Box Score (html) | Box Score (.pdf) | Highlights | Austin Parkinson Postgame

INDIANAPOLIS - Over a 13:22 stretch spanning the first and second halves, the IUPUI women's basketball team went on a 31-4 run turning a 10-point deficit into a double-figure lead keying the Jags to a 66-44 win over Eastern Illinois Tuesday evening at The Jungle.

Nevena Markovic scored 16 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the floor to lead the Jags in scoring, and Akilah Sims and Jenna Gunn tacked on 12 points apiece to round out IUPUI's double-figure scorers.

IUPUI dominated the glass corralling 50 rebounds compared to EIU's 38, and Shanika Maddox and Gunn both snatched a team-high nine, including six on the offensive glass for Gunn.

"Our defense picked up significantly and once we started boxing out and eliminated some of their offensive rebounds we were able to get out and run and pound the ball inside," head coach Austin Parkinson said. "I thought Nevena Markovic looked good. She only played 18 minutes and she's got the flu, but that's the best she's looked. Jenna Gunn was really good and played a lot of minutes and did a lot of things – 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists is a pretty impressive stat line."

A sluggish start put the Jaguars in an early hole as 14 Eastern Illinois points off eight IUPUI turnovers in the first 13 minutes lifted the Panthers to a 24-14 lead.

Despite the deficit, five different players scored during a 10-0 run that evened the score at 24-24 with 4:06 to play in the half.

A pair of Scott free throws with 2:08 remaining in the half placed the Jaguars in front, 27-26, giving them their first lead since the 18:27 mark, and a three from the top of the key from Markovic upped the margin to 30-26 with 1:39 to play.

Another pair of free throws from Scott with 13 seconds remaining in the half sent IUPUI into the locker room with a 32-26 lead to cap off an 18-2 run over the final 6:50 of the first half.

Danielle Lawrence set the tone for the second half in the opening seconds when she stole the inbounds pass and took it the distance the for the fastbreak lay-up. Over the next six and a half minutes, the Jaguars scored 11 more points to cap a 13-2 run that opened a 45-28 lead.

The lead fluctuated between 12 and 15 points for about six minutes until a put-back from Gunn, a lay-up from Sims off a feed from Gunn, and then a jumper from Sims gave IUPUI a 57-37 lead with 5:15 remaining.

From that point, the Jags continued to force missed shots on the defensive end and executed on the offensive end to finish off a 66-44 victory.

Up next for the Jaguars is their first road trip of the season when they head to East Lansing, Mich., to take on No. 17 Michigan State on Sunday, Nov. 23. Tip is set for 2 p.m. ET.