JagBytes

Issue date: 1/16/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Marcos Dominguez Guard Brykeesha Tate drives the ball down the court in Saturday's game versus South Dakota State. While the team fell in that game, they beat North Dakota State 59-54 Monday night.

Early on it looked like the Jaguars would easily cruise to victory over the North Dakota State Bison. But after countless Jaguar turnovers and missed opportunities by the Bison, the women's basketball team was able to scrape by with a 59-54 victory in Monday night's home game.

Sophomore center Julia Whitted scored the first four points and first foul for the Jaguars. Poor defense by North Dakota put the Jags up 8-0 until the Bison scored a point on Whitted's defensive foul. The Jags played tough defense all night but at times looked unsure offensively. Junior forward Farren Stackhouse was able to do some damage control by snatching an airball after two consecutive Jaguar turnovers.

Unfazed, North Dakota put up four answered points until a pass bounced off head of Bison guard Whitney Trekker, giving IUPUI possession of the ball.

The Jaguars flexed a lot of rebounding skill but with Whitted and athlete of the month Jernisha Cann double-teamed, it was up to the rest of the women to increase the 10-point halftime lead.

The second half was all about teamwork but it looked like poor passing and unsure hands would blow the lead accumulated by the Jags. The Jaguars scored only four points in the first six minutes, compared to North Dakota's seven. Stackhouse checked in and put the Jags up by nine, taking advantage of North Dakota's inability to stay on their feet.

With just under 35 seconds to play, freshman guard Nicole James sank a pair of free throws to put the Jags up by six, followed by another pair by senior guard Christina Cunningham. North Dakota answered with a three pointer to pull within six, but ten team fouls sent Cunningham back to the line. That sealed the victory for the Jaguars who now move to 6-11. The team travels to Shreveport on Saturday to take on Centenary.

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