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INDIANAPOLIS – Pulling off a big victory against a team they haven't defeated since the 2014-15 season, the IUPUI women's basketball team (21-7, 11-4) throttled the former first-place South Dakota Coyotes (22-6, 11-4) 63-42 Wednesday night (Feb. 22).  The victory now creates havoc atop the Summit League standings, as the tournament rankings will be decided this weekend in the final regular season games.
 
Jenna Gunn came through with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting to lead both teams as IUPUI shot 26-for-60 (.433) in the game.  Danielle Lawrence made history with her solid showing, scoring 11 points with four rebounds and three assists.  Her first bucket of the game marked 1,000 points in her career, as she becomes the 24th player in program history to reach the milestone.  Teammate Mikale Rogers, who reached 1,000 earlier this season, finished with 11 points, two rebounds and a block.  Kelsi Byrd hit timely shots for IUPUI with a 3-for-4 showing from three-point range, earning 11 points for the Jags.  Caitlyn Tolen, Sydney Hall, Holly Hoopingarner, and Allex Brown also tallied for the Jags.

"I think it started on the defensive end," Gunn said of her team's effort.  "We came out with a lot of defensive intensity.  The last time we played this team, we let them get a lot of three's off of us.  In this game we held them to four three's.  We stuck to the game plan, ran them off the three-point line, and just tried to push the ball and come out fast.  Last game, we were really sluggish against them.  I just think we came out with great intensity."
 
Starting the game off in style, the Jags got it going with an alley-oop of sorts, as Tolen found Rogers near the hoop on a high-arching pass for a quick layup.  Immediately following, Lawrence picked off an inbounds pass which led to Gunn logging a put-back layup as IUPUI leaped out in front.  Drawing up a good play on an inbounds pass, Gunn was able to get the ball in the lane and step in for a short-range jumper, putting the score at 6-2.  Moments later, Lawrence pushed the ball to the left corner, finding Hall who dropped in the first three-pointer of the game.  Responding to a lucky break for the Coyotes on a generous bounce off the backboard that fell in for a three-point shot, Tolen got the ball on the offensive side and worked around a Rogers' screen to drop in a short-range jumper.  A pair of Coyotes' free-throws just after a media timeout gave the Jags just a one-basket advantage, but Lawrence would widen the edge a bit with a good charge to the hoop that resulted in a layup.  She'd add to it after holding the Coyotes empty for a pair of possessions, dropping in a quick-decision triple to make it 16-9.  After a bucket from USD, Hoopingarner somehow managed to keep the ball alive after drawing a double-team near the rim, then tossed it out to Byrd who knocked down a three-point shot.  The Jags closed the first quarter with a 19-11 lead.  IUPUI shot 8-for-16 from the field, including 3-for-8 from three-point range.  The Jags forced six USD turnovers to just two of their own.
 
The same duo that ended the scoring in the first started it in the second, as Hoopingarner found Byrd beyond the arc who ripped the nylon on a three-pointer.  With Coach Parkinson barking out a play, Lawrence brought the ball down the middle, then kicked it out to Byrd who again connected from long-range.  Hoopingarner came roaring down the lane on the next trip, as IUPUI charged ahead 27-14, forcing a South Dakota timeout.  Nearly falling down, Gunn kept the ball alive in the lane and kicked it back to Tolen who stepped in for a jumper.  Lawrence ended a four-minute scoring drought with a quick jumper in the lane, as IUPUI saw its 15-point lead reduced to eight.  At the half, IUPUI led 31-23.  The Jags shot just 5-for-14 in the second quarter, committing three turnovers while forcing three on the other side.  South Dakota held the rebound advantage at the half, 12-19. 
 
Gunn connected on a reverse layup under the hoop for the first IUPUI points of the second half.  A pair of triples from South Dakota forced the Jags to burn a quick timeout with 7:13 in the quarter. Rogers hit her second bucket of the game after the break on a spin move near the hoop that resulted in a left-handed layup.  She went right back to it, connecting again near the hoop from the right side on the next possession to make it 37-30.  After a media timeout, Gunn hit a triple after pulling in a pass that sailed across the paint, giving IUPUI an even 10-point edge.  With hands in her face and on the ball, Lawrence somehow stepped in then back out on a fade-away jumper, connecting for her ninth point of the game.  After getting fouled on a second-chance effort, Gunn hit a pair of free-throws, which preceded a lob pass down court by Hall which found Gunn for the fast-break layup.  It'd prove to be the final bucket of the third period, as IUPUI chose to burn the clock and send the action to the fourth, leading 46-32.  The Jags shot 6-for-18 in the quarter, picking up nine rebounds, four of which were offensive. 
 
Brown tallied a layup and Rogers converted an and-one play to start the fourth quarter, as IUPUI built its largest lead of the game.  Following a South Dakota timeout, Rogers spun her way to the hoop in hit a layup, followed quickly by a steal from Hall who sent it flying down court to Gunn for the layup.  Byrd hit a pair of free-throws, followed by Lawrence pushing through a double-team for a layup, as IUPUI built a 21-point lead at 59-38.  Hall left her defender in the dust on a blazing dash to the rim, dropping in a touch shot off the glass.  Brown added a bucket as the Jags had the game well in hand.  They'd close the action with a 63-42 victory.
 
With the win, the Jags now create chaos atop the Summit League standings, as it will come down to the final games this weekend to determine seeding in the Summit League Tournament.  The Jags will host Fort Wayne Saturday (Feb. 25) at 3 p.m. EST in the final game of the regular season and senior day for IUPUI.
 
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