas is a positive for us," Parkinson said. "We have found out that we have a lot of depth, and as we go into this break hopefully we will be able to build on that and take that into the second semester."