Dec. 30, 2006

Final Stats

INDIANAPOLIS - For head coach Maria Fantanarosa and the Miami University women's basketball team, the fourth time was the charm.

Stuck on 131 career wins since a Dec. 6 victory over Michigan, Fantanarosa picked up her 132nd career win on her fourth attempt and surpassed Pam Wettig as the winningest coach in program history as Miami (6-7; 0-0 MAC) downed the IUPUI Jaguars (5-7; 0-0 Mid-Con), 87-79, Saturday afternoon at the IUPUI Gymnasium. Five different RedHawks scored in double figures, led by junior Amanda Jackson's 21 points, as Miami snapped a three-game losing streak and won its first game on a season-long five game road trip.

Jackson broke out of a shooting slump with her game-high 21 points, as she connected on 9-of-13 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from behind the 3-point line. Sophomore Eve Pyle (18 points, eight rebounds) and junior Jaclyn Leininger (12 points, nine rebounds) controlled the post for Miami -- combining for 30 points and 17 rebounds -- while junior Sarah Hull (12 points) and sophomore Ashley Hawkins (11 points) also scored in double figures for Miami. Sophomore Jenna Schone dished out a career-high 11 assists to go along with nine points in the winning effort.

Both teams came out with full-court pressure and pushed the tempo at the beginning of the contest. Miami and IUPUI traded baskets over the first five minutes of the game, with Miami carrying a 10-8 lead into the first media timeout. Jackson and Schone combined for eight of the RedHawks' first 10 points, as Jackson hit a pair of driving layups and Schone buried two mid-range jumpers.

After the Jaguars knotted the game at 16-16, Miami pulled ahead, 21-16, by the 12-minute mark as Hull scored five straight points for the RedHawks. Hull hit a rainbow 3-pointer and a left-handed scoop shot in the lane, putting Miami in front by five. A hot-shooting Miami squad hit nine of its first 12 shots through the first eight minutes.

Pyle's pair of free throws with 9:18 left in the first half capped a 13-4 Miami run and extended the RedHawks lead to 29-20. Miami then stretched its edge to 33-22 by the eight-minute mark on a pair of free throws from Hawkins and a 15-foot jumper from Schone. IUPUI responded with four straight points, cutting Miami's lead to seven, but an old fashioned three-point play from Hawkins in which she converted a transition layup and hit the subsequent free throw pushed Miami's lead back to double digits at 36-26 with 5:52 left in the half.

Miami took a five-point lead into halftime at 48-43, as it shot 62.1 percent for the half and hit all 11 of its free throw attempts. Pyle and Leininger both scored in double figures, dropping in 10 points apiece, while Leininger grabbed a team-high five rebounds. The RedHawks also stepped up their defensive pressure, forcing nine Jaguar turnovers and swiping seven first-half steals. Miami also scored 17 points off turnovers in the first stanza.

Behind their dead-eye 3-point shooting, the RedHawks opened the second half on a 12-6 run and pushed their lead back to 11. Hull opened Miami's second-half scoring with a 3-pointer from in front of the RedHawks' bench, and Schone followed with a trifecta from the right wing. Miami saw its lead grow to 14 at 69-55 with 13:04 left, as Jackson's 3-pointer from the right wing capped a 7-0 Miami run and forced IUPUI to call a timeout.

An 8-1 IUPUI spurt cut Miami's lead to 70-63 at the 10-minute mark, but a 10-2 RedHawk run upped their lead to 15 at 80-65 with 7:30 remaining. Jackson scored five of Miami's 10 points in the spurt off a 3-pointer and a mid-range jumper in transition, and Pyle also converted a three-point play, hitting a tough left-handed layup and adding the free throw.

IUPUI moved to within eight points at 85-77 with 2:28 left in the game, and a short bank shot from Jernisha Cann pulled the Jaguars to within six with 90 seconds left in the game. Pyle then hit a turnaround shot in the lane, and Miami rebounded a pair of Jaguar misses in the final minute to close out a nine-point win.

Miami connected on 51.6 percent of its shots for the game, hitting 32-of-62 from the field, and shot 6-of-15 from behind the 3-point line. The RedHawks also won the battle on the boards, outrebounding the Jaguars, 34-27. Pyle also hit 12-of-13 free throw attempts, as Miami shot a season-best 89.5 percent (17-of-19) from the charity stripe.

Miami wraps up its season-long five-game road trip and opens Mid-American Conference play Wednesday, Jan. 3 when it travels to face the University at Buffalo. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. at Alumni Arena.

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