Box Score | Highlights | Austin Parkinson Postgame Interview | Kerah Nelson Postgame Interview I Photo Gallery

INDIANAPOLIS – Senior forward Kerah Nelson saved one of the finest performances of her career for her final home game and she led the IUPUI women’s basketball team to an 82-67 win over in-state rival Fort Wayne on Senior Day Saturday evening at The Jungle.

IUPUI’s 5-10 forward, who was a first-team all-Summit League performer a season ago, scored a career-high tying 29 points on 13-of-14 shooting from the floor and added 11 rebounds to help the Jags move to 19-10 overall and finish 12-4 in the Summit League. The double-double marks her first of the season.

“I was just proud. My teammates looked for me and when I was doubled I found them,” Nelson said following the game. “I’m just very happy and excited.”

“I really feel good for the way [Kerah] finished her career in this building. 29 points, 13-of-14 from the floor, 11 rebounds – she really led our basketball team and we pounded that ball inside and had 60 points in the paint, which is obviously a lot,” head coach Austin Parkinson said. “We kind of stuck to the game plan and Kerah led that and I’m just happy for her that she was able to finish here on an exciting note.”

In addition to Nelson’s career night, IUPUI received 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting from DeAirra Goss and 11 points and eight rebounds from Nevena Markovic. Collectively, the Jags shot 61.1 percent from the floor, while holding Fort Wayne to 39.6-percent shooting.

IUPUI got out to a 7-5 lead 3:30 into the game, with four of those points coming from Katie Comello, before the Jags went on a lengthy run to push its lead to double digits.

Beginning with another Comello bucket at the 15:37 mark, the Jaguars went on a 15-1 run over the next 4:51 to open a 22-6 advantage. During the run, Nelson scored eight points, all in the paint, for IUPUI.

Behind Haley Seibert, Fort Wayne made a run and closed within five, 34-29, with 1:48 to play in the opening 20 minutes, forcing Parkinson to burn a timeout. Despite the run, the Jags closed the half on a 7-2 run, which included a runner by Goss with three seconds left, to head into halftime with a 41-31 lead.

IUPUI shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the first half leading to the 41 first-half points. That first-half point total was IUPUI’s highest since scoring 45 against Goshen back on Dec. 9, 2012.

Out of the half, the frenzied scoring pace ensued as both teams scored 10 points apiece by the under-16 media timeout leaving the Jags in front, 51-41. During the first four minutes, Nelson scored six, upping her point total to 20 points with 15:36 remaining.

The Mastodons closed within five, 51-46, with 14:26 to play, but Markovic led a 7-0 IUPUI run scoring five during that stretch to push IUPUI’s lead to 12, 58-46, with 12:12 on the clock.

Just as the lead reached 12, IPFW retaliated with a 9-0 run of its own to close within three, 60-57, with 7:41 to go.

The game of runs continued – this time it was IUPUI with an 11-0 response highlighted by an old-fashioned three-point play from Nelson to move the cushion to 71-57, with 4:10 on the clock. The 3-point play from Nelson at the 4:46 mark moved her into second on IUPUI’s career scoring chart, surpassing Tiffany Kyser’s 1,544 career points.

That last run from the Jaguars proved to be the deciding factor in the outcome as their lead never dipped below double figures for the remainder of the game and they earned an 82-67 win on Senior Day.

Despite Fort Wayne outscoring the Jags 22-15 in points off turnovers, IUPUI did its damage in the paint outscoring the Mastodons, 60-20.

IUPUI’s other senior Clara Mitchell also played her final home game at The Jungle on Saturday and finished with two points in nine minutes of action.

The Jags will have a week off before its opens the Summit League Tournament at 3:30 p.m. ET against Kansas City in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Jags enter the tournament at the second overall seed.

“Eilise O’Connor is one of the top players in the league and she has given us trouble here in the past. So we are going to have to defend her, but bottom line is that it’s tournament time – it’s March – and it’s an exciting time of basketball and everybody gets a fresh start,” Parkinson said. “We’re going to be looking forward to that and we are excited about Sioux Falls this year.”