(IUPUI RELEASE)
GREEN BAY, Wis. - After losing its last two games, IUPUI women's basketball will head north to Green Bay to face off against the Phoenix over the weekend. The Jags will take on Green Bay on Friday (Jan. 29) and Saturday (Jan. 30). Both games are schedule for a 1 p.m. tip off.
Friday, Jan. 29
at Green Bay
Watch: ESPN+
Saturday, Jan. 30
at Green Bay
IUPUI (8-3) is coming off of a tough weekend against the Horizon League's top team, Milwaukee. After being off for two weeks because of COVID-19 protocols, IUPUI faced off aginast the league's hottest team. The Jags dropped both games to the Panthers, including an 85-83 loss in double overtime in the second game of the weekend.
The Jags will now turn their attention to a Green Bay team while trying to avoid a three-game losing streak in conference play for the first time since 2017. The Phoenix enter the game 8-5 overall and 7-3 in Horizon League play but lost the last time they took the court, ending a seven-game road trip. After scoring at least 61 points in each game during the streak, Green Bay scored just 48 in a 60-48 loss at Cleveland State.
McLimore's Big Weekend
Despite losing both games to Milwaukee, the redshirt-junior had a career weekend against the Panthers. McLimore scored 22 points in first game of the weekend to go along with three assists and three steals before outdoing herself in IUPUI's double-overtime loss. In the second game, McLimore scored a career-high 30 points and tied her career-high with eight rebounds, while also finishing with four steals and four assists.
With her outing, McLimore became the first Jaguar not named Macee Williams to have back-to-back 20+ point games and score 50+ points in two games since Danielle Lawrence did so with 29 points at Oakland (Feb. 15, 2018) and 28 points at Detroit Mercy (Feb. 17, 2018). McLimore's 52 points over the weekend are the most by a Jaguar in back-to-back games this season.
In the first game of the weekend, McLimore and Williams combined to be the first pair of Jaguars to have 20+ points in the same game, since the duo achieved the feat against Detroit Mercy on Feb. 7, 2020.
McLimore did a lot of her damage at the free throw line going 7-for-10 from the stripe in game one and 12-for-16 in game two. Both game two numbers were career-highs and McLimore had only taken 11 free throws on the season before the weekend. McLimore's 19 free throws were the most made in back-to-back games since 2016 when Lawrence made 10 each against Denver (Jan. 28,) and Oral Roberts (Jan. 30). The 26 attempted free throws were the most by a Jaguar in back-to-back games in the last ten years.
Rough Weekend Back
After having to take two weekends off because of COVID-19 protocols, IUPUI had to take on the hottest team in the league, the Milwaukee Panthers. The Jags dropped both games to Milwaukee losing the first 66-74 and the second 83-85 in double overtime.
The two-game losing streak in Horizon League play was the first time IUPUI had lost back-to-back Horizon League games since losing at Northern Kentucky and Wright State on Jan. 31 and Feb. 2 of 2019. It is the first time IUPUI had lost back-to-back league games in the Jungle since 2011, Austin Parkinson's first season. The Jags are looking to avoid their first three-game league losing streak since dropping three-straight during January of 2017.
Williams Still Working
Macee Williams hit the 20-point mark for the sixth time this season in 11 games. The Veedersburg, Ind., native also pulled down 13 rebounds in the second game against Milwaukee, giving her six double-doubles on the season. Each one of Williams' double-doubles has come with the senior scoring at least 20 points. Williams had 10 games with 20+ points and 14 double-doubles as a junior.
Williams now sits at 1,676 career points and is only 133 points away from tying the all-time scoring record in IUPUI history. Williams' current field goal percentage of 56.7 would be tops in school history as the current top field goal percentage is 52.2 percent.
The 500-Club
Multiple Jaguars are getting close to hitting the 500-point milestone. Sydney Roule sits one point away at 499 and Katelyn O'Reilly is at 495. Morgan Allen is at 479 and Rachel McLimore has 477 points in her IUPUI career.
Roule-ing From Deep
Sydney Roule is currently shooting 50 percent (29-for-58) from three this year. After making 52 threes as a sophomore and 44 as a junior, Roule is on pace to break those numbers despite playing fewer games this year. Roule has never shot above 34.4 percent in a season for her career. The senior has hit four threes in five games this season after accomplishing that just three times last season.
Scouting Green Bay
Green Bay comes in to the game with the seventh-best scoring offense (64.7 ppg) and fourth-best scoring defense (60.2 ppg) in the Horizon League. The Phoenix allow teams to shoot 33.2 percent from three-point range which is ninth in the league and IUPUI is tops in the league at 38.7 percent.
Caitlyn Hibner leads the Phoenix with 14.3 points per game and is shooting over 50 percent from the field. Sydney Levy is the second-highest scorer on the team with 12.4 points per game off the bench.
Recent Games with the Phoenix
It has been an interesting series with Green Bay as IUPUI has won three of its last five games but has only won outside of the Jungle. The Jags have won the last two games in Green Bay, including a 54-42 win last season. IUPUI also won a neutral site game during the Horizon League Tournament last year and held Green Bay scoreless for the last quarter of the championship game.
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