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INDIANAPOLIS – DeAirra Goss scored a career-high 27 points and led an IUPUI offensive attack that shot 50.8 percent from the floor as the Jaguars handed South Dakota an 80-59 defeat Thursday evening at The Jungle.

The win was the Jags second in six tries against the Coyotes and avenged three losses to USD a season ago as IUPUI moved to 12-6 overall and 2-1 in the Summit League.

"DeAirra was unbelievable and really showed why she's one of the best players, if not the best player, in the league because she does both things. She plays offensively and she plays defensively." head women's basketball coach Austin Parkinson said. "I know [Nicole Seekamp] is a little bit hobbled with an ankle injury, but DeAirra held her to zero [points] and played well offensively and really lifted our team."

In addition to Goss scoring over 20 points for the fourth time this season, Akilah Sims scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, Mikale Rogers came off the bench to score 14 points and lead the team with six boards, and Nicole Rogers hit four three's for the second game in a row to add 12 points. Additionally, Dawn Luster orchestrated the Jags attack dishing out a career-high eight assists while adding a game-high tying three steals.

"I'm extremely proud of Mikale. That's back-to-back games now where she's really been able to be aggressive inside and get to the free throw line. She gave us tremendous minutes as they have some girls inside that are very strong and I thought she did a nice job," Parkinson said. "And then Dawn with eight assists – when Dawn's aggressive and has that kind of mindset, that really opens things up for everybody else."

Two fouls each in the first two minutes for Nevena Markovic and Dee-Dee Bellamy put two IUPUI starters on the bench, but Parkinson received some early production from his bench in the absence of two of his best players.

Trailing 12-9 five minutes in, IUPUI used four points from Goss and five points from Mikale Rogers during an 11-2 spurt to jump in front, 20-14, with 12:09 to play.

The scoring pace slowed significantly over the next five minutes, but a Goss lay-up in traffic and a Nicole Rogers triple from the left wing in a 30-second span gave IUPUI a double-digit lead at 29-19 with 6:28 to go.

The Coyotes trimmed their deficit to six at 30-24, but Goss scored five of the Jaguars final 11 points of the half to send IUPUI into intermission with a double-digit lead at 41-31.

Nearly three minutes into the second half, the Coyotes cut their deficit to eight, 46-38, but a 10-0 Jags run featuring six points from Mikale Rogers allowed them to open a 56-38 cushion with 13 minutes remaining.

A Nicole Rogers three - her fourth of the game - just before the midway point of the second half extended the Jags lead to 24, their largest of the game, and the lead remained at 20 or more until a Polly Harrington bucket brought USD within 19 with 6:52 on the clock.

Down the stretch, the Jags proved to be too strong and South Dakota never really threatened as IUPUI finished off an 80-59 victory.

The Jaguars return to action on Saturday, Jan. 18, when they welcome Summit League newcomer Denver to The Jungle for the first time. Tip is set for 3 p.m. and Morgan Adcock will have the call on IUPUIJags.com beginning just prior to tip.