CHICAGO – UIC head women's basketball coach Regina Miller released the challenging schedule that her Flames will face during the upcoming 2016-17 season on Thursday, Sept. 8. The docket features 29 regular-season games, 18 contests against Horizon League foes, and 15 matchups inside the UIC Pavilion.
 
After hosting North Park University in an exhibition tune-up on Friday, Nov. 4, the slate begins in earnest with a four-game homestand at the corner of Harrison and Racine on Chicago's near west side. The first three tilts are against in-state foes with the season opener scheduled to take place against Lake Forest on Nov. 11. The Flames will also welcome the Illinois State Redbirds to town on Monday, Nov. 14, before closing the stretch on Saturday, Nov. 19 versus IUPUI.
 
Following an extended respite of 11 days, UIC will roar back into action in refreshed fashion with its first road test of the season, a game against the Toledo Rockets on Dec. 1. The brief two-game trip will also send the Flames to Mount Pleasant, Mich., where the squad will meet Central Michigan on Dec. 3.
 
UIC will take the next six days off from competition for fall-semester exams before hosting the Fort Wayne Mastodons on Dec. 10. The game will be played inside the cozy confines of the Flames Athletic Center, located at 839 W. Roosevelt Rd., less than a mile from the UIC Pavilion.
 
The Flames will remain local, but play as the visiting team for their next contest, a matchup with the Northwestern Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena in nearby Evanston, Ill., on Tuesday, Dec. 13. After tangling with a Big Ten foe, UIC will meet a squad from the ACC when it ventures to Charlottesville, Va., where it will play the Virginia Cavaliers on Dec. 16. The three-game road trip and the two-game east-coast swing wraps up with a trip to our nation's capital to meet the Howard Bison on Dec. 19.
 
Miller's squad will be back in the Windy City to wrap up nonconference play in a pre-holiday showdown with the Bradley Braves on Dec. 22 at 1 p.m.
 
Horizon League play begins away from home for the second consecutive season when the Flames travel to face the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland on Dec. 29. Following an off day, UIC will meet the Detroit Titans for a New Year's Eve clash in the Motor City.
 
Following home games at the UIC Pavilion against Milwaukee on Jan. 5, and defending conference champion Green Bay on Jan. 7, it's back on the road for a three-game road trip. The journey begins in northeast Ohio with stops at Youngstown State (Jan. 12) and Cleveland State (Jan. 14). Then the regular-season series concludes against Milwaukee with a midweek game on Tuesday, Jan. 17.
 
After playing 10 of 14 games outside of Chicago, the Flames will begin a season-long five game homestand on Jan. 20 against the Wright State Raiders. UIC will host Northern Kentucky on Jan. 22, before closing out the month against Valparaiso on Jan. 28. The Flames open the second month of the calendar with a Groundhog Day battle against Cleveland State (Feb. 2), and a meeting with the Penguins of Youngstown State on Feb. 4.
 
UIC is slated to play four of its final six games away from home, beginning on Feb. 9 at Northern Kentucky. The weekend also includes a trip to Dayton, Ohio to meet Wright State two days later on Feb. 11. The final home weekend welcomes Detroit and Oakland to the UIC Pavilion on Feb. 16 and Feb. 18, respectively. A busy stretch of three games in five days wraps up at Green Bay on Monday, Feb. 20. The regular season concludes on Saturday, Feb. 25 with a short trip over the border to play Valparaiso.
 
The Flames will then shift their attention to the postseason. All 20 Horizon League men's and women's basketball programs will descend upon Detroit to battle it out for a tournament title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that comes with it. The group will come together at historic Joe Louis Arena from March 3-7, 2017. It will be the first time since 1992 that the Horizon League has held men's and women's tournaments at the same site.
 
For season ticket information, please click here or call the UIC Ticket Office at 312-413-UIC1.