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INDIANAPOLIS – An up-and-down affair that featured plenty to build off of, the IUPUI women's basketball team (0-1) was defeated in the season opener Friday night (Nov. 11), falling to Northern Iowa (1-0) 62-69. The Jags rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to take the lead, but eventually fell late in the fourth quarter.
The Jags shot .426 for the game (23-for-54), including .263 (5-for-19) from three-point range.
Danielle Lawrence led all Jags with 13 points, also picking up four rebounds and four assists.
Mikale Rogers added 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while
Sydney Hall went off for 11 points and six rebounds.
Jenna Gunn and
Caitlyn Tolen both dropped in eight points, while newcomer
Holly Hoopingarner had nine off the bench with three assists, including 5-for-7 from the free-throw line.
Kelsi Byrd had two points, two assists and a board.
After the Panthers fired the opening salvo to begin the season, Lawrence answered right back for the Jags on the ensuing possession, tying the game at two apiece. She'd follow that with a three-pointer on the next trip down, making it a 5-4 lead for IUPUI. After the Panthers responded with a triple, Gunn caught a pass from Rogers on the right side to drop it in for a layup and tie the game. Three-straight buckets and a free throw marked a 7-0 run for UNI, as IUPUI had to burn a timeout early. UNI would strike again on a three-pointer from the left corner, making it a 10-point deficit. The Jags would at long last break the dry spell, as Lawrence set up first-year Jag Hoopingarner on a knifing layup to make it 9-17. Next trip down, Rogers would strike on a post move to convert a layup, making it a two-possession game once again. After a Panthers bucket, Hoopingarner would convert an and-one play, getting the layup and a free-throw to make it 14-19. The Jags would be limited to just a free-throw with 42 seconds left, as Northern Iowa converted an improbable half-court buzzer beater to close the first quarter, 15-24.
The Jags finished the first quarter with 10 points in the paint, shooting 6-for-15 from the floor (.400) while picking up eight rebounds to seven for UNI. Each team finished with 18 possessions in the quarter.
It took roughly three minutes before Tolen scored the first bucket of the second quarter for IUPUI, a three-pointer from the top of the arch, to make it an 18-29 game. Both teams were mostly inefficient during the second frame, as at the 4:21 mark, IUPUI had yet to drop in another bucket. Coach Parkinson called a timeout, as Northern Iowa had outscored the Jags 8-2 in the frame. With the score at 18-33, Hall dropped in a corner three-pointer on an assist from Byrd to break the dry spell. Following two free-throws from Rogers, the First-Team All-Summit Leaguer made a beautiful post move and converted a fade away shot, picking up the foul on the play to make it an and-one. She'd convert the free throw. Now at 26-37 with 2:05 left to play, Hall dropped in a bank shot off a strong pump fake to bring the deficit down to single digits. Hall would add a free-throw prior to a bizarre stretch of three-straight travel calls by both teams, as the teams headed into the locker room with the score, 29-39.
At the half, the Jags were shooting .435 as a team (10-for-23) while going three-for-five from beyond the arch. The Jags had 15 rebounds to 13 for UNI, while picking up seven assists and committing 11 turnovers.
An emphatic play right out of the locker room, Hall ripped down an offensive board and dropped in a reverse layup in the first minute of play. The next trip down, Tolen would add a bucket after a Gunn offensive rebound to make it 33-39. After a Panthers bucket, Gunn would drop in a layup, Lawrence would convert two free throws, and Gunn would draw an offensive foul to give the Jags the ball with just a four-point deficit. From there, Tolen would hit on a three-point shot on a kickout from Rogers in the paint to make it a one-point game, 40-41. Following a Panthers timeout, UNI would commit an offensive foul to hand the ball back to the Jags, with a chance to take the lead. It'd take a second possession, but a steal capped off by a fast break layup from Gunn would put IUPUI up by one, their first lead since the first quarter. With 3:50 left to play, Lawrence would knife through the paint for a layup, making it a three-point Jag advantage. The teams would exchange buckets down the stretch, with the third quarter ending with the score, 46-45. The Jags scored 17 points in the quarter on a .389 shooting percentage.
After the Panthers struck first in the final quarter, Gunn hit a left-side layup at the 7:40 mark, putting the Jags back up, 48-47. Two Panthers scoring plays and a pair of free throws put the Jags down by six. Lawrence would answer back, dropping in a right-side layup on an assist from Byrd to push the Jags to 50 points. Rogers hit on a jumper to answer four-straight from UNI, followed by a Hall left-corner three-pointer to make it a one-basket game. At 56-58, the Panthers knocked down a three-point shot, which was quickly followed by a Byrd layup in heavy traffic. Another Panther bucket was followed by a three-point shot with under a minute to play, putting the Jags down 58-66. They'd be forced to play the foul game down the stretch, but there simply wasn't enough time, as IUPUI eventually fell with the final score, 62-69.
The Jags will now look to next week when they host Oakland City on Wednesday (Nov. 16) at 7 p.m. EST in the Jungle.
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