The UIC Flames (4-21, 1-13 HL) will open their final homestand of the season Thursday night when Detroit Mercy (14-10, 10-3 HL) comes to town for "Hoop Pink," the annual breast cancer awareness game. The first 200 students will receive a free pink UIC basketball t-shirt. At halftime, breast cancer survivors will be honored with pink basketballs. Additionally, the Flames will wear pink uniforms in support of breast cancer awareness.
UIC will try to end a four game losing streak, one that has persisted despite two impressive efforts on their just-concluded road trip. The Flames had a big second half comeback for the second game in a row on Saturday at Wright State. Trailing by 13 at the half, the Flames got all the way to within two points of the Horizon League's first place team, but could not get over the hump.
Tyra Carlsten-Handberg recorded the first double-double of her career (10 pts, 12 reb) and kick-started the comeback on both ends of the floor.
Taylor Toney also had a double-double (11 pts, 10 reb) and took the torch from Carlsten-Handberg, scoring in multiple ways to shrink the deficit.
The Flames held Wright State to 26.7% shooting, which established a new season low for both UIC's defense and the Raiders' offense. It was the first time this season that UIC lost a game in which it outshot its opponent, having been 4-0 previously when doing so.
Brittany Byrd scored 19 points, setting a new career high, and earned an honorable mention for Horizon League Player of the Week. Carlsten-Handberg was also recognized, with her third honorable mention for Freshman of the Week this season.
In the first meeting of the year between the teams, back on December 31, UIC had one of its best shooting performances of the season, connecting on 43.7% of their shots. They outrebounded the Titans by 20 and got 19 points from Toney, but Detroit Mercy shot 54.1% from the floor, including a dazzling 55.6% mark from downtown, which was too much for the Flames to handle in a 98-76 setback. It remains the best any opponent has shot against UIC this season. Rosanna Reynolds was one of four Titans in double figures and added 11 assists, the most for any opponent against the Flames.
The Titans enter play on a four game winning streak, but they are 1-3 in their last four road games. They hosted Oakland Saturday and came away with a 71-61 win behind 24 points from Brianne Cohen. Detroit Mercy held Oakland to just two first quarter field goals, and six in the first half, boosting their defense to second in the conference in shooting percentage. Cohen is 7th in scoring in Horizon League play, one spot behind Reynolds. Cohen and Kelsey Mitchell are the conference's two most accurate shooters, both making over 62% of their shots.
Detroit Mercy has taken off after a 4-7 nonconference performance and currently sits in third place in the Horizon League standings. They've built much of their success on three point shooting. As a team, they are in the top 20 nationwide in made threes per game, and six different players are shooting 32% or better from beyond the arc. The Flames entered the first contest against Detroit Mercy third in the league in three point defense, but have since slid to ninth, and will need to revert to their earlier season form to cool off the Titans.
Detroit Mercy holds a 27-23 edge in the all time series and has won four of the last five meetings. UIC has won four of the last six in Chicago, but the Titans are on a two game winning streak at UIC Pavilion. Thursday's tip-off is at 7:00 pm, with live coverage available on ESPN3.
