Box Score

VERMILLION, S.D. – Leading by two early in the second half, the IUPUI women’s basketball team watched South Dakota go on a 15-0 run to take control of the game and that proved to be the difference as the Coyotes defeated the Jaguars, 56-39, Thursday night at the Dakota Dome.

The loss snapped IUPUI’s five-game winning streak and dropped its record to 16-10 overall and 9-4 in the Summit League, while USD improved to 13-14 overall and 8-6 in the conference. The home victory for the Coyotes also gave them the regular-season sweep over the Jags.

Both teams struggled from the floor shooting below 30-percent in the opening 20 minutes, but the Coyotes heated up in the second half connecting on 55.6-percent of their attempts while IUPUI hit on just 14.7-percent of its second-half attempts.

“In the first half, we did the two things we talked about – we boxed out and sprinted back on defense. Even though we weren’t shooting the ball well, we were right there with them,” head coach Austin Parkinson said. “In the second half, we didn’t do those things and they started making shots. When that happens, that’s not a good recipe for victory.”

IUPUI got out to a quick 8-5 lead a little more than five minutes in, before both teams went scoreless for a 5:29 stretch. South Dakota’s Nicole Seekamp broke the scoring drought with a pair of free throws at the 9:11 mark, and three straight Coyotes baskets followed Seekamp’s free throws placing USD in front, 13-8 with 7:30 to play.

IUPUI finally got on the board after a little more than a seven-minute drought when DeAirra Goss hit a jumper with 7:11 to play, and a three from Dee-Dee Bellamy with 5:18 to go knotted things back up at 13.

The teams traded buckets before a Nicole Rogers triple with 23 seconds to go put the Jags in front, 20-18, but a Pam January bucket with five seconds to go sent the teams into the half tied at 20.

Less than three minutes into the second half, Bellamy hit her second three of the game to give IUPUI a 27-26 lead, but over the next 7:13, South Dakota went on a 15-0 run to take a 41-27 advantage at the midway point of the second half.

A Jordan Barton free throw broke the run and cut the Jags deficit to 13 points, but IUPUI could never get its deficit below 13 the rest of the way and South Dakota went on to pick up the 56-39 win.

Bellamy led IUPUI with 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

“We will brush this one off and move forward. I thought it would be tough to go 8-0 through the second half of conference play and we didn’t play our best tonight and lost,” Parkinson said. “We have to move on and focus on the details so we can come back and get one back on Saturday.”

The Jags continue next head to Kansas City, Mo., on Saturday, Feb. 23, to take on Kansas City in their final regular-season road contest. Tip is set for 3 p.m. ET.