Jan. 27, 2011

Final Stats

Final Stats in PDF Format

DAYTON, Ohio - Briana Hinkle led four players in double figures with a career-high 25 points to guide the UIC women's basketball team to an 84-69 road triumph at Wright State on Thursday night.

The Flames (9-10, 4-4 Horizon League) took care of the basketball, took advantage of Wright State's (12-7, 5-3 Horizon League) miscues and converted their chances from the charity stripe en route to the 15-point win at the Ervin J. Nutter Center. UIC committed just 13 turnovers, 3.7 below its season average, while scoring 25 points off the Raiders 18 errors. The Flames shot 81.3-percent (13-for-16) from the free throw line in the win.

Entering the second half, UIC was nursing a 12-point lead, its biggest advantage of the night. A long three-pointer by Taylor Foulks extended the lead to 18 points with just over 14 minutes to play, but a quick 6-0 run cut the lead to 12 and prompted Flames head coach Lisa Ryckbosch to burn a timeout. The Flames answered right back, however, with a pair of steals and fastbreak lay-ups by Briana Hinkle sandwiched around a jumper from Shameia Green to push the advantage back to 18 points.

Wright State roared right back with an 8-0 run and cut the deficit to 10 points after Kayla Lamotte buried a three-pointer from the right side to make it 70-60, Flames. Taylor Foulks and KC Elkins traded three-pointers and the team's entered the final media timeout with a 10-point lead at 75-65 with 2:11 to play. The Flames protected the ball and Kristin Petrinec, Hinkle, Kiara Strickland and Green combined to drain six free throws down the stretch to put the win on ice.

"We've shown great flashes of what we can be, but our inability to sustain it for 40 minutes has been an issue," said Ryckbosch. "We played front to back for 40 minutes tonight. We weren't perfect, but the mistakes that we made were things that we were able to fix and put ourselves where we wanted to be.

"We did a great job of responding to their runs," said Ryckbosch. "We got in trouble early on when the game was up and down, but our half-court defense was as good as its been all season tonight."

The Flames closed the first half with an 8-1 run in the final 3:23 of the frame to build a 12-point advantage at the break, their biggest lead of the night. UIC took advantage of 13 Wright State turnovers in the first half to gain the momentum heading into the break. Hinkle, who entered the evening ranked second in the Horizon League with 2.9 steals per game, was responsible for four thefts in the opening half. Hinkle also had 13 points in the opening 20 minutes to lead all players, while Green was also in double figures with 10 points. Kiara Strickland chipped in with eight points, two rebounds and two assists off the bench in the first half.

In addition to a new career-high in the scoring column, Hinkle, the Flames only Ohio native, tied a personal-best with six steals in the win. Foulks finished with 16 points, while Green had 15 points and seven rebounds. Jasmine Bailey recorded her fourth double-double of the season with a lucky 13 points and 13 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass.

UIC will wrap-up the brief two-game road trip with a Saturday matinee at Detroit. Tip off for the contest between the Flames and Titans is set for 1 p.m. CT.

Fans can listen to podcasts featuring exclusive interviews with UIC head coaches, staff and student-athletes for free on iTunes by searching "UIC Flames."

Fans wishing to learn more about affordable and flexible UIC ticket plans are encouraged to call 312-413-UIC1 or visit www.uicflames.com and click on the "Tickets" tab on the Flames home page.