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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – As the team has had a habit of doing this season, the IUPUI women's basketball team (9-3) made history Wednesday (Dec. 21), defeating Purdue (9-5) 67-62 in a furious second-half rally to drop the Boilermakers for the first time in program history.  Head Coach Austin Parkinson defeated his alma mater for the first time in four meetings, as the Jags continue to rewrite the history books.

"It was great to see our kids come out strong in the second half and give ourselves a chance to get back in the game," Coach Parkinson said of his team's effort.
 
The victory marked just the second time the Jags have defeated a Big Ten school, with the only other victory coming against Minnesota on New Year's Eve during the 2000-2001 season.  It also marks the first time ever that a Summit League team has defeated Purdue.
 
After trailing by nine points, the Jags logged a 41-27 second half to cap off the upset.  The Jags shot .471 (24-for-51) on the afternoon, and .727 (16-for-22) from the free-throw line.  The Jags committed 15 turnovers to 11 for Purdue, and outrebounded the Boilermakers 39-34, picking up 12 on the offensive side.  The teams finished even with three blocks each, as the Jags committed 15 fouls to 18 for Purdue.
 
Mikale Rogers became the 23rd player in Jaguar history to log 1,000 points for her career, putting up a career-high tying 24 in the victory while adding 11 rebounds and two blocks in a double-double effort.  It marks just the second double-double for IUPUI this season. 

"I think it is extra special for Mikale to get her 1,000th point in such a big game," Coach Parkinson said of the career milestone.

Danielle Lawrence added 14 points and eight rebounds with a pair of assists, Jenna Gunn had 11 points and five rebounds, and Caitlyn Tolen added seven points with four boards and three assists.  Sydney Hall, Kelsi Byrd, and Allex Brown also scored for the Jags. 

"Danielle set the tone for our team by rebounding outside of her area in the first half, and Mikale put us on her back down the stretch," Coach Parkinson added.
 
Lawrence struck first for the Jags on their second possession of the game, hitting a dramatic fade away jumper while nearly hitting the floor to give the Jags a quick lead.  Hall would work to the rim and pick up the foul, dropping in a pair of shots from the free-throw line.  Lawrence would strike again, this time on a layup following a Rogers' block, as IUPUI went up 6-0 to start the game.  Lawrence then found Tolen on a backdoor pass to the right block to drop in the layup, as the Jags held a commanding 8-3 advantage over three minutes into the action.  Tolen found Rogers on the next possession for a jumper, Gunn added a basket, Tolen popped a free-throw and the Jags did what they could to hold off a Purdue surge, leading 13-11 at the 1:48 mark.  An exchanged of baskets ended the quarter in a tie, 15-15.  The Jags shot .375 (6-for-16) while the Boilermakers went .412 (7-for-17) from the floor.  IUPUI committed four turnovers while forcing five on the other side.  The Jags were outrebounded 9-13 in the quarter.
 
Gunn ended a 0-for-5 shooting stretch by the Jags, as the Boilermakers owned an 8-2 run to take command in the second quarter.  Lawrence tallied a layup that was wiped out by a Purdue and-one, the teams exchanged three-pointers, Lawrence hit a free-throw and Purdue owned a 16-9 quarter to that point.  With 2:00 to play, Byrd dropped in a third-chance bucket on an assist from Gunn, forcing the Boilermakers into a timeout.  With just a pair of minutes to play, Purdue added four points and closed the first half with a large advantage, as the Jags trailed 26-35. 
 
IUPUI came out swinging to start the second half, as Rogers converted an and-one opportunity followed by a Gunn layup to cut the deficit to four points.  Rogers then hit a runner off the glass to cut it to a one-possession game, quickly followed by a break-away layup by Gunn on a steal to tie the game.  After a timeout, the Boilermakers ended a 9-0 run by IUPUI on a second-chance bucket to reclaim a lead, but Gunn found Lawrence for a triple to give the Jags their first lead since the first quarter.  After a Purdue free-throw and a triple, Rogers hit her first three-pointer of the year, tying the game at 41-41.  The Boilermakers found a way to distance themselves, reeling off a 6-1 run to lead 42-47 with 2:28 to play.  Tolen found Gunn cutting for a layup, as the Jags pulled within three under the two minute mark.  Hall then hit on a layup following two missed free-throws from Purdue, which was then wiped out on a Boilermaker layup.  Rogers hit two free-throws, followed by a layup from Byrd on a Lawrence assist to take the lead at the end of the frame.  The Jags led 50-49 after trailing by nine at the half.  The team owned a 24-14 quarter, limiting Purdue to 6-for-17 shooting in the frame. 
 
After four-straight points by Purdue to start the final quarter, Lawrence knocked down two free-throws to answer back.  After an offensive foul by Purdue, Rogers worked to her right and put up a jumper, as IUPUI reclaimed the lead.  Brown picked up her first bucket on a put-back on a missed three-pointer, quickly followed by another jumper from Rogers, forcing Purdue into a timeout.  The Jags led 58-53.  Hall found Rogers down low who dropped it in, reaching 20 points for the game.  Lawrence drew contact moving to the basket, and hit 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to put the Jags up by four.  After a three-pointer by Purdue, Rogers connected on a jumper following a Tolen assist, just beating the shot clock to move to 18 points for the half.  She'd added two more free-throws to tie her career-high with 24 points, as the Jags were trying stave off a late rally.  Hall hit 1-of-2 free-throws and Purdue was forced to burn a timeout with 35 seconds left.  Tolen added a free-throw as the Boilermakers began to play the foul game.  The effort was in vein however, as the Jags walked away with a 67-62 victory.

"I am really happy for our kids because they really dug in on defense to get stops down the stretch and out rebounded our opponent," Coach Parkinson finished with.
 
With the historic victory, the Jags will now look to close out the non-conference schedule with a home game Wednesday (Dec. 28) against IU-Northwest.  That game will be played as part of a men's-women's doubleheader at the Indiana Fairgrounds, as the Jags will make their season debut inside the Coliseum.  The team will begin Summit League action against Western Illinois on New Year's Eve (Dec. 31), also at the Coliseum.
 
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