UIC will trade the rigors of the road for a season-long five game homestand beginning Friday night.  The Flames (3-15, 0-7 HL) will host the Wright State Raiders (13-5, 5-1 HL) at UIC Pavilion, a venue UIC will not have to leave for three weeks.  Tip time is 7:00, and the game will be televised on ESPN3.

The Flames played their last three games, and five of their seven Horizon League contests, on the road.  They wrapped up the road trip with an 83-55 loss to Milwaukee Tuesday night.  They'll need a much better start against the Raiders than they got against the Panthers.  The Flames scored just six points in the first quarter and Milwaukee built a lead they would never relinquish.  The good news is UIC had a much better second half.  They shot 52% after halftime, marking their best percentage in a conference half this season and the second best overall.

Brittany Byrd had 11 points and 10 rebounds, making it two straight games with a double-double.  Terri Bender had a season high seven assists, which pushed her into second place in UIC's all-time assist record books.  She will take the floor against the Raiders just nine points shy of 1,000 for her career, and five rebounds short of 400.

Byrd is the Flames' top scorer with 13.7 points per game, and ranks 14^th in the conference when accounting for league games only.  Though she is in the top 10 in the Horizon League in three pointers made, UIC as a team shot just 18.3% (11-60) from behind the arc on their three game road trip.  The team hopes that the familiar shooting backdrops in the UIC Pavilion will help them reverse that trend and resemble the team that made 9 and 10 three pointers on a combined 38% in their last two home games.

Wright State enters on a hot streak, winners of their last four games and five of six Horizon League contests overall by an average of 12.2 points.  Most recently, they took down Oakland 73-61 Monday behind 18 points from Chelsea Welch and 17 from Symone Simmons.  All five starters scored in double figures.  The Raiders ended the first half on a 25-8 run and led by 24 points at the break.  Welch (16.8 ppg) is the team's leading scorer and is fourth in the conference.  Lexi Smith and Simmons are second and third respectively in conference rebounding.

Ball security has been the key to the Raiders' success.  They commit just 11.0 turnovers per game, fourth fewest in the nation.  UIC matches up at third in the conference in steals thanks to a complete team effort.  Nine Flames are in double digits in steals this year; no other Horizon League team has as many players with 10 or more steals.

The all-time series between the schools is deadlocked at 28 wins apiece since Wright State has made up ground in the last few years.  The Raiders have won the last seven meetings, including both regular season matchups and the Horizon League Tournament showdown last season.  The Raiders are on a three game winning streak at UIC Pavilion, but prior to that, UIC had won seven of the previous eight games in Chicago.