FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Five players scored in double figures and the IUPUI women's basketball team used a 43-point second half to defeat in-state foe Fort Wayne, 78-68, Wednesday evening at the Gates Sports Center.
Nevena Markovic scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead IUPUI in both categories. She was joined in double figures by
Akilah Sims, who scored 14,
Caitlyn Tolen,
Jenna Gunn and
Kelsi Byrd who added 13, 12 and 10 points, respectively.
"I'm really happy with the way our kids responded by digging in defensively in the second half. When we do that and share the ball offensively, we are pretty good," head coach
Austin Parkinson said. "Caitlyn did a great job of running the team down the stretch and having five kids in double figures shows tremendous balance."
A game after Markovic became the 21st player in program history to reach 1,000 career points, she put her name in the record books again on Wednesday as her nine rebounds pushed her into the school's Top 10 list in career rebounding.
The Jaguars trailed by one at the break before going on a 13-4 run in the first 5:08 of the second half to take a lead that it would not relinquish. Fort Wayne would close within four with 13:47 to go, but by the 10-minute mark the lead would reach double digits and the Mastodons never truly threatened down the stretch.
The Mastodons entered the game hitting an average of eight three's at a 36.0 percent clip, but IUPUI held Fort Wayne to five and matched them with five of their own at a 38.5 percent clip. Byrd and Tolen combined to go 4-of-7 from deep keeping things clear inside for Markovic and Gunn, who combined to go 13-of-20 from the floor.
The Jags also were able to keep the game at a comfortable margin late by hitting their free throws, while the Mastodons were uncharacteristically poor from the line. IUPUI converted 17-of-20 from the stripe compared to the Mastodons hitting just 9-of-17.
The win evened the Jags record at 12-12, while upping their conference mark to 7-4, setting up a big Homecoming match-up at home against Western Illinois at The Jungle on Saturday, Feb. 14, at 3 p.m.
