YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - IUPUI's women's basketball has cruised in their last two Horizon League wins but will face a stiffer test on Saturday (Jan. 5) with a battle against Youngstown State. The game against the Penguins will begin at 1 p.m. at be streamed on ESPN3.

The last time on the court for the Jags (8-6, 2-1 Horizon), IUPUI exploded to a 75-50 win against Cleveland State. The Jags jumped out to a 25-9 lead after the first quarter and never looked back, eventually leading by 31 points before winning by 25. The Jags shot over 50 percent from the field, led by Macee Williams who scored 23 points on 11-for-14 shooting and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Tamya Sims (7-11 fg) and Katelyn O'Reilly (3-3 3fg) also reached double-figures with 16 points and 11 points, respectively.

Youngstown State (11-3, 3-0 Horizon) is riding a four-game winning streak and is 7-1 on its home court. The Penguins are averaging 70 points per game and are coming off of an 81-29 win over UIC. In the win over the Flames, Mary Dunn led the game with 26 points on a scorching 12-for-14 and pulled down 13 rebounds. Alison Smolinski also hit the 20 points mark hitting 5-of-10 threes.

QUICK NOTES (full game notes)
JAGS CRUISE PAST VIKINGS

• IUPUI's cruised to its second-straight Horizon League win with a 75-50 victory over Cleveland State. It was the second consecutive 25+ point win for the Jags after falling to Wright State to begin conference play. Macee Williams led the Jags with 23 points on an extremely efficient 11-for-14 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds.
• Tamya Sims was second on the team with 16 points, hitting 7-of-11 shots as IUPUI shot .508 from the field. It was the second-highest shooting percentage of the season for IUPUI. The Jags also hit 41 percent from deep hitting 9 of 22 attempts. Both of those numbers are the best the Jags have posted since hitting 10 threes on 48 percent against VCU on Nov. 25.
• IUPUI dished out 24 assists, led by five from Holly Hoopingarner. It was the highest assist total since the Jags dished out 25 assists in the season opener.

OFFENSE CLICKING

• IUPUI's offense has continued to improve since a season-low 40 points against Northern Iowa in November. IUPUI's lowest point total since that game was a 58-point output against Iowa and the Jags have scored 70 or more in their last four games. The last time IUPUI has scored 70+ in four-straight games came in 2013 during a streak of eight-straight (all wins).

DEFENSE CLAMPING DOWN

• Since giving up at least 70 points during their four-game losing streak, the Jags defense has clamped down allowing 48 and 50 points in their last two games, respectively.

MAGIC NUMBER 70

• Scoring 70 points is an important sign for the Jags under head coach Austin Parkinson. In Parkinson's first eight seasons, IUPUI is 66-13 when hitting the 70-point mark. In those 13 losses, the most points scored by the Jags in regulation was 74 points. If IUPUI scores 75 points in regulation, the Jags are 56-0 under Parkinson.
• The most points ever scored in a loss by the Jags under Parkinson was 83 in a 96-83 overtime loss to Miami (Ohio) in 2017. 
• IUPUI had won its last ten games when scoring at least 70 points before losing to Southern Illinois.

CONFERENCE SUCCESS

• Under Austin Parkinson, IUPUI has had unprecedented conference success. In the last six seasons, IUPUI has never finished worse than third and has four second-place finishes. During that time, IUPUI has never had fewer than nine conference wins and has had at least 11 wins in the other five seasons. The Jags finished with a school-record 13 conference wins a season ago.
• IUPUI has increased its conference win total in each of the last three seasons, winning 11 in 2015-16, 12 in 2016-17 and 13 in 2017-18. Before Austin Parkinson took over, IUPUI only had three double-digit wins in conference play and only one second place finish.