CHICAGO – The UIC women's basketball team (1-10) tied a bow on its non-conference schedule Wednesday evening, coming up short against Eastern Michigan (4-6), 68-59. The Flames took a two-point lead into the fourth quarter, but the Eagles turned up the offense, outscoring UIC 24-13 in the game's final 10 minutes to come away with the win.
 
Kiarra Thompson reeled in her third double-digit effort of the season, recording a career-high 19 points that included a 4-of-7 showing from beyond the arc.
 
First Half Highlights

• UIC fired first at the start of the first quarter with a trey by Kiara Thompson. However, EMU responded quickly with back-to-back layups, 4-3.
• After a three from the Eagles, Thompson turned it around and scored a three of her own to the cut EMU's lead by one, 9-8.
• A trey from Tylah Lampley gave the Flames the lead, but Thompson continued the race by scoring another three to add to the lead, 16-11.
• The Flames ended with a bang as Kimeira Burks fired a dagger for three in the last remaining seconds of the first quarter, 19-11.
• The Eagles got on the board first in the second quarter with a layup and jumper. Shortly after, UIC was able to get back on the board with a shot by Jade Nneji, 21-15.
• After a layup by Nneji, the Flames lead fell as the Eagles had a 10-0 run to end the first half, 28-25.

Second Half Highlights

• EMU scored first in the beginning of the second half, but the Flames responded quickly with a layup by Jealissa Presswood, 30-27.
• After a 9-0 run by EMU, the Flames got a spark off a three by Thompson to cut the lead to nine, 39-30.
• A three pointer by Burks got the engine started again for the Flames, which gave way to a 10-0 run and a one-point lead for UIC, 42-43.
• The Flames came out on top at the end of third period with a layup and a free throw by Thompson, 44-46.
• The Eagles quickly scored at the top of the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run, until Lampley scored a jumper to end the streak, 50-48.
• After a shot from the charity stripe by Lake, Burks fired a trey to cut EMU's lead to one, 53-52. However, EMU responded with a three of their own to bring their lead up, 56-52.
• The Eagles' created distance with nine more unanswered points, 65-52. UIC was able to chip away at the lead with five points in the last two minutes, but the final buzzer would sound with Eastern Michigan on top, 68-59.

Facts & Figures

• Kiarra Thompson's four threes matched her personal best.
• Kimeria Burks had a trio of threes to match her career high, and she finished just one-point shy of double figures with nine points.
• Tylah Lampley finished in double figures for the sixth time this season, tallying 14 points.
• Jada Nneji was in double-double territory with 12 rebound and eight points. She also contributed four blocks for the defense.
• EMU outscored UIC in the paint 34 -20. They also scored more off the fast break, 18-3, and on the second chance, 17-8.

• UIC was stronger in three point shooting, making 66.7 percent (8-of-12) of its shots beyond the arc, compared to just 20 percent for EMU. The Flames' eight threes were a season high.
• The Flames ended the day with a season high field goal percentage of 47.7 percent (21-of-53) overall, a 10 percent increase from the team's previous season high shooting percentage. UIC was more efficient than the Eagles, who sank 40.6 percent of their shots on the night.

Up Next

• UIC will hit the road for the next two games.
• Its next matchup will be played at Cleveland State on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 1:00 p.m. CT.
• UIC will move on to face Youngstown State on Monday, Dec. 30.

Highlights