SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – It was emotional.  It was tense.  It brought on smiles and it brought on tears.  It epitomized everything about basketball that makes so many love the game.  And in the end, it was everything that a championship finale should be. 
 
Fighting for a chance to win its first-ever Summit League Tournament title and a berth to the NCAA Tournament, the IUPUI women's basketball team (24-8, 12-4) simply ran out of bodies and ran out of time in an epic 69-77 loss to the Western Illinois Leathernecks (26-6, 13-3) in overtime Tuesday (March 7).  The defeat means the Jags will have to await the NCAA's selections to learn their postseason fate.
 
The Jags were led on the day by the strong play of Sydney Hall, who finished with 18 points on 5-for-8 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three-point range.  She added six rebounds and four assists in the contest.  Jenna Gunn added 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting while Caitlyn Tolen finished with 10 points, four rebounds and four assists.  Danielle Lawrence and Mikale Rogers were mostly kept in check as the dynamic duo got into foul trouble, combining for 11 points.  Rogers, despite the trouble, was huge on the glass for IUPUI, pulling in 14 rebounds.  The Jags shot 21-for-50 (.420) in the game from the field, including an 8-for-20 performance from three-point range.  IUPUI won the battle on the glass, 38-37, but coughed up 25 turnovers to just 12 for WIU. 
 
Hall continued her wizardry from three-point range, as the sophomore tallied a triple to start the game for the Jags.  Lawrence dropped in a pair of free-throws after earning a trip to the charity stripe, followed by a long-range missile from Tolen that connected for three.  Hall broke up three minutes of scoreless ball with her second three-pointer, followed soon after by a jumper from Gunn to give the Jags a seven-point edge.  A pair of three-point shots from Western Illinois narrowed the gap to one, but Gunn answered again with a layup to make it 15-12.  A two minute stretch saw the Jags commit three turnovers, as the Leathernecks came surging back.  Three free-throws and a layup put IUPUI in a two-point hole, but Hall answered with a jumper just before the buzzer, tying the game at 17-17 at the end of the quarter.  Hall led the Jags with eight points, shooting 3-for-4 from the floor while going 2-for-3 from long-range.  IUPUI shot a collective 6-for-11 (.545), but committed seven turnovers in the quarter.
 
The second quarter began with both teams exchanging daggers in the first pair of minutes, as Kelsi Byrd came up with a three-point shot to answer the Leathernecks triple.  Rogers connected on her first bucket of the game with a jumper at the 7:22 mark, making it a 22-20 game.  A big block by Rogers highlighted an otherwise sour three minutes of empty basketball for IUPUI, as they watched their lead evaporate on a pair of buckets from the Leathernecks.  A pair of free-throws from Tolen helped pull IUPUI to within one, as Gunn hit a jumper to break up over five minutes without a field goal.  Gunn fought through contact on a setup from Lawrence, getting to the rim for the layup while earning a trip to the free-throw line.  She'd complete the and-one.  Mere seconds later, Hall pulled in a pass from Byrd and promptly unloaded it for her third three-pointer of the game, as IUPUI built a 32-30 lead at the half.  The Jags went 5-of-12 in the quarter, outrebounding the Leathernecks 8-6. 
 
Rogers hit a free-throw and Gunn added a jumper to get the offense started for IUPUI in the second half, as a layup and three-pointer from WIU tied the game at 35-35.  In a sequence of roughly 20 seconds, Gunn picked up a block, a rebound, and a jumper to end an 8-0 run by Western Illinois.  The damage continued however, as the Dogs made it a 12-2 run over five minutes, keeping the Jags' offense at bay with only five points through seven minutes.  Five turnovers over a three minute stretch marred any progress by IUPUI, as a four minute scoring drought brought things to the two-minute mark in the period.  At long last, Lawrence found Gunn open for the layup with less than a minute to play.  Hall connected on a huge three-point shot, her fourth, with just four seconds left as IUPUI narrowed the gap, 42-46 at the end of the third.  The Jags shot 4-for-10 in the quarter while committing six turnovers to raise their game total to 17 at that point.
 
Knowing it was going to take a heroic effort and an all-out push to work their way to victory, Lawrence came out of the gates for the Jags and connected on a layup, just her first field goal of the game.  Allex Brown, who came off the bench to play in the place of a foul-troubled Rogers, hit a layup to pull the Jags to within a possession.  She'd later fight to the rim and earn a trip to the free-throw line on a foul, going 1-for-2.  An and-one play from the Leathernecks felt like a knife in the back, as the Jags saw the deficit grow to five points with both their leading scorers in foul trouble.  Gunn drew a foul and got to the line, hitting a free-throw on the play.  Hall was fouled while pulling down a defensive rebound, as she'd head to the line and land a pair.  Lawrence hit a jumper just before a media timeout, raising her scoring line to six points.  She pulled down a rebound, then take it the other way for a layup as it became a one-score game.  A heart-breaking moment, Lawrence was called for her fifth foul of the game on a turnover, as she had to watch the remainder of the game from the sideline.  Hall went up for a rebound and was fouled, getting another chance at the free-throw line.  She hit both shots, once again making it a two-point game.  Holly Hoopingarner drew contact and went to the line for her first point of the day on a 1-for-2 opportunity.  Another dagger to the Jags, Hall was called for her fifth foul, getting pushed from the game while sending the Leathernecks to the line.  After hitting both, IUPUI was staring down the barrel of a 57-60 deficit with less than a minute to play.  A moment of clutch, Tolen dropped in a three-point bank shot from the wing on a setup from Rogers with 11 seconds left to play, making it a one-point game.  The Jags immediately fouled, trying to preserve as much time as possible with a chance to get the ball back on offense.  With the added chance, Hoopingarner drew a foul, earning a trip to the line with just four seconds left.  Shrugging off the pressure of the moment and rising to the occasion, the freshman point guard dropped in both free-throws, as IUPUI pulled its first lead since the third quarter, 62-61.  Brown stole an inbounds pass and was fouled, knocking down two free-throws to make it 64-61.  In a play pulled straight from the story books, the Leathernecks buried a three-point shot at the buzzer to tie the game, as the two teams would need overtime to decide their fates.
 
Tolen netted a pair of free-throws to respond to back-to-back-to-back three-pointers from WIU, as the Jags trailed the overtime period 66-73.  Two free-throws from Western Illinois with just a minute and a half left made it seem as though the game was out of reach, with such a large gap and little time left to recover.  Hoopingarner grabbed the ball and quickly hit a three-pointer, narrowing the gap to six points with 37 seconds left after a pair of Leatherneck' free-throws.  Unable to land any three-point shots in the fading moments, the Jags saw the game slip away, falling 69-77.    
 
With the loss, the Jags will now wait until Monday (March 13) to determine its fate moving forward.  The NCAA selection show will take place, followed by the WNIT selection show immediately afterward.  With their stellar record and decorated resume this season, the Jags are all but guaranteed to end up in a prestigious post-season position, with hopes that the team can pull its first-ever NCAA berth.
 
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