2012-13 Schedule | Austin Parkinson Interview

INDIANAPOLIS – Sixteen home games, including non-conference match-ups against Valparaiso, Indiana State and Butler, highlight the 2012-13 IUPUI women’s basketball schedule released today by the IUPUI Department of Athletics and head women’s basketball coach Austin Parkinson.

The Jaguars, who improved their win total by nine from 2010-11 to 2011-12 under the direction of Parkinson, play all of their non-conference games with the exception of one in Indiana or states bordering the Hoosier state.

“We are very excited about this year’s schedule and I think it really does two things for our program,” Parkinson said. “First of all we have a number of challenging road games and several quality opponents at home which will prepare us for Summit League play. Secondly, with 16 home games and a majority of our road games in the Midwest, it gives Jaguar fans the opportunity to really come out and support the ladies.”

IUPUI hits the floor for the first time on Monday, Nov. 5, a night before Election Night, for its lone exhibition home contest against Franklin College at 7 p.m. Five days later (Nov. 10), IUPUI plays its regular-season home opener against Grace College inside The Jungle.

The remainder of the home non-conference schedule is filled with regional opponents beginning with in-state foes Valparaiso (Nov. 17) and Indiana State (Nov. 20). The month of December features four consecutive home games beginning on Monday, Dec. 3, against Youngstown State. The homestand also features games against Western Michigan (Dec. 5), Goshen College (Dec. 9) and Butler (Dec. 18). IUPUI’s final home non-conference match-up is against Chicago State on Tuesday, Feb. 5.

The Jags five non-conference road games will test the squad and prepare them for conference play. The road trips begin with a Nov. 14 match-up at Wright State, and include a three-game road trip at Indiana (Nov. 23), Belmont (Nov. 27) and Eastern Illinois (Nov. 29). Three weeks later, the Jags travel up the road to West Lafayette, Ind. for their final non-conference road game against Purdue on Friday, Dec. 21.

Summit League action starts on the road at IPFW and Oakland on Friday, Dec. 28 and Sunday, Dec. 30, respectively, before hosting Western Illinois on Saturday, Jan. 5, and league newcomer Nebraska-Omaha on Thursday, Jan. 10.

IUPUI has two more conference home games in January against UMKC (Jan. 24) and South Dakota (Jan. 26), three in February against South Dakota State (Feb. 14), North Dakota State (Feb. 16) and Oakland (Feb. 28) before closing their regular-season against IPFW on March 2.

Return trips will be made to North Dakota State on Jan. 17, South Dakota State on Jan. 19, Western Illinois on Feb. 2, Omaha on Feb. 9, South Dakota on Feb. 21 and UMKC on Feb. 23.

The 2013 Summit League Tournament takes place in Sioux Falls, S.D., March 9-12.

First-team all-conference performer Kerah Nelson (16.2 ppg, 6.2 ppg) highlights nine returners from last year’s team that advanced to the Summit League semifinals before losing to eventual champion South Dakota State. Also included among the returners are 2011-12 All-Newcomer Team selection Katie Comello (10.1 ppg, 3.1 apg) and Collegesportsmadness.com 2011-12 Summit League Freshman of the Year Nevena Markovic (8.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.7 bpg).

Season tickets for IUPUI women’s basketball are $50, and fans can click this link for more information or contact John Rasmussen.