CHICAGO – Despite a career-high 23 points from Macee Williams, IUPUI fell in its final non-conference game of the season to DePaul, 85-71 on Monday (Dec. 20).
 
IUPUI (8-3) managed to pull within nine in the fourth quarter after a layup from Williams but DePaul (8-4) used an 11-2 run to over the next two minutes to put the game away.
 
"DePaul is a high-powered offense that if you don't box out and give second and third looks to such a quality team, they will make you pay," said head coach Austin Parkinson. "Tonight they had more toughness than us forcing turnovers and second chance points."
 
Williams kept the Jags in the game in the second half scoring 17 of her 21 points after the break. Williams was 7-for-7 from the field in the second half and finished 9-for-9 for the full game.  She also hit three of her five free throws and was tied for the team lead with Morgan Allen with six rebounds, as well as leading the team with two steals.
 
"It's nice to see our freshman contribute to us cutting the lead down to nine points and Macee [Williams] continues to be a stud down low," said Parkinson.
 
Sydney Hall finished second with 11 points and Tamya Sims added 10 points, scoring eight in the first 20 minutes.
 
IUPUI allowed DePaul to shoot almost 46 percent from the field as Amarah Coleman had 20 points to lead the Blue Demons. Coleman was followed by Chante Stonewall and Tanita Allen, who each posted 12 points.
 
The Jags jumped out to an early lead with Sims and Hall scoring the first two baskets of the game. A three-point shot by Hall gave the Jags a 9-4 lead with 6:02 left to play in the first quarter. After almost three scoreless minutes, DePaul made a run scoring nine of the next 11 points to take a 13-11 lead.
 
Danielle Lawrence, who finished with eight points, tied the game with a layup but the Jags would miss their next four shots and DePaul would jump out to a 22-15 lead to end the first quarter.
 
The Jags responded at the beginning of the second quarter with a 6-0 run with four points from Sims and two from Holly Hoopingarner to pull within one at 24-23. IUPUI managed to keep the game within single digits until a jumper from Allen gave the Blue Demons a 37-27 lead.
 
IUPUI fell behind by as much as 19 points in the third quarter before pulling back to single digits in the fourth but could not complete a comeback.
 
"Overall this has been a very good non-conference schedule for this team," said Parkinson. "Our team has a lot of weapons and will be ready for Horizon League play."
 
Horizon League play begins for the Jags after a nine-day break when IUPUI returns to Chicago to play UIC on Dec. 30 at 4 p.m.