INDIANAPOLIS – A knock-down, drag-em-out fight until the very end, the women's basketball team (21-11, 11-5) couldn't hang on long enough, succumbing to San Diego (25-7, 13-5) late in the WNIT second-round contest Saturday, with the final score 48-59.  The loss ends another great year for IUPUI, as the Jags' recorded their third 20-win season in four years and continue to look like a program on the rise moving into the future.
 
The Jaguars were led by First-Team All-Summit League player Danielle Lawrence with 18 points, while the other First-Team selection, Mikale Rogers, pulled in a game-high 12 rebounds.  In total, the teams combined for 41 turnovers, with 25 coming from IUPUI. 
 
The Jaguars leapt out to a quick start, winning the tip and immediately going down low to Rogers for an easy layup on an assist from Shaquira Scott.  Scott would sink a jumper on the next trip down for the Jags and Lawrence would net a layup following a steal by the Jaguars. Sydney Hall would pull in another steal for the Jags' and quickly lob it down court to a streaking Akilah Sims for a breakaway layup, 8-6.  Following a San Diego three-pointer, Martha Burse would connect with Sims on another quick play in the paint for a layup, followed up by Burse finding a seam and charging the basket for another quick two.  Up 12-11 after a takeaway by the Toreros, Burse found pay dirt again, this time pulling up for a quick jumper from 10 feet away. Both teams would go scoreless for nearly three minutes, with the Toreros ending the dry spell by hitting a triple with just eight seconds remaining in the quarter.  The teams would head to the second, 14-14.
 
It would take just over two minutes for IUPUI to get back onto the board, as Lawrence would drop in a layup for the Jags' to tie the game at 16.  Rogers would hit again on the next trip down, as the Jaguars showed signs of offensive efficiency following four turnovers to start the period.  After a slick move by Burse to strip the ball from San Diego at the 5:35 mark, the Kankakee, Ill.-native would find Lawrence down low for a layup.  Next trip down for the Jags', Sims would receive a Burse pass for a layup to go up 22-20.  After a San Diego layup, Jenna Gunn would collect her first points on an assist by Rogers to go back up by two.  With 2.6 seconds left, IUPUI would commit a foul, the fifth team foul of the period, to put San Diego at the line.  Both shots would drop in, and the half would end in a tie, 24-24.  The free throws were the first for either team in the game.          
 
A defensive battle to begin the second half, Lawrence would hit the Jags' first basket, a layup, at the 7:41 mark to tie the game at 26.  Next trip down, Gunn would hit a layup as well to once again claim a lead for the Jags'.  Back-to-back baskets for San Diego would put the Jaguars down by a pair, but Lawrence would respond with a three-pointer from the left side to go up once again.  Sims would end a two-minute offensive silence for the Jags', hitting a layup to tie the game, 33-33.  Seven unanswered points would give IUPUI its biggest deficit of the game, but Rogers would put on a good post move to end the run and get the Jaguars back in the game, 35-40.  Neither team would score again in the final 1:21, as the Jaguars would head into the fourth quarter trailing. 
 
Gunn began the comeback attempt at the 7:45 mark in the final period, hitting a three-pointer to narrow the gap to two.  After a San Diego layup, Rogers would hit a jumper on a setup from Lawrence to once again make it a two-point game. San Diego would land seven-consecutive points to give the Jags' their biggest deficit, 40-49.  With 3:51 left to play, IUPUI finally cracked the Toreros defense, as Lawrence converted an and-one play for the first IUPUI free throw of the game.  San Diego would net a three-pointer to again lead by nine, but Lawrence would once again earn the hoop-and-the-harm, a three point play to narrow the gap, 46-52.  Out of a San Diego timeout, Burse would charge the lane to earn a pair of free throw attempts, knocking down 1-of-2 to make it a two-possession game.  After a Toreros' three-pointer and a layup and with just 44.8 seconds left in the game, Lawrence converted 1-of-2 free throws to make it 48-57.  Running out of time, the Jags' began the full-court press and foul-immediately strategy, but it wasn't enough, as time slipped away.       
 
San Diego will face Michigan in the Sweet Sixteen, the third round of the WNIT.