Women’s Basketball Bounces Back With Victory Over IUPUI

Sunday evening, the Spartans took on the IUPUI Jaguars at the Breslin Center. The Spartans defeated the Jaguars 64-45.

The Spartans were coming off a tough home loss from the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish and were looking to bounce back with a win.

The Spartans started Tori Jankoska, Aerial Powers, Jasmine Lumpkin, Anna Morrissey and Becca Mills.

Jankoska led the team with 22 points followed by Powers who had 17 points and 13 rebounds. Although Powers still posted a double-double, she struggled most of the night to find her shot. She was 4 of 21 from the field.

“I think what makes her special is her short term memory,” head coach Suzy Merchant said. “She gets a little bit of amnesia out there, which is a good thing because she can let some things go and still attack. On the other side she can keep doing the same thing over and over and not learn from her mistakes, but I’d take her any day.”

The Spartans were off to a slow start, with no scoring and several foul calls in the first four minutes of the game until a two-point shot by Jankoska. The game was tied at two for five minutes until another great shot by Jankoska that opened up the game.

Mills had two fouls in two minutes of the first half and sat out most of the game with 13 minutes total. Coach Merchant mentioned that she wants to see more from her senior forward.

Cara Miller was a key player in this game. Although she only scored four points, Miller is a leader for the Lady Spartans on the defensive end of the ball.

“She doesn’t really want to score it, she doesn’t want the glory and all that. Her biggest gift is defensively she wants to guard somebody’s best player and be a great rebounder,” Merchant said.

The Spartans’ next game is set for Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 7:30 p.m. against Oakland University.


Jennifer Aldridge is the host and Jalen Walker is the co-host of Merchantaries for Impact Sports.

Photo: Nubia Buckingham/Impact Sports