INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI women's basketball team will officially take the floor for the first time on Thursday night (Nov. 4) when the Jaguars host IU Northwest at 7:00 p.m. inside the Jungle in an exhibition contest. Head coach Austin Parkinson's team enters the 2021-2022 campaign with huge expectations, having recently been pegged atop the Horizon League Women's Basketball Preseason Polls by the league's coaches. 

The Jags boast three-time #HLWBB Player of the Year Macee Williams and standout guard Rachel McLimore. Williams ranks among the nation's elite post players, having averaged 18.9 points and 9.8 rebounds per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor last season. McLimore helps make the offense go on the perimeter as she averaged 13.9 points per game a season ago. 

Beyond that, the Jaguars also return starting point guard Destiny Perkins, who averaged 7.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest last season. Forward/center Morgan Allen also returns in the frontcourt for a fifth season after averaging 5.0 points and 3.3 boards per game last season. 

Other returning letterwinners include juniors Natalie Andersen and Ali Berg and sophomores Trinity Duckworth, Jaci Jones and Anna Mortag. 

A promising recruiting class is headlined by a pair of impact transfers in Rachel Kent (Saint Louis) and Madison Wise (Iowa State). Kent, a 5-foot-11 wing, is a knockdown shooter, having made 129 treys in two seasons at Saint Louis. Wise, a graduate transfer, averaged 6.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game during her four-year Iowa State career before committing to the Jaguars last spring. 

IU Northwest is coming off a 5-14 campaign and is 1-2 to start this season following a 72-71 overtime loss at Goshen on Tuesday night (Nov. 2). Junior forward Michaela Schmidt averages a team-high 17.0 points per game through the season's first three games. 

Thursday's game will be aired on ESPN+ as Scott Agness (pxp) describes the action. Tickets are available by contacting the IUPUI ticket office.