CHICAGO – Behind 21 points from Danielle Lawrence, IUPUI won its conference opener over UIC 82-46 on Saturday afternoon.
 
After being held in single digits in her last two games, Lawrence led the Jags on 7-for-15 shooting and a 5-for-7 day at the free throw line. Morgan Allen, Holly Hoopingarner and Macee Williams# joined Lawrence in double figures. Williams scored 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting and hit double-digits for the sixth time in her last seven games and third-straight. Hoopingarner had 11 points, including a perfect day at the free throw line hitting all four attempts. Allen scored a career-high 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting. Jenna Gunn led the Jags with six assists and scored seven.
 
IUPUI (9-3) shot 54.7 percent from the field, the second-highest shooting percentage of the year for the Jags, and held UIC (7-5) to just 35 percent. The Jags finished with a 42-22 rebounding advantage led by Williams who finished wit with nine, followed by Tamya Sims who pulled down seven.
 
"I thought our kids did an excellent job of defending and then keeping them off the glass," said head coach Austin Parkinson. "Anytime we have 19 assists it means we are moving the ball and making the right pass. We had tremendous bench play and offensive balance."
 
After taking a 37-26 lead at the half, IUPUI came out strong, beginning the second half with a 15-6 run to take a 22-point lead. The run started with a layup by Williams. After Lawrence and Sims each hit a pair of free throws, Sydney Hall hit a three to put the Jags up 46-28. Six straight points from Allen capped the Jags run and put IUPUI up 54-32.
 
A 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter featured a three by Sims, back-to-back layups from Williams and a layup from Lawrence to ice the game with the Jags up 69-40.
 
The Jags dominated the Flames inside, outscoring UIC 44-18 in the paint, and despite only having one fewer turnover (16-to-17), IUPUI made the most of its opportunities finishing with 25 points off of turnovers to UIC's seven.
 
Led by Allen and Hoopingarner, IUPUI enjoyed a 31-7 advantage in bench points. Brittany Welch tied her career-high with six points.
 
The Jags fell behind 7-4 after a three from UIC but responded in a big way using a 20-2 run that spanned the first and second quarters. Jenna Gunn tied the game with a three and Danielle Lawrence added another three.
 
A jumper from UIC make it a one-point game but Lawrence hit two free throws to make it a three-point game. Hall hit a free throw and then Hoopingarner scored the next five points with a three and two free throws to end the first quarter.
 
IUPUI began the second quarter with a layup from Lawrence, a jumper from Williams and a layup by Gunn and with 8:28 left in the half, IUPUI was up 24-9. UIC pulled within six halfway through the quarter after back-to-back threes but IUPUI closed the half out strong on a 7-2 run with four points from Lawrence and a three from Allex Brown.
 
The Jags will stay on the road for their next two Horizon League games when the travel to Cleveland State on Thursday (Jan. 4) and Youngstown State on Saturday (Jan. 6).