CHICAGO – IUPUI women's basketball needs to shift its focus quickly after a big 20-point win over Georgia Southern on Monday (Dec. 18), as the Jags will play at DePaul on Wednesday (Dec. 20).
Head coach Austin Parkinson's squad has won their last two games by an average of 17 points and used one of their best defensive efforts of the season to be Georgia Southern. IUPUI allowed the Eagles to shoot 34 percent from the field and the 52 points given up were tied for the second-lowest point total allowed by the Jags.
Freshman
Macee Williams led the Jags against the Eagles with 18 points. It was the fourth time in her last five games that Williams has scored in double figures.
Tamya Sims scored 11 points to reach double-figures for the fourth-consecutive game and
Jenna Gunn's hit double-digits in back-to-back games, scoring 13.
Holly Hoopingarner also added 11 points for the Jags in the win.
Danielle Lawrence saw her streak of seven-straight games end with a season-low six points but did have a team high three assists. Lawrence still leads the team in scoring with 17.5 per game, followed by Williams (10.9) and Sims (10.6).
SCOUTING DEPAUL: The game against DePaul will be one of the tougher tests of the year for IUPUI. The Blue Demons come in to the game with a 7-4 record including a 4-2 record on their home court. DePaul lost its last game, a 91-82 defeat at No. 2 Notre Dame on Sunday (Dec. 17). DePaul is the highest-scoring team that IUPUI has seen this season, averaging 89 points per game and have six players scoring in double-figures.
Ashton Millender is leading the team with 14.5 points per game followed by Mart'e Grays (13.6), Amarah Coleman (13.1), Chante Stonewall (11.5), Kelly Campbell (11.3), and Tanita Allen (10.7). The Blue Demons are shooting over 41 percent from the field and hitting over 35 percent from three. The one place DePaul has been beaten this season is on the glass. DePaul is losing the rebounding margin by 5.7 this season, a place where IUPUI has a 5.3 rebound per game advantage over its opponents.
QUOTABLE: "This will be a fun challenge before Christmas for our team because DePaul can really put up numbers on offense and are coached by one of the best in the game in Coach Bruno," said Parkinson.
