UIC (4-20, 1-12 HL) will conclude its road trip with a Saturday afternoon contest at league-leading Wright State (19-5, 11-1 HL) looking for its first road win of the conference schedule.  Tipoff will be at 3:30 as the Flames try to bounce back from losing at Northern Kentucky Thursday despite a valiant comeback.

The Flames traded buckets with the Norse early in the game, until NKU went on a 10-2 run spanning the first two quarters, and ended the half on a 15-2 run as UIC scored only six points in the second quarter.  Down by 18 at the break, UIC came storming back in the third quarter behind 12 points from Brittany Byrd.  She made five of six shots, including back-to-back threes, the second of which got the deficit down into single digits.  The Norse lead would shrink to seven points after Taylor Toney intercepted a pass and took it in for an easy layup, but UIC would get no closer.

Byrd led the Flames with 17 points, one off her season high, and Toney added 13.  UIC had its second-best shooting game in conference play as they made 45.8% of their shots, but NKU's efficiency from long distance (6-15 on threes) and at the free throw line (18-23, compared to UIC's 3-11) made the difference.  Northern Kentucky has handed UIC its two lowest scoring outputs in conference play this season.

Byrd and Toney both scored in double figures for the first time since doing so three straight games from Jan. 14-20.  Melita Emanuel-Carr did not play, ending a streak of 83 consecutive games.
Wright State has won 10 in a row and moved into first place in the Horizon League thanks to Green Bay's two recent losses.  In their 63-48 win over Valparaiso Thursday, Chelsea Welch scored 26 points and Symone Simmons had a career high 17 rebounds.  Welch is second in conference scoring at a shade under 20 points per game.  Lexi Smith and Simmons are second and third in rebounding, with Emily Vogelpohl also in the top 10.  The Raiders are first in offensive rebounds and in turnover margin, and are allowing just 57.8 points per game in conference play.

The Raiders made a big second half comeback in handing UIC a 73-54 defeat in Chicago Jan. 20.  Byrd had 18 points and eight rebounds by halftime, when UIC had a two point lead, and would finish a rebound shy of a double-double.  She fouled out in the third quarter with UIC trailing by four, and Wright State would capitalize.  They scored 33 points off of 30 Flames turnovers, still a conference high for UIC.

With Emanuel-Carr sidelined, head coach Regina Miller had to use her 11^th different starting lineup of the season against Northern Kentucky.  By contrast, Wright State has gotten tremendous consistency out of their starters.  They have used just three lineups this season, with three starters averaging over 10 points and the other two above nine.

Ball security has been a point of emphasis for UIC since the first game against Wright State.  They cut their turnovers in half the next game against Northern Kentucky, and their opponents have managed less than six steals per game since that contest against the Raiders.  The Flames forced 20 Wright State turnovers in January, still the most the Raiders have committed in a game all season.  In fact, Wright State is committing the third fewest turnovers in the nation (10.9 per game).

The Raiders have won eight straight games in the series, and have taken over the all-time lead against UIC, 29-28.  Wright State has won eight of the last 11 matchups in Dayton, a place the Flames have not won in six years.  Saturday's game will be available on ESPN3, and live stats will be provided via the link in the blue box above.  UIC will return home for their last two home games of the season next Thursday and Saturday.