INDIANAPOLIS – In the first contest of the new year, the IUPUI women's basketball team defeated the Detroit Mercy Titans in an overtime thriller, 81-76. Katie Davidson recorded her second 30-point game with 30 points. Jazmyn Turner added a season-high 21 points.
 
IUPUI's Davidson opened the scoring with a three-pointer, but Detroit Mercy's Irene Murua quickly matched to tie the game at three in the opening minute. The teams then struggled to find the bottom of the net over the next few minutes of play, leading to a 11-8 Detroit Mercy lead at the first media timeout. 
 
The offensive blunders continued out of the break, with neither team scoring in the first eight offensive possessions. Despite combining for just 26 points in the first nine minutes of play, the squads tallied seven points in the final 35 second of the quarter, with five coming from Detroit Mercy to extend its lead to seven, 20-13. 
 
The Jaguars squared the match at 27 with just over five minutes remaining in the first half on a difficult layup by Turner. After holding the Titans scoreless for nearly five minutes, the Jags took the lead—their first since the 6:16 mark in the first quarter—on a driving layup from Logan Lewis. 
 
Just like the first quarter, the Titans turned it on in the final minute of the half, notching seven points in the final 1:07 to take a 34-31 lead into the locker room. 
 
After back-to-back and-one's, the Jaguars again took the lead with just over two minutes remaining in the quarter. The Titans, however, tied the game at 47 the next time down the court. 
 
IUPUI scored on its first four offensive possessions in the final quarter, including a three from Thalia Walton that gave the team a 56-55 advantage. 
 
Out of the media timeout Detroit Mercy was firing on all cylinders, going on a 9-0 run to take a six-point lead and force head coach Kate Bruce to call her first timeout. Turner was quickly fouled and sent to the line where she knocked down both attempts to chip into the advantage. On the other end, Turner was credited with a steal, and after an offensive rebound, the graduate student was again sent to the charity stripe, cutting into the lead after two more points. Following another defensive stop, Davidson's tough finish through traffic notched the score at 68 with 1:17 remaining on the clock. 
 
After a trap forced a thirty-second timeout by Detroit Mercy, the team executed coach Achter's play call to perfection, resulting in an Amaya Burch three-pointer. Davidson, however, tied the game with a three from the wing. 
 
Coach Bruce called a timeout with 4.1 seconds and the ball to draw up a play with an opportunity to win the game. Turner got the ball right where she wanted it, in the middle of the paint, but her shot rolled around the rim and out to send the game to overtime. 
 
Davidson scored the first five points of the extra period for the Jaguars, including yet another shot from beyond the arc to claim an early overtime advantage. Jaci Jones would extend the lead to five after connecting on a layup despite being fouled. Murua, however, made it a single-possession contest after easily getting to the basket for a layup. 
 
After failing to generate any open looks in the first 25 seconds of the possession, Bruce called a timeout to draw up a play with 15.6 second remaining in the game. Turner was fouled on the ensuing inbound, leading to two free throws and a five-point lead. 
 
The Jaguars' defense held the Titans scoreless in the final 15 seconds to secure its first Horizon League victory, 81-76.
 
Davidson went 12-for-18 from the field and 3-for-5 from three for 30 points while Turner totaled 21 points shooting 5-for-13 from the field with an 11-for-13 mark at the free throw line. Walton added 13 points while Abby Wolterman totaled eight. Turner led in rebounds with eight.
 
The Jaguars are now 3-11 overall and 1-4 in the Horizon League. They next host the Wright State Raiders on Thursday, January 11 for a 7:00 PM tipoff.