CHICAGO – The UIC women's basketball team (3-17, 1-8 HL) kicks off its second half of Horizon League play on Thursday as they face first-place Wright State (15-6, 8-1 HL). Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT inside the Raiders' Nutter Center.

Starting Five

• Nneji ranks fourth in the country in total blocks (60), and her 3.0 blocks per game average leads the Horizon League and comes in at sixth in the nation. The sophomore has 12 multi-block showings this season and has blocked five or more five times so far.
• Brittany Byrd tallied her fifth 20+ point appearance on Saturday at Milwaukee, leading all players with 22 points. Byrd now ranks No. 20 on UIC's all-time scoring list with 1,056 career points.
• Kiarra Thompson has put up nine points in her last three outings, and has showed great improvement beyond the arc, making 11 of her 17 three-pointers this season in UIC's last five games.
• Jasmine Gaines matched her personal best with seven points on Saturday at Milwaukee. Gaines has started all but one game for the Flames in her first year and is averaging 1.4 assists per game to lead the squad.
• The Flames rank third in the League in three-point field goal defense, containing opponents to just 28.8 shooting from downtown. UIC has kept the opposition under 35 percent from three-point range in 14 of its 20 contests this year.

What's at Stake:
With a win, UIC would:

• Win its fourth game of the season
• Break a 13-game losing streak against Wright State
• Capture its second Horizon League Win
• Surpass last year's Horizon League win total
• Improve to 2-9 in true road games

Raider Write Up

• The Raiders have sole ownership of first place in the Horizon League after winning their third-straight conference game with a 78-59 win over Detroit Mercy on Sunday.
• Wright State is 8-1 after the first half of Horizon League action, its sole loss coming on Jan. 18 at Youngstown State.
• The Raiders own the top scoring offense in the conference, averaging 71.8 points per game, and also own a sizable lead as the top rebounding team in the League, averaging 44.0 boards per game compared to IUPUI's 40.4 average in second place.

 

• Symone Simmons owns primary responsibility for the Raiders rebounding abilities, averaging 8.8 boards per game to tie for first in the League.
• Wright State's leading scorer Michal Miller averages 13.3 points per game to tie for seventh in the conference.
• The Raiders are 34-28 all-time against UIC and have won the last 13 meetings, most recently taking a 79-46 win over the Flames on Dec. 30 at Credit Union 1 Arena.

 
Up Next

• UIC wraps up its five-game road trip on Saturday, Feb. 2 at Northern Kentucky.