ROCHESTER, Mich. – IUPUI women's basketball pushed its win streak to 12 as the Jags blew by Oakland, 89-63, on Saturday (Feb. 8). The Jags were led by Macee Williams who scored 31 points.
Williams poured in her 31 points in an incredibly efficient 15-for-19 from the floor. It was the third time this season that Williams has scored over 30 points.
Rachel McLimore was the only other Jaguar to score in double figures, notching 13. Natalie Andersen finished the game with nine and Morgan Allen added eight. IUPUI (18-6, 12-1 Horizon) was once shot over 50% from the floor, hitting 36-for-67 shots. The Jags also converted on 11-of-14 free throws.
IUPUI played unselfishly once again, dishing out 23 assists. Holly Hoopingarner led the team with six and Katelyn O'Reilly added five.
"It is great to go 2-0 on this road trip and Macee really set the tone by posting hard and running the floor," said head coach Austin Parkinson. "I thought Natalie lifted us off the bench offensively and Taylor Ramey created a lot of energy defensively. Katelyn had a really nice floor game and does so many things for us that don't show up in the box score, including taking momentum changing charges
The first quarter belonged to Williams as the junior finished the frame with 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting. With the quarter tied at 17, Williams scored the next six points of the game and after a layup by Agatha Beier and two free throws from Hoopingarner, IUPUI took an eight point lead in to the second and never looked back.
The Jags held Oakland scoreless for the first 4:46 of the second quarter, going on a 16-0 run to take a 24-point lead. Hoopingarner started the run with a layup before Williams hit back-to-back shots in the paint. Andersen then got in to the action with a layup and hit a three. IUPUI took a 20-point lead for the first time after a Hoopingarner three and another Williams layup, her 21st point of the half, ended the run.
IUPUI went 9-for-14 in the quarter (64.3%), while holding Oakland to just 28.6% (4-for-14), taking a 48-27 lead to the break.
Sydney Roule scored five-straight points out of the break and another Williams layup increased the lead to 26 early in the third. Oakland cut the lead to 18 with 4:19 left in the quarter but a McLimore layup sparked a run to end the quarter. Williams and McLimore traded buckets before Beier and Allen combined for the last five points of the quarter and IUPUI was up 29 after 30 minutes.
IUPUI's largest lead of 31 came at the beginning of the quarter as Allen hit a layup to start the frame.
The Jags dominated Oakland inside and on the glass. IUPUI outscored the Golden Grizzlies 56-26 in the paint and outrebounded Oakland 44-20. IUPUI finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds, that led to a 21-2 second chance point advantage.
O'Reilly led the Jags on the glass, tying her career-high with 13 rebounds. Williams finished just shy of another double-double with eight boards.
UP NEXT
IUPUI will stay on the road for next weekend with a trip to Wright State on Thursday (Feb. 13), beginning at 7 p.m.
