CHICAGO – IUPUI women's basketball pushed its winning streak to eight after a resounding 88-49 win over UIC on Saturday (Jan. 25). The Jaguars finished the game with five player in double-figures in the victory.
IUPUI (14-6, 8-1 Horizon) was led by Natalie Andersen, who finished with 17 points, scoring 10 points in the second half. Holly Hoopingarner was second on the team with 15 points and both Morgan Allen and Destiny Perkins added 11. Macee Williams finished with 10 points, all coming in the first quarter as the junior only played 15 minutes.
Hoopingarner was the only starter to play more than 16 minutes, logging 21, as the Jags emptied the bench early.
The Jags 88 points are the second-highest against a DI opponent this season and IUPUI has scored at least 80 points in four of their eight conference wins. The eight-game winning streak is the longest streak since the Jags won nine in a row during the 2013-14 season.
IUPUI's offense had things rolling as the Jags hit over 50% of their field goals for the second-straight game, shooting 53.1%. The Jags also shot 45.2% from deep for the game. The Jags also did a great job sharing the ball as IUPUI assisted on 25 of their 34 made baskets. Agatha Beier led the Jags with five assists and both Hoopingarner and O'Reilly finished with four.
Ali Berg and O'Reilly led the Jags on the glass with seven rebounds each as IUPUI outrebounded UIC 37-32.
"I was very pleased with our focus on getting better as a basketball team, which I thought we did today," said head coach Austin Parkinson. "It was great to see contributions up and down the lineup and I though Ali Berg rebounded the ball well off the bench. It's also great to see us continue to shoot the ball well from three."
IUPUI's domination started early as the Jaguars jumped out to 7-0 lead in the first minute and a half of the game. Williams did her damage early, scoring 10 of IUPUI's first 13 points as the Jags took a 13-4 lead with six minutes left. After UIC cut the lead to five with 4:20 on the clock, IUPUI used a 20-2 run to end the quarter. The run featured threes by O'Reilly, Hoopingarner, Andersen and Perkins and Hoopingarner closed out the quarter with back-to-back baskets to put the Jags up 33-10 after 10 minutes of play.
Andersen started the second quarter with a basket and back-to-back threes from Hoopingarner and Beier increased IUPUI's lead to 29. The Jags continued to knock down shots from deep as Hoopingarner and Perkins each hit another three and the lead hit 30. Taylor Ramey finished out the quarter scoring IUPUI's last five points, also hitting a three.
In the first half, the Jags finished 20-for-31 (64.5%) from the field and a blistering 10-for-16 (62.5%) from deep.
The Jaguar defense was stellar, holding UIC to 49 points, the fourth game in Horizon League play IUPUI has held their opponent under 50 points. The Flames shot just 37% from the field with leading scorer Tiana Jackson scoring 14 points, but on 6-for-19 shooting.
IUPUI forced 18 turnovers, scoring 18 points off of those giveaways.
The second half began with IUPUI scoring the first nine points as McLimore scored the first two baskets on layups and Roule hit a three. The run continued with a layup by Hoopingarner and another from Perkins. The Jaguar lead hit a game-high 39-points after a jump hook from Morgan Allen.
UP NEXT
IUPUI will return home for a morning tip-off against Cleveland State on Thursday (Jan. 30). The game against the Vikings will start at 11 a.m. in the Jungle.
