Box Score IOWA CITY, Iowa – For three quarters, IUPUI had Iowa against the ropes but the Jags fell short in the their upset bid against the No. 16 team in the country, losing to the Hawkeyes 72-58 on Saturday (Dec. 8) afternoon.

IUPUI (6-3) was led by junior Holly Hoopingarner who finished with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and pulled down five rebounds. Sophomore Macee Williams scored 19 points including a perfect 5-for-5 day at the free throw line and led IUPUI with eight rebounds. Senior Allex Brown finished the game with eight points and hit both of her three point shots.

"I thought our kids played really hard today and for three quarters gave them all they could handle," said head coach Austin Parkinson. "Macee took the challenge and played very well. Holly was terrific and scored in a variety of ways."

The Jags trailed the Iowa (7-2) by just two points heading in to the fourth quarter as IUPUI was looking for its first win against a ranked team in school history. IUPUI tied the game at 48 after Williams made a layup 14 second in to the final frame but Iowa quickly responded with a layup to go back up two.

From there it became the Megan Gustafson show for the Hawkeyes. Gustafson, who joined Williams on the Lisa Leslie Watch List for best center in women's college basketball before the year started, scored 16 of her game-high 32 points, on 12-for-17 shooting, in the final quarter and had an answer for every Jaguar attempted comeback, usually coming from the free throw line.

"Gustafson is the best post player we have seen in 10 years," said Parkinson.

Iowa was 12-of-14 from the free throw line in the final quarter as Williams, Sydney Hall and Katelyn O'Reilly all fouled out in the fourth. Gustafson led the way for the Hawkeyes going 8-for-10 in the last frame as Iowa pulled away for the win.

IUPUI's offense was above its season average, shooting 40.4 percent from the field and the Jags were perfect from the free throw line but only managed a season-low seven attempts from the charity stripe. Parkinson's squad got major production from its bench as no starter besides Williams and Hoopingarner scored a point. The Jags finished the night with 19 points off the bench, the most since a 39-point performance in the season opener. After Brown, Morgan Allen added six points while Agatha Beier scored three and O'Reilly added two.

Iowa jumped out to a four-point lead early on but free throws by Williams and a jumper by Hoopingarner tied the game at six with 6:25 in the first. From there the teams would trade scores as Williams and Hoopingarner scored 14 of IUPUI's 16 first quarter points and the Jags were down by one after the first ten minutes.

After a three-pointer by Hoopingarner tied the game at 21, Iowa scored the next four points but a three-point play by Williams pulled the Jags within one. O'Reilly gave IUPUI its first lead of the game on a jumper and Brown's three with 23 seconds left in the half gave the Jags their largest lead of the game at five. Iowa would cut the Jags lead to two right before the break with a three at the buzzer. Williams, who is averaging just over 19 points per game led the Jags at the break with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Iowa tied the game under a minute in to the third quarter but five-straight points by Hoopingarner put the Jags up five again. Gustafson kick-started a 7-0 Hawkeye run to erase IUPUI's lead but a three by Beier increased the Jaguar advantage back to four with 3:27 left in the third. The Jags would go scoreless the rest of the quarter as Iowa used another 7-0 run, capped by a layup from Gustafson, to take the two-point lead in to the fourth.

IUPUI will play its last home non-conference game next when the Jags welcome Ohio in to the Jungle on Sunday Dec. 16 at 2 p.m.