INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Despite a game-high 29 points from senior Mikaela Shaw, Omaha suffered a 79-47 loss to IUPUI on Thursday night at the Jungle. The loss dropped the Mavericks to 11-12 on the season and 4-6 in Summit League play, while the Jaguars moved to 17-6 overall and 7-3 in conference play.
The 29-point effort from Shaw came on 12-of-19 shooting from the field, including 4-of-4 from the free throw line. In addition, the Deweese, Neb., native added nine rebounds, one assist and one block on the night.
Sophomore center Courtney Vaccher added five points and three boards, while junior guard Marissa Preston had five points. Freshman guard Alexa Fisher chipped in four points and two assists.
Danielle Lawrence led three Jaguars in double figures with 21 points and nine rebounds. Lawrence finished 8-of-16 from the field including three 3-pointers. Mikale Rogers had 15 points and five boards. Holly Hoopingarner added 10 points including an 8-of-9 effort from the line.
The Jaguars shot .481 (25-of-52) for the night, while the Mavericks finished .327 (17-of-52) from the field. IUPUI finished .500 (8-of-16) from the 3-point arc, while Omaha was limited to .083 (2-of-24) from distance. UNO went a perfect 11-of-11 at the line, while IUPUI came in at .875 (21-of-24) from the stripe.
The Mavericks dug themselves a 15-4 hole through the first seven minutes, but a jumper from sophomore guard Ellie Brecht and two baskets from Shaw cut the lead to eight (18-10) with 1:20 remaining. IUPUI, however, scored the final six points of the period and took a 24-10 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play.
The Jaguars pushed the lead to 17 on a three-pointer from Caitlyn Tolen early in the second quarter and held a 41-24 edge at intermission.
After IUPUI had extended its lead to 26 points (50-24) early in the third, Shaw scored the next 10 points and pulled Omaha back to within 16 with 3:08 left in the third quarter. The Jaguars, however, closed the period on a 6-0 run making the score after three 56-34.
Senior guard Abi Lujan hit a jumper to open the fourth quarter, and Shaw followed up with a layup to cut the lead to 18 with 8:58 remaining. IUPUI put the game away with a 10-2 to make it 66-40. The Jaguars took their largest lead of the game, 76-42, with 2:56 remaining. A three from Preston and a pair of free throws from Fisher helped to make the final, 79-47.
Omaha returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 4, visiting Western Illinois. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. in Macomb, Ill., and the game will be carried nationally on ESPN3. Donny Baarns will have the radio call on 1290 AM KOIL and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
