Terri Bender will have the rare opportunity to achieve a couple of significant career milestones in her hometown Tuesday night. She and the Flames (3-14, 0-6 HL) will head up I-94 to take on the Milwaukee Panthers (12-5, 4-2 HL) at 7:00 pm as UIC tries to salvage a split of the season series.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, Bender will make the 100
th start of her illustrious UIC career at Milwaukee. She will become just the sixth player in school history to achieve that milestone.*
Additionally, with her first assist of the game she will move into a tie for third place on the Flames' all time list. With four assists, she would elevate to second place, a slot currently occupied by Flames legend Joanne McCarthy.
Bender filled out the stat sheet with a 6 point, 5 rebound, 3 assist, 4 steal performance in UIC's last outing at Cleveland State. That was a 77-59 Viking triumph in which UIC committed 10 first half turnovers, leading to 17 Cleveland State points and a deficit the Flames could not overcome the rest of the game.
Brittany Byrd led UIC with 16 points and 11 rebounds in her first start of the season, making it the first double-double of her career. Her performance increased her team-leading scoring average to 14.0 points per game.
The Flames matched up with the Panthers just over a week ago, dropping an 88-65 decision at UIC Pavilion Jan. 5. UIC held the advantage throughout the first quarter thanks to racking up steals and blocks in the early going. Later, however, the team's aggressive play resulted in fouls rather than positive plays, and the Panthers used multiple trips to the free throw line to assemble a 12-0 run which gave them the lead for good.
UIC racked up 15 steals and 7 blocks, both of which remain the team's high water marks in conference play. Three Flames scored in double digits, led by Byrd's 18. Not to be outdone, Milwaukee placed four players in double figures and outrebounded UIC 45-32.
Since that game, Milwaukee has wins over Valparaiso and Detroit Mercy sandwiching a loss to Oakland. Their two wins have come by an average of 11.5 points, while the loss was by a mere two points. Friday against Detroit Mercy, Milwaukee outscored the Titans 26-10 to end the game and shot 57% in the fourth quarter in an 81-69 win. Jenny Lindner logged her fourth double-double (20 pts, 12 reb), while Sierra Ford-Washington (16 pts, 9 reb, 8 ast) and Bailey Farley (17 pts, 7 reb) joined her in double figure scoring.
The Panthers sport the Horizon League's top two three point shooters. Lizzie Odegard (.636) and Alexis Lindstrom (.526) are 1-2 from behind the arc in conference play. As a team, the Panthers lead the league in rebounding margin (+8.0) and are second in scoring margin (+9.0). UIC has had success when pressuring the ball. The Flames are third in the conference in steals (8.8 per game), led by Bender's 2.0 per contest which places her fourth in the individual rankings.
UIC has at least one win against Milwaukee in eight of the last nine seasons. A Panther victory would give them season sweeps of the Flames for two straight campaigns.
ESPN3 will have live video coverage of the game, while live stats will be provided at MKEPanthers.com. It will be UIC's last road game of the month. The Flames will have five straight home games following Tuesday's contest, and won't leave UIC Pavilion again until February 9.
*Since 1982; games played/started records are incomplete prior to that year.
