CHICAGO – The UIC women's basketball team (1-4, 0-2 HL) continues Horizon League action this weekend as it welcomes Detroit Mercy (0-6, 0-2 HL) to Chicago for its first home games of the season. The Flames and Titans will square off on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 1 p.m. CT inside Credit Union 1 Arena before wrapping up the series on Sunday, Dec. 20 at 11 a.m. CT. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.

WITH A WIN, UIC WOULD:

• Win their home opener
• Improve to 2-4 on the season and 25-33 all-time against Detroit Mercy
• Win their first Horizon League game of the season
• Snap a six-game losing streak against the Titans

LAST TIME OUT

• The UIC women's basketball team opened up Horizon League action with a pair of losses on the road at Oakland. The Flames came up short in Saturday's (Dec. 12) opener, 76-70, before dropping the finale (Dec. 13) by a final tally of 81-55.
• On Saturday, the Flames outscored the Golden Grizzlies 43-37 in the second half and erased a 14-point Oakland advantage to lead by one with just under two minutes remaining in the game, but a 5-0 run for the Golden Grizzlies in the final 45 seconds would put the game out of reach for good.
• Jaida McCloud led for the Flames on Saturday with 17 points, 14 of which came in the second half.
• three other Flames finished in double figures on Saturday - Jada Nneji (12 points), Kristian Young (12 points) and Keona Schenck (10 points).
• The Flames were unable to bounce back from early shooting woes on Sunday and come up with an answer for a surging Golden Grizzlies offense, which sank nine threes on the day.
• Keona Schenck led UIC's offense with a personal-best 17 points. The freshman also turned in four rebounds and one steal.
• Tiana Jackson finished with a season-high 12 points behind 4-for-8 shooting. Jackson also made a season-high six rebounds and handed out a team-high four assists.

REJUVINATED OFFENSE

• UIC's offense has already shown a vast improvement from last year, averaging 67.6 points per game compared to 49.7 points at the end of the 2019-20 season. At this point in 2019-20 (five games in), the Flames were averaging 45.0 points per game as a team.
• The Flames' 67.6 points per game stands at third in the Horizon League.
• UIC also stands as the second-best shooting team in the conference after the first week of Horizon League play, shooting .404 overall. Five games into the 2019-20 season, the Flames were shooting .281 as a squad.
• Beyond the arc, UIC ranks third in the conference, sinking 30.7 percent of its threes. Its 5.4 treys per game are good for fifth in the conference.
• The Flames have four players averaging double digits in Jaida McCloud (17.0 ppg), Daijah Smith (15.5 ppg), Kristian Young (10.6 ppg) and Keona Schenck (11.4 ppg). All four rank in the League's top-20 in scoring.
• UIC also has three of the League's top-five leaders in assists. Tiana Jackson leads the conference with 3.8 assists per game, followed by Kristian Young in second with 3.6 assists per game. Jaida McCloud ranks fifth in the League, averaging 3.2 helpers per game.

SCOUTING THE TITANS

• Detroit Mercy is seeking its first win of the season, owning an 0-6 record overall and an 0-2 mark in Horizon League action.
• The Titans dropped a pair of games to Wright State last weekend, falling 75-55 and 73-43.
• Kaela Webb leads Detroit Mercy's offense with 18.5 points per game, a mark that puts her at second in the Horizon League.
• Bridgid Fox leads the Titans on the boards with an average of 4.8 rebounds per game.
• Alicia Norman ranks third in the conference with a team-high 3.5 assists per game.
• The Flames will look to snap a six-game losing streak against Detroit Mercy, who owns a 33-24 advantage all-time.

FAN ATTENDANCE

• At this time, UIC will not host fans for home games at Credit Union 1 Arena due to current public health regulations.
• Flames fans can watch all women's basketball games on the ESPN family of networks, as in past years.