INDIANAPOLIS – In a midweek Horizon League matchup, the IUPUI women's basketball team took on league leaders Cleveland State, falling 75-52 in the Jungle Wednesday (Feb 21_ night. Faith Stinson paced the Jags with 14 points and five boards—both team highs—as foul trouble plagued the hosts from early on.
IUPUI (6-20, 4-13) got off to a poor start offensively, going 1-for-6 in the opening five minutes. The team's only basket came on a difficult finish from Alexa Hocevar inside the paint. On the other side, Cleveland State (24-4, 15-2)—led by Mickayla Perdue—was nearly unstoppable, shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor to take a 13-2 advantage into the first media timeout.
The Jags got a boost in the first offensive possession out of the break, with Jaci Jones knocking down the game's first triple. The hosts also picked it up on the defensive end and the glass after being outrebounded 8-2 in the opening five minutes of play. Thalia Walton scored on back-to-back possessions, including another three pointer to make it a one-possession contest before the end of the first quarter.
After failing to score in the second half of the opening quarter, Perdue got back on track to start the second, connecting on a difficult jumper to extend the lead, which quickly ballooned to double-digits after getting back on track offensively. The 10-2 run to open the stanza led to an early Kate Bruce timeout.
The Cleveland Stater 2-3 zone continued to bother the IUPUI offense throughout the quarter, forcing IUPUI to shoot just 26 percent (4-for-15) from the floor. On the other end, the visitors attacked the basket, leading to foul trouble and multiple free throw opportunities, knocking down 8-of-11. They outscored the hosts 20-12 in the quarter to take a 35-24 lead into the break.
The run continued into the second half, with the Vikings tallying eight of the first 10 points to stretch the lead to 17. It took over 25 minutes of game time for the visitors to connect from deep, but Carmen Villalobos' three started a trend, with another triple coming just over a minute later from Shadiya Thomas that stretched the lead to 25. After connecting on a fourth consecutive attempt, the Vikings again increased the advantage, this time to 28.
Despite holding Cleveland State to its lowest-scoring quarter (14 points) and forcing five turnovers, IUPUI was unable to cut into the deficit, going 5-for-14 (35.7 percent) in the quarter.
The Vikings were dominant in the trenches, outscoring the Jags 48-22 inside the paint and winning the rebounding battle 40-29. A big reason for the discrepancy was because of the Vikings' Jordan Reisma, who led all players in both categories, registering an 18-point, 12 rebound double-double. Perdue followed closely behind in the scoring, tallying 17 on 7-of-13 shooting. Point guard Colbi Maples was an excellent facilitator, recording a game-high 6 assists.
IUPUI ends its three-game homestand on Saturday (Feb. 24) when it takes on Purdue Fort Wayne for senior night. Tip off is set for 2:00 p.m. with the game being streamed on ESPN+.
