The 2016-17 UIC women's basketball season will tip off Friday as the Flames (0-0, 0-0 Horizon) welcome the Lake Forest Foresters (0-0, 0-0 Midwest) to UIC Pavilion.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.  General admission tickets are $8 and are available at the box office or by calling 312-413-UIC1 (8421).  UIC students with valid I-Cards receive free admission.

Sixth year head coach Regina Miller will lead a squad that blends experience and youth.  Veteran guards will anchor the team, while the frontcourt will be manned by newcomers who will be counted on to replace last season's scoring and rebounding that was lost to graduation.

Fifth year senior Terri Bender (Milwaukee, WI) will make her long-anticipated return from a season-ending knee injury suffered in her second game of last season.  The versatile guard averaged 14.5 points per game in 2014-15, with 4.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.8 steals.  Fellow senior Melita Emanuel-Carr (London, England) will join Bender in the backcourt.  Emanuel-Carr played a team-high 25 minutes in the exhibition win over North Park and tied for the squad lead with 10 points.

Redshirt junior forward/center Teodora Zagorac (Novi Sad, Serbia) will anchor the Flames' frontcourt as its most experienced returner.  She had a game high 10 rebounds against North Park after averaging just 2.2 per game last season.  Freshman Tyra Carlsten-Handberg (Stockholm, Sweden) will be counted on to make immediate contributions alongside Zagorac.  Junior Gabryelle Johnson (Casper, WY), who transferred from Casper College, looks to use her 6'1" frame to add a physical presence to the front line.

Sophomore Taylor Toney (Minneapolis, MN) appeared in 28 of 30 games last season.  The versatile guard/forward can add experience at several positions on the floor and will compete for a full-time starting slot in 2016-17.

Simply putting the ball in the basket will be critical to the Flames' success this season.  They shot just 38.4% from the floor last season, good for 9^th in the Horizon League, but filled the net at a 44.4% clip against North Park.  A balanced scoring effort was led by sophomore Desiree Jackson (Lansing, IL) (10 points on 3-3 field goals) and Carlsten-Handberg (8 points, 3-5 shooting) with Johnson adding nine points, making three of five field goals.

This is the first ever meeting between the Flames and Foresters.  UIC has won its last two season openers and four of its last six overall.  The Flames are 19-26 all time in season openers.  Dating back to 2001, UIC is 10-5 in home openers with an average margin of victory of eight points.