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INDIANAPOLIS -- Utilizing a quick, suffocating defense in the first half, the IUPUI women's basketball team blitzed the visiting Western Illinois Westerwinds, 67-38, Saturday night at The Jungle. In the teams' Summit League opener, the Jaguars held WIU to one field goal in the first half.
IUPUI (5-3, 1-0 Summit) forced 15 Western Illinois (2-6, 0-1 Summit) turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play, converting the miscues into 17 points, fueling the game's decisive 23-1 run. The 29-point margin of victory was IUPUI's largest in 25 meetings with the Westerwinds.
"In the first half, I thought we had our most complete defensive effort of the season," head coach Shann Hart said. "We try to run our offense through our defense - playing good, solid aggressive defense and capitalizing on turnovers to create easy opportunities."
The Jaguars did exactly that during their run, which began simply enough with an alley-oop layup by
Jernisha Cann off a feed from
Julia Whitted in the high post. Consecutive steals and layins by Cann and
Nicole James made it an eight-point game, and two more Westerwind turnovers led directly to IUPUI baskets, pushing the lead to 12.
A free throw by Western Illinois temporarily stopped the Jaguar run, but on IUPUI's next possession, James, inbounding underneath the WIU basket, put the ball off her defenders back and laid the ball in to put the Jags ahead, 21-6.
Two more breakaway layups - one each by Cann and James - added to the lead, and
Kiara Butler capped the run with a three from the wing, giving IUPUI a 28-6 lead with 4:34 remaining in the half.
Throughout the run, the Jaguars did not allow a Western Illinois field goal, holding the Westerwinds without a basket for the final 17:00 of the first half.
Butler's jumper from the elbow gave the Jags a 32-10 lead at halftime. For the half, IUPUI outscored Western Illinois, 22-0, in the paint, 17-5 off of turnovers, and 10-0 on the fast break.
Looking to avoid letting Western Illinois back into the game,
Farren Stackhouse led off the second half with a three from the right wing - just as she did to start the game. Western Illinois finally knocked down their second basket of the game 1:40 into the second half - ending an 18:40 stretch without a field goal.
The stretch set a new IUPUI Division I record for a defensive stand (not allowing a field goal), breaking the old mark of 16:55, set when IUPUI and Western Illinois tangled on Feb. 10, 2007.
The Jaguars used an 11-2 run midway through the half to extend their lead to 63-29 before settling down over the last 3:14 of the contest.
With 14 points and 11 rebounds, Cann finished with her seventh consecutive double-double, extending her school record. James was the game's high-scorer, racking up 17 points on 8-for-14 shooting. The Franklin Central-product also had 5 steals, tying Cann for the game high.
Whitted was the third Jaguar in double-figures, tallying 11 points; IUPUI is 5-1 when three players finish the night with 10 or more points.
The Jaguars shot a season-best 48.3 percent from the field, knocking down 29-of-60 attempts; nine of the 11 Jags who appeared in the game scored at least 3 points.
For the night, IUPUI outscored Western Illinois 42-8 in the paint, 26-12 off of turnovers, 18-5 on second chance points and 12-0 on the fast break.
IUPUI will practice all week before heading to the Queen City on Sunday, Dec. 14, when they will take on the University of Cincinnati. Tip-off from the Fifth Third Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
