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INDIANAPOLIS - IUPUI came into tonight's game having lost back-to-back games for the first time since November. They handled the Mavs when they played in early February 77-45 though and used Thursday's meeting to get back on track. Outside of some turnovers and a slow start, they dominated in a convincing 69-52 win.

Senior DeAirra Goss scored a game-high 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting and Akilah Sims chipped in 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Junior Nevena Markovic contributed 11 points and six boards up front for the Jaguars. Taijhe Kelly paced Omaha with 15 points and Ericka House added 14. 
 
IUPUI (20-8, 10-3 Summit) didn't get on the board until 3:25 into the game and Omaha (12-15, 4-9) had already jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but it didn't seem to matter. Over the next 6:30, the Jaguars went on a 22-2 run including a 13-0 stretch that capped it off.
 
"In the last few games we've struggled and come out flat," said Head Coach Austin Parkinson. "Once we got going, we played really hard tonight. I'm really proud of the kids defensively… We got loose balls and went and rebounded."
 
Goss finally got the Jaguars started with a three-pointer from the left corner as the shot clock wound down. Nicole Rogers followed it up with a 3-pointer of her own to cut the deficit to one. The Jaguars forced a turnover on the following possession and after Shanika Maddox went 1-of-2 from the line, the game was tied. IUPUI and Omaha exchanged a pair of free throws to tie the game at nine, and then the Jaguars went on a decisive 13-0 run.
 
Senior Dawn Luster played a huge role in the Jaguars building their first-half lead. After Omaha tied it at nine, the Jaguars made three straight layups, all assisted by Luster. She also capped off the 13-0 run stealing the ball from Madi Robson before finding a streaking Sims for another layup. In the first half alone, Luster had six assists and two steals. She finished with a career-high nine assists and three steals on only one turnover to go with three points.
 
"[Luster] has great vision," said Parkinson. "For her to come in and make some easy plays for us and get our momentum going was huge."
 
The Jaguars ability to get to the rim in the first half was rivaled only by their defense. They forced 14 turnovers including five steals, two five-second inbound violations and a shot clock violation.
 
They kept up the pressure to start the second half, holding Omaha scoreless for the first 4:56 while extending their lead to 41-22. Thanks in large part to the 12 second-half points from Goss, Omaha wouldn't threaten again.
 
IUPUI held Omaha to 39 percent shooting on the game while shooting over 50 percent themselves. IUPUI outrebounded Omaha by 12, got to the line 24 times and had three players reach double figures. About the only weakness they showed was turning the ball over. The Jaguars turned it over 21 times to Omaha's 20, but dominated in points off turnovers scoring 26 compared to Omaha's 14. 
 
"Once we stopped turning the ball over we were able to separate ourselves," said Parkinson.
 
IUPUI's 3-point defense also played a large role in separating themselves throughout the game. Coming into the game, arguably Omaha's biggest threat was the three-point shooting from Felicia Anderson and Ericka House. The pair had combined to hit 128 treys this season, but they combined to go 0-for-7 as the Mavs hit only 1-of-11 overall. Their only three was their third basket of the game, capping their initial 7-0 run to start the contest.

IUPUI has all but locked up the No. 2 seed in the Summit League Tournament, but they still have one more game to go. They will cap the regular season on Saturday (Mar. 1) at 3:00 p.m. when the Jaguars host Western Illinois inside The Jungle. The women's program will honor the four-member senior class of Dee-Dee Bellamy, Katie Comello, Goss and Luster prior to the game and will be signing autographs immediately after the contest.