INDIANAPOLIS – A career night for junior center Mikale Rogers helped the IUPUI women's basketball team defeat conference opponent Omaha 75-59 on Wednesday night (Jan. 13) inside The Jungle at IUPUI. The Jags improved to 12-5 on the season and 3-1 in conference play as they grab a share of second place in the Summit League. Omaha falls to 9-8 on the season and 2-3 in Summit League action.  

"In the first half we kind of matched them point for point and neither team really played great defense," Head Coach Austin Parkinson said. "In the second half we started to get some stops and we made some adjustments. Shaquira Scott's and Jenna Gunn's defense were really good and Mikale (Rogers) was really patient tonight. She took her time, she got her seal and got to the rim and the kids looked for her so credit to them for getting the ball inside." 

IUPUI started slow but the Jags dominated the second half. Rogers scored a career-high 26 points in the game. She had just six at halftime but absolutely took over in the second half scoring ten in both the third and fourth quarters. Rogers added seven rebounds as well as a pair of blocks in the second quarter that led directly to transition buckets.  

Sophomore Danielle Lawrence was her usual self as she produced a quality night of 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Shaquira Scott and Jenna Gunn each added 10 while pulling down five and four rebounds, respectively. Sydney Hall also added eight points and four boards in the contest. IUPUI had four players score in double figures for the first time this season.

Hall was the main source of offensive fuel early in the first quarter as the Jags struggled to get stops. The Fishers, Ind. native scored five of the Jags' first eight points but Omaha scorched the nets from the start with Caroline Hogue scoring 10 of the Mavs' first 12 points in just 3:30. 

The Mavs established a 12-8 (4:19 left) lead in the first and held it through the quarter, leading IUPUI 20-16 at the end of the first. Omaha's Mikaela Shaw joined Hogue in double figures by the end of one period as the two combined for all 20 of the Mavs' points. 

IUPUI strung together a 12-2 run in the middle part of the second quarter to retake the lead at 29-27. The run started with back-to-back blocks from Rogers leading to five fast break points from Scott. Moments later, back-to-back Lawrence threes gave IUPUI the lead. 

An Omaha answer put the Mavs back on top until a triple from Hall gave IUPUI a 38-37 lead at the half.

A rebound put-back from Rogers opened the second half scoring and the junior center took over from there. She scored 10 of IUPUI's 14 points in the quarter as the Jags held a 52-47 lead into the fourth. Rogers continued the offensive onslaught into the final period with another 10 points giving IUPUI the comfortable cushion down the stretch, resulting in the 75-59 win. 

"I think it was my teammates tonight," Rogers said. "They really push me to be the best that I can be. When they encourage me they give me that confidence and once I got going they kept cheering me on. I crashed hard tonight but when I get my seal and have time to make my moves I think that's when I'm the best that I can be."

The Jags committed just six turnovers on the night, a season low, and outrebounded Omaha 36-25. On the offensive side, IUPUI shot 47 percent from the floor and 41 percent (5-for-12) from the three-point line. Over the last two games, IUPUI is 54 percent (13-for-24) from beyond the arc. 

The Jags can be seen at The Jungle this weekend with a Saturday (Jan. 16) matchup against North Dakota State at 7 p.m.