CHARLESTON, Ill. – The IUPUI women's basketball team suffered a 77-71 overtime loss to Eastern Illinois on Friday (Nov. 13) after leading 38 out of 40 minutes. 

"They made plays down the stretch in the second half," Head Coach Austin Parkinson said. "We had talked about defense being key for us and we just need to get better on defense." 

IUPUI (0-1) jumped out to an early nine-point lead and held it deep into the fourth quarter. The Jags held steady between a six-point gap and an 11-point cushion through three and a half quarters of play.

IUPUI was still in charge by a 52-47 margin with under five minutes to play in the fourth. The lead was still there at 63-61 entering the final two minutes before EIU's shooting turned the tide.

A pair of back-to-back threes by the Panthers jumped EIU (1-0) out in front, 67-65. After fouling with 18 seconds left, forcing the Panthers to miss one of two, the Jags were down just three (68-65) with the ball. Senior Akilah Sims fired a three that just missed but was corralled by Kelsi Byrd with under five seconds to play. Byrd made a great pass back to Sims for a second attempt that banked in as time expired, sending the game to overtime. 

"We had a bit of a scramble there and didn't get the shot we wanted at first," Parkinson added. "Kelsi made a great play to get us a second chance and Akilah knocked it down."

The overtime session was scoreless through two minutes until EIU pulled away in a free-throw frenzy down the stretch, extended the EIU lead out of the Jags' reach, 77-71.

Sims had a game-high 22 points to go along with eight rebounds. Junior Mikale Rogers dropped in 19 points and seven boards while shooting 63.6 percent from the field (7-11). Freshman Sydney Hall played a well-rounded game, scoring just four points but grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out five assists. 

"I think offensively Akilah and Mikale did some positive things," Parkinson said. "Sydney really played well as a freshman running our team for the first time. I thought she did a great job distributing the ball. We just have to get better on defense and rebounding." 

The Jags will travel to Milwaukee next for a Monday (Nov. 16) afternoon tip with Marquette slated for 1 p.m.. The women's game is the first of a men's and women's doubleheader with the Golden Eagles on Monday as the men's tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. inside the BMO Harris Bradley Center.