Nov. 22, 2014
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio - The UIC women's basketball team (3-0) remained undefeated Saturday with a 72-69 victory at Miami Ohio (1-1). The contest featured 12 ties and 16 lead changes.
The Flames are 3-0 for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign and have won seven straight games dating back to last season's WBI Championship. The seven-game win streak is the second longest in the nation behind No. 22 Rutgers (eight), who won the 2014 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).
UIC forced 30 turnovers and scored 24 points off Miami's miscues. The Flames also collected 15 offensive rebounds and scored 10 second-chance points. UIC picked up 17 steals, the most since Jan. 16, 2014 at Detroit.
UIC is averaging 14 steals and forcing 23 turnovers per game. The Flames are scoring 23.6 points off turnovers per contest.
"I am proud of how we continued to fight back into the game," said UIC head coach Regina Miller. "We fell behind late but never lost focus. Our juniors made clutch plays down the stretch against a very talented Miami team. Tight road wins like these are momentum builders and we look to keep that momentum rolling Wednesday at Northwestern."
Redshirt junior Ruvanna Campbell had 16 points and 18 rebounds for her seventh straight double-double dating back to last season. Campbell, who is averaging 19.0 rebounds per game, owns 20 consecutive double-figure rebounding performances. She also set a career high with seven steals.
Junior Terri Bender scored a game-high 21 points for her fifth career 20-point performance. She was 5-of-11 from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Bender also had five steals and is averaging 5.0 steals per game this season.
Junior Caitlin Garant scored 10 points for her second straight double-figure effort while sophomore Melita Emanuel-Carr contributed nine points. Redshirt sophomore Kendyl Nunn added seven points and two steals off the bench while senior Gisselle Truiett set a career high with six assists to go along with five rebounds.
Miami jumped out to a 16-8 lead before a 13-2 run by UIC gave the Flames a three-point lead (21-18). The teams exchanged baskets until halftime and Baleigh Reid's free throw with 11 seconds before the break tied the score at 37-37.
UIC scored the first four points of the second half. Miami rallied to tie the score at 46-46 and the second half featured three more ties, the last coming at 64-64 with 3:38 remaining.
The Flames took control of the contest with a pair of free throws by Bender and two baskets by Campbell. UIC led 69-64 with 2:10 left and made three free throws to hold on for the 72-69 victory. Miami had two attempts to tie the score in the final seconds but the RedHawks could not convert from beyond the arc.
UIC seeks its first 4-0 start since the 2008-09 season Wednesday (Nov. 26) when the Flames play at Northwestern (3-0). Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. inside Welsh-Ryan Arena. Last season, the Flames hung tough with the Wildcats in the first half before Northwestern pulled away for a 79-63 home victory (Nov. 10, 2013).
