INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Feb. 4 - Southern Utah women's basketball had no answer for IUPUI's Julia Whitted who scored a game-high 27 points on 13-of-21 shooting, causing the Thunderbirds to fall 71-46 on Monday night in Indianapolis. The setback leaves SUU with a 5-17 record and a 3-8 conference mark. IUPUI improved to 11-12 and 7-4 in The Summit League with the win.

Southern Utah suffered through a slow start for the second consecutive game as the Jaguars pulled together a 19-0 run in the middle of the first half to build a commanding lead of 33-9 with 3:53 remaining in the half. The Thunderbirds shot 0-of-8 from the floor and committed five turnovers during the course of the eight minute slump. The Jaguars capitalized on the relapse and closed out the first half with a 37-12 lead.

SUU came out with a vengeance in the second half, building a 17-6 run over a span of 7:30 minutes to trim the lead to 14 (43-29). IUPUI countered, but the Thunderbirds kept the deficit to the mid-teens until another huge run by the home team sealed the win for the Jaguars. The 14-0 run from the 10:59 mark to the 5:26 mark put the game out of reach for the 'Birds, but the team continued to fight closing the game out with a 7-2 run, leading to the final outcome, 71-46.

The Thunderbirds were led by freshman Caitlyn Sears with 14 points, followed by a double-double night for Anne Westwood with 13 points and ten rebounds. SUU ultimately out shot IUPUI in the second half 64 percent to 41.2 percent and ended with a decent shooting night of 42 percent from the field (19-of-45).

The Jaguars had two other players score in double figures with Jernisha Cann scoring 10 points in addition to seven rebounds and assists and Christina Cunningham with 18 points.

Southern Utah will return home to the Centrum for its next game with UMKC on Saturday afternoon. The game will be the only one scheduled for the Thunderbirds during the weekend with tip-off set for 5:00 p.m. with the men's game immediately following.