Jan. 8, 2002

Box Score

Chicago, Illinois - The University of Illinois at Chicago women's basketball team had their opportunities against Loyola, but were unable to convert them as the Ramblers edged the Flames, 61-59 at the Gentile Center on Tuesday night.

"We missed some shots, we had a lot of good looks and we just couldn't knock them down," UIC head coach Tim Eatman said. "That's just the breaks."

With the victory, Loyola creeps back to the .500 mark at 7-7 and improves to 1-2 in the Horizon League. UIC falls to 9-7 on the season and 1-3 in the league.

Junior forward Jaysie Chambers recorded her second double-double of the season as she scored a team-high 14 points on seven-of-12 shooting and ripped down 10 rebounds, including seven offensive boards. Teammate LeKesha Williams also chipped in 13 points for the Flames.

With the score tied 30-30 at halftime, Loyola came out smoking in the second half as they went on a 8-0 run to take the 38-30 lead.

"I thought Loyola came out very strong in the second half and we didn't," Eatman said. "We played 20 minutes against Green Bay, 20 minutes against Milwaukee and tonight we played 30 minutes."

UIC, however, put forth a valiant effort and took a 51-50 lead with 6:09 left in the game off a Chambers' lay-up. Chambers added another lay-up to put the Flames ahead 53-51.

Loyola answered right back as they converted four free throws to take a 55-53 lead. Williams scored on a lay-up with 1:16 left in the contest to knot the game back up at 55 apiece.

Loyola's Jenetria Harden scored four unanswered points to give the Ramblers a 59-55 lead that they would never relinquish.

The Flames, had one last chance as with six seconds left in the contest and Loyola holding a 61-59 lead,, junior guard Consuela Hall (7 points) dribbled down the length of the court and missed a jumper from the free-throw line at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

Sirus led the Ramblers with 15 points, while teammates Jenetria Harden (14 points) and Maggie Toczylowski (10 points) each turned in solid efforts.

UIC will be back in action on Thursday, as they will travel to Ohio to take on Cleveland State at 4:00 PM at the CSU Convocation Center.