Jan. 27, 2001

Box Score

Chicago, Ill. - With hot shooting from the field and the foul line in the second half, league leading UW-Green Bay avoided the UIC women's basketball team's upset bid with a 75-62 triumph Saturday night at the UIC Pavilion.

The Phoenix shot 58%from the field (14-for-24) and 94% (16-for-17) from the foul line in the final period and held UIC without a field goal the final 4:58 of the contest as they extended their winning streak to 10 and improved to 5-0 in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference and 13-5 overall. With the loss, the Flames fall to 2-4 in the MCC and 5-14 on the year.

"I thought we played hard tonight," remarked UIC Head Coach Tim Eatman. "The difference is us being focused down the stretch. If we play with this amount of effort the rest of the way, though, we'll be fine."

UIC's dynamic offensive duo of Kimberly Henry (20 points, 5 assists) and Melea Clark (16 points) combined for 36 on the night to lead the Flames while Amanda Bartz chipped in with 11. Junior Stesha Rhodes paced UIC on the boards with a career-high nine caroms.

Amanda Leonhard led UWGB with a season-high 20 points. Mandy Stowe, who was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field in the Phoenix win over Loyola on Thursday, continued her hot shooting, going 7-for-9 from the floor and finishing with 16 points.

It was UIC that jumped out early on UW-Green Bay on Saturday as they scored on their first four trips down the floor and quickly ran out to an 8-0 lead. A pair of three-pointers by Trisha Ebel got the Phoenix going, though, and at the 13:53 mark UWGB regained the lead, 12-10, on a lay-up by Leonhard. Green Bay would extend its lead as high as seven (19-12), but the Flames kept things close, tying the game on a pair of occasions during the final 10 minutes of the half and went into intermission trailing by only two, 30-28.

UIC quickly took the lead from UWGB in the second half as back-to-back jumpers by Henry staked the Flames to a 32-30 advantage. That lead was short-lived, though, as the Phoenix went on a 16-4 run over the next eight minutes to build a 10-point edge, 46-36. UIC did not back down as a 10-3 run of its own pulled them within three (49-46) with 9:11 left.

The Flames inched as close as two (61-59) with 4:58 remaining on a three-pointer by Bartz, but that would be UIC's last field goal of the game as UWGB closed out the contest on a 14-3 run for the 13-point win.

Eatman's crew is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 3, as they welcome crosstown rival Loyola to the UIC Pavilion at 4:30 p.m.