March 11, 2015
Box Score
CLEVELAND - The sixth-seeded UIC women's basketball team (16-14) enjoyed one of its best shooting performances of the season but ultimately dropped its Horizon League Tournament Quarterfinal matchup with No. 3 Cleveland State (19-11), 76-70, Wednesday night. The Flames made 51 percent of their field goals but the Vikings set UIC opponent season highs in points and field goal percentage (.529).
UIC shot over 50 percent for the fourth time this season and made 29 field goals, the highest total since 34 at Valparaiso (Jan. 10). The Flames were 4-of-9 from three-point range and held a 38-32 advantage in paint points.
The Flames owned a 31-29 advantage on the glass and outrebounded 26 of 30 opponents this season. UIC grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and concluded the season ranked third nationally with 17.4 offensive rebounds per contest.
"I am very proud of how our team fought against a quality, senior heavy squad on the road," said UIC head coach Regina Miller. "Cleveland State has three 1,000-point scorers and that experience showed tonight. We had opportunities to pull out a tough win. A play here or there makes a huge difference."
"With our starting point guard out for the last four games, we had many players step up to play different roles and gain valuable experience," continued Miller. "Our core nucleus is returning and playing in these close games should serve us well next season. This team has something to prove. We are excited about the pieces set to join the program as they will fill our most important needs."
Junior Ruvanna Campbell, the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds. She finished the season with 12 20-plus point efforts and 22 double-doubles.
Campbell was 11-of-24 from the field and scored 16 points in the second half. She moved past Krystal Hugelier (2003-06) into 13th on UIC's all-time scoring list with 1,129 career points.
Sophomore Kendyl Nunn scored 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting in 29 minutes off the bench. She wrapped her first season at UIC with 10 double-digit scoring performances.
Junior Imani Moore set career highs with 13 points and four steals in her fifth consecutive start. She was 5-of-8 from the field, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. Moore had three double-figure performances over the last seven games of the season.
Sophomore Melita Emanuel-Carr was 2-of-5 from downtown and finished with 14 points. She also dished out four assists and picked up two of UIC's six steals. Emanuel-Carr finished with 15 double-figure scoring efforts after two such performances as a freshman.
The Flames used an early 9-0 run to take a 10-5 advantage at 14:16. Emanuel-Carr's layup at 11:37 gave UIC its largest lead of the contest (16-11).
CSU scored the next eight points and took a 34-28 lead on Imani Gordon's three-point play with 3:00 left before halftime. The Flames scored the next five points and narrowed the Vikings' advantage to 36-34 at halftime.
The second half featured six lead changes and three ties. Moore hit two straight three-pointers and the Flames held their last lead at 44-42 with 14:54 remaining. The Vikings scored 17 out of the next 25 points and held their largest advantage of the game (59-52) at 7:04.
UIC made seven straight field goals and trimmed CSU's lead to 67-66 with 2:12 left in the game. The Flames extended their made field goal streak to nine and only trailed 72-70 with 57 seconds on the clock. UIC did not make another field goal and the Vikings sealed the victory on Alexis Eckles' putback with 23 seconds left.
