INDIANAPOLIS – IUPUI women's basketball moved to 3-0 in Horizon League play after beating Cleveland State 78-44 on Saturday (Dec. 19). The Jags finished with three players in double-figures in the big win.
Macee Williams again led the Jags in scoring with 18 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Sydney Roule hit double-figures for the fourth time this season, notching 15 points on 4-for-7 from deep. Ali Berg matched her career-high with 10 points.
IUPUI (5-1. 3-0 Horizon) overcame a slow start, trailing 16-15 after the first quarter. The Jags struggled from the floor, shooting just 31% and going 1-for-7 from deep in the first ten minutes against an unfamiliar opponent. Cleveland State (0-1, 0-1 Horizon) was playing its first game of the season with its first four games cancelled due to COVID-19 issues in the program.
"Off the bat, [Cleveland State] had a lot of new faces and hadn't played a game but they came out with more energy than we did," said head coach Austin Parkinson. "As the game went on, we started defending better and the offense kind of followed."
After the first 10 minutes IUPUI settled in on both ends of the court, outscoring the Vikings 39-15 over the next 20 minutes. The Jags held Cleveland State scoreless for eight minutes during the second quarter as IUPUI started to take control of the game.
To start the second, Cleveland State scored two early baskets but IUPUI then began the run. Williams hit layups that sandwiched a three by Roule and Morgan Allen (8 pts) hit another layup before two free throws by Berg made the run 10-0. Roule hit another jumper before the Vikings finally scored again but a great pass by Roule gave Allen a layup right before the buzzer to end the half with the Jags up 10.
Great passing and dominating inside was a theme for the Jags in the game as IUPUI assisted on 20 of its 28 baskets with Destiny Perkins handing out a career-high eight. Perkins' eight assists are the most since Holly Hoopingarner had nine against Youngstown State on Feb. 1 of last season.
The Jags outscored Cleveland State 38-20 in the paint.
After going 2-for-9 in the first half from deep, IUPUI opened the second half continuing to shoot the deep ball and this time connecting. Holding a 10-point lead with just over three minutes in the third, IUPUI started a run with a three by Rachel McLimore (9 pts) and then three-straight threes from Roule. Roule's last three resulted in a four-point play and after the senior hit the freebie, IUPUI was up by 23 after a 13-0 run to end the quarter.
"I said at halftime, the big thing is to take open shots," said Parkinson. "Sometimes we were passing up open shots. We have a lot of shooters on this team and when you are open, fire."
IUPUI quickly turned the lead to 27 after Williams hit two layups within the first minute of the quarter. Late in the quarter, IUPUI's first 30-point lead came after four free throws from Natalie Andersen (8 pts).
The Jags defense forced 22 Cleveland State turnovers with 10 steals and for the second-straight game IUPUI finished with five blocks. After allowing the Vikings to hit 50% from the floor in the first quarter, IUPUI held Cleveland State to 25% or worse in the last three quarters and just 29% from the field overall.
"We just have to continue guarding the three point line and not bailing out the other team with fouls," said Parkinson. "We hang our hat on defense and we have to keep working on getting better each game."
IUPUI will face off against the Vikings again on Sunday (Dec. 20) to close out the weekend series. Tip-off against Cleveland State will be at 1 p.m.
