Feb. 8, 2001

Box Score

Indianapolis, Ind. - Maybe it's Groundhog Day, or perhaps it's Valentine's Day. Whatever the reason, February spells success for the UIC women's basketball team.

Last season, the Flames went 6-1 in the second month of the season, and on Thursday, UIC moved to 2-0 in February 2001 as they downed Butler, 72-62, at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The victory, which evened UIC's Midwestern Collegiate Conference record at 4-4, was the Flames' first-ever regular-season league win over the Bulldogs (1-13) and only the second triumph over BU since 1988.

In a game in which UIC never trailed, senior Kimberly Henry led four Flames in double figures with 19 points. Jaysie Chambers added 15 while Melea Clark and LeKesha Williams each added 10.

The Flames jumped out early on Thursday versus the Bulldogs, controlling the first 10 minutes of play. Six different UIC players scored for UIC as they surged to a 20-5 lead with 12:42 left in the opening period.

With the Flames up 23-11 at the 7:34 mark, Butler would make a charge, closing the half on a 16-6 run to trim UIC's advantage to two (29-27) heading into intermission.

The game would remain tight through the first 12 minutes of the second half as the Flames twice pushed their lead to six only to have Butler pull the game back within a single possession.

With the score 50-47 UIC with 7:54 left in the contest, the Flames finally put Butler away for good as a 12-5 run, capped by a three-pointer by junior Josie Cole, put UIC up 10 (62-52) at the 4:44 mark.

Butler would try to foul UIC down the stretch, but the Flames would hit its free throws down the stretch to earn their second-straight win.

Valerie Burg led the Bulldogs (7-14, 2-6 MCC), who have now lost five straight league games, with 13 points. Freshman Tiffany Smith came off the bench to add a career-high 12 points. Burg and junior Kelly Kuhn pulled down nine rebounds each and Kuhn tallied a game-high three blocked shots.

Tim Eatman's crew, now 7-14 on the season and in fifth place in the MCC after Cleveland State upset UW-Green Bay and Detroit knocked off UW-Milwaukee on Thursday, will look to push its winning streak to three on Saturday afternoon as they take on Wright State at the Ervin J. Nutter Center at 12:00 p.m.

The Raiders (4-17, 1-7 MCC) are coming off their first MCC win of the season as they took out Loyola, 66-44, on Thursday night.