Fresh off a thrilling, 63-62 win over Detroit Mercy, UIC (5-21, 2-13 HL) will look to make it two in a row against Oakland (14-11, 8-6 HL) Saturday afternoon. It will be the last home game of the season, with a halftime ceremony to recognize UIC's three seniors,
Terri Bender,
Melita Emanuel-Carr, and
Laura Litchfield. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:00 pm at UIC Pavilion.
The Flames trailed by 10 points against Detroit Mercy, then led by as many as 11, but had to hang on in the frantic final seconds to get the one point victory. Kiki Bynes was instrumental in the Flames' comeback, scoring 11 of her career high-tying 18 points in the second quarter. She was 3-3 from behind the arc in the stanza.
Tyra Carlsten-Handberg picked up the scoring baton in the third quarter, pouring in 10 points as UIC built their lead.
The Titans came back in the fourth quarter, making a seemingly endless parade to the free throw line. Five UIC players fouled out, and Detroit Mercy was 10-14 from the line in the final period alone. A steal and transition layup put the Titans ahead by a point with 21 seconds left. The Flames took an early shot, and in the heavy traffic under the rim managed to snag three consecutive offensive rebounds as their attempts to go ahead missed the net, until Bender was fouled with three seconds to go. She calmly made both free throws, and after two final attempts by Detroit Mercy bounced off the iron, the Flames celebrated their fourth home win of the season.
It was UIC's first win this year when trailing at the half. It was also their first win in close games (decided by 5 or fewer points). The team's five foulouts is believed to be a school record, eclipsing the four disqualifications in a 103-91 loss to Wright State on Feb. 15, 2014. The Flames held Detroit Mercy 10 points below their season average in three point shooting as the Titans made just four of 16 triples.
Oakland won the first meeting between the schools this season, an 81-58 decision in the conference opener on Dec. 29. The teams were virtually even in the hustle stats – rebounds, turnovers, steals – and took the same number of shots, with Oakland's 43% shooting trumping the Flames' 32%.
Brittany Byrd had 15 points to lead three Flames in double digits. Taylor Jones led the Grizzlies with 22.
Oakland has won three of their last four games, including a home takedown of then-first place Green Bay. They crushed Valparaiso, 98-60, Thursday as four Grizzlies scored in double figures and the team grabbed 19 steals, the most by any team in conference play this year. Jones, the team's top scorer on the season, had 25 points and Hannah Little scored 15 to go with 11 rebounds. It was Little's 11th double-double this year. She leads the league in rebounds and steals within conference games.
UIC has gotten some improved scoring consistency from several players. Byrd has scored in double digits in three of the last four games, with the fourth checking in at 8 points;
Taylor Toney has done so in five of the last six; and Carlsten-Handberg has had back-to-back outings with double figures twice in the last six games. Meanwhile, five players average double figures for a Grizzlies squad that is within a point of the top scoring teams in the conference. But UIC has allowed just 62.3 points per game over its last seven, and held Detroit Mercy 10 points below their season average on three pointers following a suffocating 26.7% shooting percentage allowed to Wright State.
UIC will conclude the regular season with two road games before the Horizon League Tournament at Motor City Madness in Detroit starting March 3.
