INDIANAPOLIS - Akilah Sims scored 13 of her career-high 20 points in the second half leading the IUPUI women's basketball team to a 62-50 victory over the visiting Purple Aces of Evansville Sunday afternoon at The Jungle.

Joining Sims in double figures were Nevena Markovic and Kelsi Byrd, who added 14 points and 12 points, respectively, and the trio of Sims, Markovic and Byrd shot 70.8 percent (17-of-24) from the floor helping IUPUI finish the game at a 52.3 percent clip. All 12 of Byrd's points came from behind-the-arc, where she finished 4-of-6.

The win for the Jags was their second in a row as they improved to 5-7, while snapping Evansville's four-game winning streak and sending the Purple Aces record to .500 at 5-5. The IUPUI win also evened the all-time series at 6-6 and improved the Jaguars to 6-1 all-time against Evansville in Indianapolis.

"Evansville was hot – they had won four or five in a row – but I am really proud of our kids as we really needed this one," head coach Austin Parkinson said. "To see some carry over from practice to the game was huge. Defensively, I thought we were great – we held their top two scorers down which we talked about – and I thought we had some really veteran leadership from (Nevena Markovic) and Akilah."

As has been the case for most of the season, the Jaguars dominated the glass outrebounding Evansville 40-19 thanks in part to Jenna Gunn's game-high eight boards.

Five different players scored in the first five minutes helping the Jags sprint out to a 14-5 lead, but it was Byrd's second three of the half with 8:42 to play that pushed the IUPUI margin to double figures at 21-9.

However, the Jaguars went scoreless for nearly six minutes allowing Evansville to close within four at 21-17, but four points from Markovic and a three from Sims in the final three minutes sent the Jaguars into the break with a 28-21 cushion.

Both teams hit six fields during the opening 6:30 of the second half resulting in the Purple Aces reducing their seven-point halftime deficit to six, but the IUPUI defense put its stamp on the game holding Evansville to just one point over the next seven minutes.

During that stretch, Sims and Markovic each scored four points and Kelsi Byrd kicked in a three to open a 53-37 lead with just under seven minutes to go.

Down the stretch, Evansville closed within eight twice, but that would be as close as it would get as every time the Purple Aces looked to make it a two-possession game the Jags had a response. The last seven points for IUPUI came from Shaquira Scott and Sims helping preserve the 62-50 win.

IUPUI will have nine days off before returning to action on Dec. 30, when the Jags head to Highland Heights, Ky., to face Northern Kentucky. Tip is set for 7 p.m.