The Thunderbirds improved to 11-8 overall and 5-3 in conference play, the most wins by an SUU club since the 2004-05 and 05-06 teams each won 11. The Jaguars had their record slip to 3-15 overall and 1-7 in Summit League play.

Senior forward Challis Pascucci used a 15-point second half to finish with a team-high 25 points while also grabbing a game-high 11 rebound to notch her seventh double-double of the season and seventh career 25 point game. Fellow senior Caitlyn Sears scored a20 points and made five steals as the Thunderbirds improved to 3-0 when Pascucci and Sears both reach 20 points in a game. Freshman Desiree Jackson added 11 points and fellow freshman Andrea Jones came off the bench to score 10 points.

Southern Utah used a season-high 53 percent shooting effort and 41-19 rebounding advantage to record their eighth straight home victory. The Thunderbirds also shot 24-of-32 at the free throw line and forced IUPUI into 18 turnovers.

"I was very pleased with our effort on the boards tonight," stated head coach JR Payne. "Rebounding was huge and we did a good job of executing on the offensive end against a tough, scrappy, very athletic IUPUI team. It always feels good to get a conference win on your home floor in front of our fans."

SUU opened up a 10-point lead in the early minutes after a couple steals ignited a 14-4 run for the Thunderbirds. Pascucci had six points during that stretch that gave the Thunderbirds an 18-8 lead at the 1:36 mark.

IUPUI answered with their own run over the next two minutes, using a 9-0 spurt to make it a one-point game. Sears caught fire in the final minutes of the half, scoring seven consecutive points in SUU's 9-3 run to open their lead up to 31-23 with 4:37 remaining.

IUPUI continued to knock down shots though, using the three-ball to keep SUU's lead in the single digits. Following the Jaguars fourth three of the half, Sears hit a nice runner in the lane and Jones and Jackson each hit a pair of free throws as Thunderbirds went into the half with a 39-31 lead.

SUU shot 48 percent from the floor and scored 12 points off of 10 IUPUI turnovers in the first 20 minutes. Sears and Pascucci finished the half with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Thunderbirds opened the second half with Pascucci scoring seven points in SUU's 12-4 run to open up a 53-39 lead at the 15:40 mark. Again the Jaguars battled back, putting together an 11-3 spurt to get within six.

SUU then went back to Pascucci and Sears to pull away for good, using an 11-2 run highlighted by consecutive layins for Sears and a big three by Jones in the right corner. Freshman Angel Dorn capped the run with a layup to give the Thunderbirds a 72-58 lead at the 6:29 mark.

Southern Utah would keep their lead in the double-digits for the rest of game. Pascucci's free throw gave the Thunderbirds their largest lead of the game, a 16-point advantage at the 5:53 mark.

The Thunderbirds finished with 19 second-chance points and had sophomore forward Tayler Anderson grab seven boards to go with her six points. Goff finished with eight assists and five points. Pascucci produced a 13-for-14 effort at the charity stripe.

Next up for the Thunderbirds in a Monday night matchup against Western Illinois University that will close out the first round of Summit League play. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in the Centrum Arena.