INDIANAPOLIS – Kicking off festivities for the 2016 season, the IUPUI women's basketball team was in action for the annual red and white scrimmage Tuesday (Oct. 25) night, as the team was broken down into two squads.  The white team was victorious in th end, defeating red 21-18.
 
The white team consisted of returning first-team All-Summit League standout Danielle Lawrence, senior Caitlyn Tolen, Sydney Hall, Allex Brown, and newcomers Taylor Drake and Daesjah Ely.  The red squad was composed of first-team All-Summit Leaguer Mikale Rogers, senior Kelsi Byrd, Jenna Gunn, Tamya Sims and freshman Holly Hoopingarner. 
 
Rogers led all players with 11 points and seven rebounds in the contest, while Lawrence added nine points to lead the white team.  Drake picked up eight points and five boards for the white, while Hoopingarner picked up three points and two assists.
 
Giving the new-look coaching staff an opportunity to take the reigns, Head Coach Austin Parkinson sat out the contest, allowing second-year coach Latrell Fleming to lead the red squad into combat, while first-year coaches Maria Marchesano and Victoria Lipscomb commanded the white team. 
 
"It's nice to be able to see the girls put the jerseys on and play," Coach Parkinson said.  "I was impressed with some of our players today.  Lawrence showed some really good aggression, and I liked what Mikale was able to do with the ball in her hands.  Additionally, Sydney Hall ran the offense pretty well.  I think it'll be the key all year really, whether or not our point guards take care of the ball.  If they do, I think we'll be pretty solid."
 
Playing in four-minute quarters during the exhibition, the white squad led the affair 6-5 at the end of the first abbreviated quarter.  It took nearly two minutes to brake a stalemate in the second, as Lawrence knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the white team's lead, 8-5.  Lawrence would knock down a fast-break layup to extend the lead, but Rogers changed the early outcome on a converted and-one play, followed by a Gunn layup to tie it.  At 10-10 and in the final minute of the first half, Lawrence once again hit in the paint, putting the white squad back on top.  Hoopingarner would convert on the next possession for the red squad, a cutting layup, to knot up the game once again.  The teams would end the first half tied 12-12.  The red team shot .455 from the field in the first half, compared to .333 for the white team.
 
Roughly a minute and a half into the third quarter, Byrd made a strong play to the hoop, cutting to the left side to ignite the scoring in the second half.  After a pair of possessions, Lawrence converted on the other side of the floor, a layup from the right side that dropped.  She'd convert an and-one on the play, putting the white team up 15-14.  Drake would add a bucket with under a minute to play, followed by a Rogers' layup on the other side to head to the fourth with a 17-16 score.  Drake would kick off things in the final frame with a pair of free throws at the 3:32 mark, putting the white team up by three.  Drake would drop in another buck on an assist by Hall to extend the lead to five, but Rogers would bring the red team back, converting on a layup in the next possession to set the score at 21-18.  That would prove to be the final tally, as the teams went scoreless during the rest of the contest.  The victorious white team shot .333 from the field for the game, while the red squad shot .364. 
 
After the game, the men's and women's teams competed against one another in the three-point shooting contest, as five players from each team were given 15 shots to make as many as they can from five shooting zones. 
 
Byrd began the contest by dropping in six buckets, as her male counterpart Grant Sinn tallied nine for the men.  Hall shot second for the women, dropping in three shots.  Matt O'Leary would counter with a handful of baskets, putting the men's squad up 16-12.  Hoopingarner shined for the women, as the freshman put on a shooting clinic, including seven in a row to give the women's squad a 23-16 lead. 
 
Ron Patterson was nearly able to reclaim the lead, but came up just one bucket short, as the score stood at 23-22 in favor the women.  Tolen converted on five in a row to end her session, giving the women a 31-22 cushion.  #T.J. Henderson# came up big for the men, converting nine baskets to put his team in front, 32-31.  Lawrence was the last hope for the women, as the leading scorer from last year's team dropped in eight shots, giving the women a 40-32 lead.  Darell Combs would be the final shooter, putting on a clutch performance including nailing his final shot to tie the affair at 40-40. 
 
Needing a tie-breaker to decide, Combs and Hoopingarner faced each other in a single-shot playoff from each shooting zone.  It wouldn't be enough, as the duo tied again, dropping in four shots each.  They'd head to a double-overtime shoot off, this time featuring Lawrence and Henderson.  Henderson shot spotless for the men, never missing a bucket en route to picking up the W.   
 
With the end of the red and white scrimmage, the women's team will now look to their first scrimmage next week (Nov. 2) against LU-Belleville, before starting the season officially against Northern Iowa (Nov. 11). 
 
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