Jan. 30, 2010
Box Score
CHICAGO - The UIC women's basketball team knocked off city-rival Loyola, 70-66, on Saturday afternoon behind a career-high 29 points from senior Jessie Miller.
The game between UIC (9-11, 6-3 Horizon League) and the Ramblers (10-10, 4-5 Horizon League) was exactly the kind of dogfight that you would expect when two Horizon League rivals from the city square off.
The Flames continued to shoot the ball well, firing at 49 percent (25-for-51) from the field on Saturday, following last week's 52.5 percent effort against Green Bay. UIC continued to put up big numbers from downtown, shooting 47.6 percent (10-for-21) from three-point range, including a 63.6 percent mark (seven-for-11) in the second half.
It was not a pretty start for the Flames, who found themselves trailing by 10 points on the road midway through the opening half. Loyola got an old fashion three-point play from Shannon Finnegan to take an 18-8 lead with 9:17 to play to go in the opening frame.
At that point, UIC went on a 10-0 run of their own to tie the game when freshman Taylor Foulks buried a three-pointer off an assist from teammate Cassie Johnson. The Ramblers would build another seven-point advantage, but that would shrink to just one as the teams headed to the half with Loyola leading, 30-29.
"I fully expected them to bring their best selves today," said Ryckbosch of the Ramblers. "I thought we didn't bring our best selves initially. We were pretty sluggish in the first half, but I thought we did a great job of stepping up."
The second half was Miller's time to shine. She scored 21 of her game-high 29 points and connected on five-of-seven from beyond the arc. Whenever the Flames needed a basket, the senior from Burnsville, Minn. was there to deliver.
Miller was also responsible for slowing down Loyola's Maggie McCloskey on the defensive end. McCloskey entered the game averaging a team-best 10.6 ppg. Miller held the sharpshooter to just one first-half three-pointer on the afternoon.
"Jess showed why she's First Team All-Conference," said Ryckbosch after the game. "When she gets going, its tough to slow her down." Ryckbosch did point out the significant contributions of other Flames, as well.
Shameia Green (15) and Taylor Foulks (12) joined Miller in double-figures for UIC, while Jasmine Bailey hauled in a game-high nine rebounds, including four on the offensive glass.
"Tay [Foulks] had some big moments. Meia [Green} didn't play a perfect game, but she still did some really great things and Jas [Bailey] didn't have her best outing, but she still was huge when it counted," said Ryckbosch. "It's cliché to say it's a rivalry and throw out the records, but its absolutely true," said UIC head coach Lisa Ryckbosch after the game. "We know those kids and they know us. They've worked hard and been through a lot and as an alum I'm very proud of the success that they're having."
Ryckbosch, nee Kasprowicz, starred for the Ramblers from 1980-1984 and is the program's sixth-leading scorer with 1,296 points and third leading rebounder with 765.
The Ramblers shot the ball slightly better than the Flames on Saturday, shooting 50 percent (24-for-48) from the floor. Senior Keisha Collins had 18 points for Loyola, while Finnegan added 11.
UIC will continue the three-game road swing on Thursday when they head to Ohio to take on the Vikings of Cleveland State at 6:00 p.m. CT. The Flames suffered their first Horizon League loss of the season on Jan. 9, 73-64. Horizon League Pre-Season Player of the Year Kailey Klein had a game-high 26 points and 11 rebounds in that contest.
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