Jan. 27, 2015 -
Flames receive their 2014 WBI Championship plaques prior to the game
UIC Athletic Director Jim Schmidt presenting head coach Regina Miller with a plaque celebrating her 300th career win
Box Score CHICAGO - The UIC women's basketball team (13-6, 3-3 HL) evened its Horizon League record Tuesday night with a 60-42 home victory over Valparaiso (4-15, 0-6 HL). The Flames swept the season series with the Crusaders and have won four straight meetings with Valpo overall.
UIC is off to the program's second-best 19-game start in the Division-I era (1981-present). UIC limited Valpo to 29 percent shooting and 16 made field goals. The Crusaders were 5-of-24 in the first half and were held scoreless for 10:23.
UIC has held seven opponents to less than 50 points and Valpo's 42 points are the third lowest UIC opponent total. Over the last four home contests (3-1), UIC has limited opponents to 41.2 points per game and 29 percent shooting.
The Flames are 9-1 at home and are outscoring opponents by 23.7 points in Chicago. UIC has held 13 opponents under 40 percent shooting and the Flames are 10-0 when allowing less than 60 points.
UIC outrebounded Valpo 46-31, grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and scored 17 second-chance points. The Flames also blocked a season-high six shots as Caitlin Garant and Imani Moore both swatted two Valpo attempts.
"Both offenses struggled in the first half but our defensive pressure kept us in the lead," said UIC head coach Regina Miller. "We shot much better in the second half and our continued effort on the defensive side of the floor allowed us to pull away late."
Ruvanna Campbell collected her third straight double-double and 14th overall with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Campbell, who ranks third nationally with 14.2 rebounds per contest, was 9-of-16 from the field. She also picked up four steals and owns 12 steals over her last three games.
Terri Bender scored 13 points for her ninth straight double-figure performance. She was 2-of-7 from downtown and dished out a team-high six assists.
Melita Emanuel-Carr added 13 points for her third double-digit effort over the last four games. She drained her team-high 27th three-pointer and was 4-of-6 from the free-throw line.
Valparaiso jumped out to a 5-2 lead following Dani Franklin's three-pointer at 18:22. The Crusaders made one field goal over the next 12:13 as the Flames used a 17-2 run to take a 19-7 lead with 4:57 left before halftime.
UIC's lead was trimmed to 24-15 at halftime and Valpo got as close as 28-24 on Abby Dean's three-pointer at 15:04 in the second half. With their lead at 33-28, the Flames used a 12-2 run to go up 45-30 and put the game out of reach. UIC made 50 percent of its field goal attempts (14-of-28) in the second half.
The Flames continue their three-game homestand Saturday with a contest against first-place Green Bay (15-3, 5-0 HL). Tip-off with the Phoenix is set for 7 p.m. CT inside the UIC Pavilion.
