WICHITA - The Newman women's basketball saw yet another second half lead against one of the best teams in the Heartland Conference slip away Saturday, dropping a 47-43 decision to conference-leading Incarnate Word Saturday afternoon inside Fugate Gymnasium. Monique Pitts was one of nine Jets to score in the game, and led Newman with seven points.

It wasn't a pretty start for Newman (5-15, 3-6 Heartland), as Incarnate Word (14-6, 8-1 Heartland) jumped out to an early 7-1 lead in the first two minutes of the game. The Jets roared back, drawing to within one, 9-8, after a Monique Pitts lay-up at the 15:06 mark. Newman completed the comeback when Pitts drained a trey seven minutes later, giving the Jets an 18-17 advantage with 7:56 yet to play in the opening frame. The Cardinals snatched the lead right back a minute later on a Nia Torru jumper, and pushed their cushion to three, 21-18, after a Hayley Harvey jumper at the 4:31 mark, but the Jets ended the half with six-unanswered points, and took a 24-21 lead into the halftime break.

The Jets cashed in on back-to-back misses by UIW to open the second half, and a Jessica Forshee jumper pushed Newman's lead to five just over a minute into the final frame. Forshee's jumper was part of a 13-4 Newman run that gave the Jets a 12-point, 37-25 lead by the halfway point. Just when things started looking up for Newman, though, the Cardinals battled back. Incarnate Word scored the next five points of the game to draw within seven, 37-30, at the 7:32 mark. Over the course of the next six minutes, UIW completed their comeback effort, and took their first lead of the second half after Cinnamon Kava drained two free throws with 22 seconds remaining. Newman's Melissa Brockleman had a chance to tie the game inside of 10 seconds, but her lay-up rimmed out as the Cardinals went on to the 47-43 win.

Pitts led the Jets with seven points in the game, while Jessica Forshee added six points. Hadley Freeman, Rainey Nickel, Ellen Traylor, and Heidi Leinberger each finished with five points in a game where nine different Jets scored. Melissa Brockleman was Newman's high rebounder, grabbing seven boards in the contest.

With the loss, the Jets fall to 5-15 on the season, and 3-6 in Heartland Conference play. They will look to rebound Thursday night when they travel to Laredo for a 5:30 contest with Texas A&M International.