INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Sixth-seeded Purdue Fort Wayne matched a season high with 13 3-pointers in a 73-69 victory at third-seeded IUPUI on Thursday evening (March 2) in the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Women’s Basketball Quarterfinal.

The win moves the Mastodons to the semifinals of a league tournament for the first time since making the final four of the Summit League Championship in 2012-13. 

The ‘Dons will play top-seeded Green Bay on Monday (March 6) at noon at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

The first half was the Audra Emmerson show. The sophomore from nearby Fishers, Indiana had 15 points on five 3-pointers in the first half.

The ‘Dons went up 20-9 in the first quarter thanks to a 12-2 run. An extended cold streak from the ‘Dons into the second quarter saw IUPUI go up 21-20. Then the ‘Dons warmed up again, scoring the next 11 points. Emmerson had two 3-pointers in this stretch. Emmerson closed the half on a 3-pointer with four seconds left to give the Mastodons a 38-30 lead at the break.

The start of the second half was not as smooth as the finish to the first. IUPUI out-scored the ‘Dons 6-0 over the first 5:31 of the third quarter as the ‘Dons committed six turnovers. 

It has been said basketball is a game of runs, and Thursday proved that. The ‘Dons used an 11-2 run to go up 49-38 and force an IUPUI timeout with 1:45 left in the third. 

IUPUI did not go away and tied it at 63 with 3:10 left. The next possession proved to be the most pivotal of the game. Aubrey Stupp was fouled with one second left on the shot clock. She made both free throws to put the ‘Dons up 65-63 with 2:36 left. A steal by Destinee Marshall on the other end gave the ‘Dons a chance to go up two possessions. For a moment, it looked that wouldn’t be the case when Amellia Bromenschenkel missed a 3-pointer. She took one step to her right to get back on defense and then decided to try to knock the ball away from IUPUI’s Destiny Perkins who grabbed the rebound. Bromenschenkel was successful. She surprised Perkins and walked in for an easy layup to put the ‘Dons up 67-63 with 1:40 left. 37 seconds later it was Bromenschenkel again with a layup to make it a six-point lead. The ‘Dons held on from there.

Emmerson added one 3-pointer in the second half to finish with a career-high six treys for 18 points. Bromenschenkel also had 18 while Shayla Sellers totaled 12. It was the All-League duo of Bromenschenkel and Sellers doing work in the fourth quarter. Bromenschenkel scored 11 in the final frame and Sellers had seven points on 3-of-3 shooting. 

The ‘Dons finished the game shooting a season-best 53.1 percent (26-of-49) from the floor. IUPUI was limited to 43.3 percent (26-of-60) and 6-of-24 from three.

The win is the Mastodons’ first in Indianapolis over IUPUI since 2011. 

IUPUI falls to 17-13. The ‘Dons improve to 14-18.