LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The IUPUI women's basketball team took ACC foe Louisville to the brink inside the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday (Dec. 13), but ultimately just missed the upset road victory. The Jaguars squandered an 18-point lead, falling to the Cardinals, 70-61. IUPUI (7-3), was outscored 48-25 in the second half by Louisville (4-5). 

"In the first half, we came out really aggressive on defense and boxed out well," said head coach Austin Parkinson. "However, In the second half we became careless with the ball and gave up too many offensive rebounds."

IUPUI was led by senior Akilah Sims, who finished with 15 points on 6-7 shooting. Louisville-native Danielle Lawrence added nine and juniors Mikale Rogers and Kelsi Byrd as well as sophomore Martha Burse added eight points each. Freshman Sydney Hall chipped in seven for the Jags.

After falling behind 9-3 early in the first quarter, the Jags used a 28-9 run from 5:03 in the first quarter to 5:14 in the second quarter to take a 31-18 lead. Eight different Jags scored during the run which was capped by a Lawrence layup. IUPUI took a 36-21 lead in to the halftime break.

IUPUI began the second half with two free throws from Byrd and then back-to-back three-pointers from Burse and Byrd to extend the lead to 18 at 44-26. Louisville would answer with a run of their owned started off by six straight points from Myisha Hines-Allen. The Cardinals capped a 20-8 run with a last-second three-point shot from Briahanna Jackson to cut the IUPUI lead to 52-46 after three quarter. 

"This was still a positive learning experience for us," Parkinson said. "Leading for three quarters on the road versus a talented ACC team shows what we are capable of as a team. Learning how to close out a game is where we still have room to grow."

The six-point lead for the Jags quickly vanished as Louisville scored the first ten point of the quarter to take a 56-52 lead. IUPUI did not score in the fourth quarter until 5:03 left when Rogers hit two free throws. The Jags kept the Louisville lead to two points until Jackson made a layup and hit a three-pointer with 1:17 left in the game to give Louisville the 65-58 lead. From there Louisville closed out the game with free throws to win 70-61.

"You also have to give Louisville credit," said Parkinson. "They made some really tough challenged shots." 

The Cardinals were led by forwards Jackson, who finished with 23 points, and Hines-Allen, who had 22. Louisville forced IUPUI into committing 22 turnovers.

The Jags will be back in action on Friday, Dec. 18, when they host Belmont at the Jungle at 7:00 p.m.. That game will be broadcast on IUPUIJags.com as Scott Agness (pxp) is on the call from courtside.