UIC women's basketball will return to action Saturday afternoon against Fort Wayne at the Flames Athletic Center.  It will be one of just two home games in December, and the only home contest in a six game stretch to start the month.  After dropping two straight road games, UIC will try to get back in the win column against a team they last faced in 2014 en route to the WBI Championship.

It was a tough couple of games to start the road portion of the schedule for UIC.  The road trip started with Toledo, who was picked to finish second in the MAC West, and ended with the favorites to win the MAC West and the MAC Tournament, Central Michigan.  Against the Chippewas, UIC held their own for almost three full quarters and was within four points late in the third.  But the hot shooting the Flames displayed early (48% in the first half) couldn't be sustained when CMU went on a run.

Three Flames scored in double digits against Central Michigan, led by Melita Emanuel-Carr's 15.  Tyra Carlsten-Handberg set a career rebounding high for the second straight game with 8, and Taylor Toney put up 11 points and 8 rebounds.

Toney is likely to make her first home start of the season against Fort Wayne.  The sophomore started the last two games after missing the first three games this season.  She had 23 points and 13 rebounds on the road trip.  In her three games played, Toney leads UIC with 10.3 points per game.  Melita Emanuel-Carr is right behind her with 10.0.

Senior Terri Bender will take sole possession of fifth place on the Flames' all time steals list with just one steal against the Mastodons.  She enters action with 224 career steals, tied with Briana Hinkle (2006-11).  Bender is averaging 2.3 steals per game this year, right in line with her career average.

Like UIC, the Mastodons have also faced two MAC opponents this season, including Western Michigan in their most recent game.  That was a 61-35 loss which dropped the Mastodons to 1-8.   In that contest, Fort Wayne failed to make at least one three-pointer for the first time in 533 games, which was the nation's second-longest streak.  Sophomore guard De'Jour Young, a Fort Wayne native, leads the team in scoring, rebounding, field goals, and free throws.

UIC has prevailed in each of the teams' three previous matchups.  The most recent meeting was in the 2014 Women's Basketball Invitational.  UIC dispatched Fort Wayne 84-71 in the first round and would follow that with three additional wins to claim the tournament championship.

This matchup will be a rare home game in the Flames Athletic Center, made necessary by UIC's fall graduation ceremony at UIC Pavilion.  The Flames are 5-1 in the FAC since the facility opened in 1999.  To get live updates during the game, follow the Flames on Twitter @UIC_WBasketball and visit www.uicflames.com for live stats.