INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI women's basketball team shot a season-high 59 percent from the floor and held visiting IU Southeast to just 27.5 percent as the Jaguars stormed to a 95-45 win over the Grenadiers in The Jungle on Thursday night (Dec. 18). Senior Nevena Markovic led five Jaguars in double-digits with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting and Mikale Rogers contributed a double-double off the bench to lead the Jaguars to victory. 

Kelsi Byrd (13), Nicole Rogers (12) and Akilah Sims (10) also finished in double-digits for the Jaguars, who improved to 4-2 at home this season.

Mary Dye and Megan Cureton led IU Southeast (8-5) with 11 points apiece.

IUPUI (4-7) held the Grenadiers without a field goal for more than 11 minutes to start the game, building a 28-4 lead before Riley Kaiser rainbowed in a three from the left wing. While IUS plodded along offensively, IUPUI scored at will, including making its first five attempts of the game to jump ahead 11-2 in the opening three minutes, aided largely by three quick steals.

The Jaguars never trailed with the lead growing to 48-17 at the break on a Markovic layup at the final horn. The Jaguars connected on 68 percent from the field in the first half while limiting IUS to just 4-of-24 (16.7 percent) in the opening 20 minutes. Head Coach Austin Parkinson's squad took full advantage of its size differential, outscoring the guests 36-4 in the paint in the first half and 58-20 for the game. IUPUI closed with a 48-22 rebounding advantage, including grabbing 17 offensive caroms that led to 23 second chance points. 

The Jaguars unselfishly dished out 27 assists on 43 field goals with 11 different players contributing at least one dime. Freshman Danielle Lawrence handed out a game-high six assists and both Kelsi Byrd and Martha Burse added four each. 

"It was good to see carry over from practice to the game on defense," Parkinson said. "I also thought we shared the ball nicely with 27 assists and kept our turnovers low."

The only blip on the radar was a slow start to the second half, prompting Parkinson to call timeout less than three minutes into the stanza. His squad responded with a 10-0 run, capped by a Nicole Rogers trey off a Lawrence assist, pushing the lead out to 62-24 with 14:30 left. Even as Parkinson went deeper to the bench, contributions kept coming as the lead swelled to 47 on a Shanika Maddox layup near the midpoint of the second half. The Jaguars ended the game with the final six points on Caitlyn Tolen and Rogers threes as the final 50-point margin was the largest advantage of the night. 

Rogers made 4-of-10 threes off the bench for her 12 points while Mikale Rogers went for 10 points and 10 rebounds (five offensive) in just 11 minutes of action. The bench finished with 45 of the Jaguars' 95 points as Lawrence scored eight and Maddox and Jenna Gunn tallied six each. 

IUPUI improved to 22-1 all-time against IU Southeast. 

IUPUI will continue the homestand on Sunday when the Jaguars welcome in-state foe Evansville to the Jungle for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff.