Box Score March 5, 2016 Final Stats
CHICAGO - In its final home contest of the season, the UIC women's basketball team (12-17, 3-15 HL) fell to Valparaiso (9-20, 5-13 HL) by a score of 80-74. The contest was the final home game for five UIC seniors: Ruvanna Campbell, Manuella Kanmegni, Imani Moore, Marissa Grossfeld and Caitlin Garant.
UIC's next opponent will be determined tomorrow as the Flames enter the Horizon League Tournament as the No. 10 seed and will take on the No. 3 seed in the first round (March 10). The tournament will be held at the Kress Events Center in Green Bay.
For the first time since 2001, all 10 teams will compete at one site for every round of the tournament. Tickets can be purchased by visiting http://alturl.com/skvu3 or by calling the Green Bay ticket office at 920-465-2625. Fans buying an all-session ticket will receive a complementary T-shirt. All-session tickets are $40 for adults and $32 for youth.
"First off, I would like to thank our five seniors for their hardwork and dedication to the program," said UIC head coach Regina Miller. "I was proud of Brittany Byrd's play today as I think she showed a lot of poise for a freshman. We have to give Valparaiso credit for hitting their outside shots at crucial moments of the game. We executed offensively in the fourth quarter but their three-pointers really hurt our momentum. We are excited for the opportunity to string together wins in the conference tournament next weekend."
Campbell led the Flames with 26 points and 12 rebounds for her school record 69th career double-double and 37th 20-point performance. She needs two points to pass Penny Armstrong (1991-95 - 1,657) for second on the UIC all-time scoring list. In the Horizon League record books, she only needs 23 boards to pass Christy Greis (Evansville, 1989-93) for the all-time rebounding mark of 1,286.
Off the bench, junior Kendyl Nunn totaled 18 points and six boards for her 20th double-digit performance of the season and 30th of her career. Freshman Brittany Byrd notched 13 points as she hit 5-of-11 shots from the field, including a pair of three-pointers.
The Flames started the game on a 5-0 run with Garant contributing three points and a pair of boards. After leading for the majority of the first quarter, the Flames trailed 18-16 at the buzzer as Valpo hit seven of their last nine shots from the field. Byrd provided energy off the bench for the Flames with six points on 2-of-2 shooting, including her only three-point basket of the quarter.
The Flames fell into a scoring drought to begin the second quarter but Grossfeld snapped the drought with a layup in traffic with 3:10 remaining. Campbell hit three layups to help the Flames finish the half on a 6-0 run and cut Valpo's lead to 32-28 going into the locker room. She finished the half with 10 points and six rebounds.
Both teams traded baskets to start the second half, led Campbell and Byrd. Byrd hit a triple with 6:31 remaining in the period to cut the deficit to 40-37. Campbell totaled 11 points and five boards in the period as the Flames trailed 56-49 going into the fourth.
In the final period, the Flames put together a 10-0 run after causing three turnovers on defense. The run was capped off by Nunn's layup with 4:37 left to narrow Valpo's lead to 63-62. That was closest UIC would get as the Crusaders responded with a 9-0 run. Nunn scored 13 points in the final quarter on 4-of-7 shooting.
