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FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Nevena Markovic scored five of her 19 points in the last 20 seconds fueling a late rally, but the IUPUI women's basketball team came up short falling to in-state and Summit League rival Fort Wayne, 78-73, Saturday afternoon at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center.

The loss is IUPUI's second in a row as it fell to 19-8 overall and 9-3 in the conference. IPFW evened its overall and conference records at 13-13 and 6-6, respectively.

Summit League Preseason Player of the Year Amanda Hyde erupted for 36 points, including 26 in the second half, after being held to 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting in the first meeting in Indianapolis back in January. Half of Hyde's points came from the free throw line where she finished 18-of-20, and the Mastodons hit 29-of-34 as a group compared to 23-of-35 from the Jags.

"IPFW was the better team. They played harder than we did and got to all the loose balls," head coach Austin Parkinson said. "We have had a rough stretch from the free throw line lately and today it came back to bite us."

In addition to Markovic scoring 19, DeAirra Goss poured in 16 points, but fouled out with 1:52 to play. Dawn Luster was the third Jag to reach double figures in scoring adding 10 points off the bench.

Neither team seized control early, but the Mastodons received nine of their 17 points over the first 10 minutes from their two top scorers in Hyde and Haley Seibert helping them take a three-point lead, 17-14.

A Nicole Rogers three with 9:18 to play brought the Jags within one, 18-17, but a 7-0 IPFW run over the next 2:47 put the Jaguars in a 25-17 hole, forcing Parkinson to burn a timeout.

Starting with a Jordan Barton free throw with 5:30 to go, the Jags went on a 13-6 run over the next 5:03 to take a 32-31 advantage, but that lead didn't last long as Seibert hit a three from the right wing with 17 seconds to go to put the Mastodons back in front, 34-32.

Goss got a look from the free throw line as time expired in the first half, but it hit off the front of the rim and that gave IPFW a 34-32 lead entering the break.

Out of the half, a 12-4 Jaguars run that was capped off by a Rogers three gave IUPUI a 44-38 advantage with 16:00 to play.

Behind Hyde and Seibert, the Mastodons rallied to regain a two-point lead, 53-51, just past the midway point of the half, and the game remained a one-possession contest until an old-fashioned three-point play from Ariana Simmons put IPFW on top, 58-54, with 7:49 on the clock.

IUPUI fought back and took a two-point lead, 66-64, with 3:30 to go after Kelsi Byrd and Goss hit 1-of-2 free throws on consecutive possessions.

Over the next two minutes, IUPUI committed three turnovers, Hyde drew three fouls on IUPUI, including the fifth on Goss, and hit six straight free throws to give IPFW a 70-66 lead with 1:30 remaining.

IPFW took a six-point lead with 20 seconds to go, but an and-one opportunity from Markovic with 19 seconds to go gave the Jags an opportunity to close with three. Markovic missed the free throw, but Sims stole the ball on a long outlet attempt and found Markovic in the corner for three to bring the Jags within one, 74-73, with eight seconds to go.

Seibert was fouled and hit both free throws on the other end to boost the Mastodon lead to 76-73, and Parkinson proceeded to call a timeout with five seconds to go to get one last attempt at tying the game. Rogers got the ball in the corner and hoisted a three-point attempt, but it was blocked and IPFW picked up the loose ball. The Mastodons made two free throws on the other end to finish off the 78-73 victory.

IUPUI returns home on Thursday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, March 1, for its final two home games of the season against Omaha and Western Illinois, respectively.