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OMAHA, Neb. – A 24-4 run out of the gates gave the IUPUI women's basketball team a comfortable early lead against Omaha and the Jaguars never looked back as they finished off a 77-45 win over the Mavericks Saturday afternoon at Sapp Fieldhouse.

The win extended IUPUI's Summit League winning streak to six games as it upped its record to 16-6 overall and 6-1 in the conference. Omaha fell to 9-12 and 1-6 in league play.

Last season, IUPUI scored just 45 total points in a two-point win at Omaha. But what a difference a year made as the Jags hit 11 of their first 13 field goals en route to shooting 66.7 percent (20-30) in the first half and eclipsed last season's point total in just 20 minutes as it took a 48-19 lead into the break. The Jags first-half field goal percentage tied a season-high for field goal percentage in a half.

"We made shots early, but defensively we came out with the right intensity, executed our game plan, and the kids had a lot of energy" head coach Austin Parkinson said. "Offensively, we knew we were going to see the zone and we came out and executed really well."

For the game, the Jags ended up shooting 48.3 percent from the floor, but they owned the offensive glass grabbing 19 of their 31 misses resulting in 13 second-chance points. The Jags defense held Omaha in check as the Mavericks hit just 28.9 percent of their looks from the floor.

Nevena Markovic led the Jaguars with 12 points, while IUPUI's leading scorer DeAirra Goss joined her in double figures with 10. After failing to score in IUPUI's previous six games, the Jags received an offensive boost off the bench from Kelsi Byrd with 11 points.

"I was really proud of Kelsi with her aggressiveness off the bench," Parkinson said. "She has been getting a lot of extra shots up and it paid off today."

The Jaguars couldn't have asked for a better start to the game offensively as they hit 10 of their first 12 shots over the first 6:20 to sprint out to a 24-4 lead. During the spurt, Markovic had eight points, while Goss and Nicole Rogers each had six points.

Over the next 5:40, turnovers began to plague the Jaguars as four giveaways slowed down the offensive pace and resulted in just six points during that span as Omaha trimmed its deficit to 30-16 at the eight-minute mark.

Out of the under-eight-minute media timeout, six straight points from Goss fueled a 10-1 spurt that boosted IUPUI's cushion to 40-17 with 4:33 to play. In addition to Goss' six points, Katie Comello assisted on the final two baskets of the spurt using two nice lob passes to Shanika Maddox and Akilah Sims for easy lay-ups.

Down the stretch of the first 20 minutes, IUPUI kept its foot on the gas pedal and outscored the Mavericks 8-2 to take a 48-19 lead into the half.

After a slow start in the second half, Bellamy started a charge scoring the first three points, before Comello followed with five straight to expand the advantage to 56-22 five minutes in.

The rest of the way, the Mavericks never threatened and the lead never dipped below 25 and the Jags left Sapp Fieldhouse with a 77-45 win.

The Jaguars return home next weekend for a big weekend beginning with a game against North Dakota State on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. Following Thursday's game, the Jags will host South Dakota State on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 3 p.m. The game against the Jackrabbits will be televised on HTSN and it will be IUPUI's Breast Cancer Awareness game. Fans are encouraged to wear pink as the Jags will team up with the American Cancer Society to raise monies and awareness for the cause.