CHICAGO – The UIC women's basketball team (2-5, 1-3 HL) will return to action following a two-week break to welcome Horizon League foe Youngstown State (1-3, 1-3 HL) to Chicago for a pair of games this weekend. The Flames and Penguins will face off Friday, Jan. 19 at 2 p.m. CT and will wrap up the series on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 12 p.m. inside UIC's Credit Union 1 Arena. Both games will be broadcasted on ESPN+.

WITH A WIN, UIC WOULD:

• Improve to 3-5 on the season
• Win their second Horizon League game of the season
• Improve to 22-21 all-time against Youngstown State
• Win their second home game of the year

LAST TIME OUT

• In its last series against Detroit Mercy (Dec. 19-20), UIC staged a furious comeback at the end of regulation in game one to force an extra period and take down the Detroit Mercy Titans, 76-72, in overtime for their first Horizon League victory of the young season.
• UIC's Daijah Smith, making her debut at Credit Union 1 Arena, tallied career highs in scoring with 22 points and nine rebounds. Jada Nneji also neared a double-double with 17 points and eight rebounds.
• In Sunday's finale, the Titans avenged their earlier loss with a 72-58 victory. The Flames were limited to only 10 points in the third quarter, while the Titans poured in 22 to take a 20-point lead into the final period.
• Kristian Young tallied 11 points and dished out a career-high seven assists for UIC in the finale. The first-year Flame also hauled in seven rebounds and picked up three steals. Classmate Keona Schenck also scored 11 points.

APPROACHING A MILESTONE

• Senior Jada Nneji is approaching the all-time career blocks record, currently standing in second with 158 career blocks.
• Nneji is a mere six blocks shy of the all-time record of 164, currently owned by Cassie Johnson (2006-10).
• Nneji currently leads both the Flames and the Horizon League with an average of 2.0 blocks per game.
• Nneji's 58 blocks in 2019-20 were fourth-most in single-season history. She also owns the second-highest single season block total (70), which she set as a sophomore in 2018-19.
• The Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada native took home Horizon League All-Defensive Team honors last season for the second-straight year.

YOUNG TALENT

• Freshman Kristian Young has already proved herself a valuable member of UIC's offense, averaging 10.6 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game.
• Young picked up UIC's second Horizon League weekly award in a three-week span on Dec. 21, taking home the Freshman of the Week title after averaging 10.5 points and 5.0 rebounds with five steals and 11 assists in UIC's series with Detroit Mercy (Dec. 19-20).
• Young currently ranks 17th in scoring in the Horizon League, while her 5.4 rebounds per game come in at 12th in the League.
• Young has also been creating opportunities for her teammates, leading both the Flames and the Horizon League with an average of 4.1 assists per game.

SCOUTING THE PENGUINS

• Youngstown State owns a 1-3 record this season after picking up its first win of the season on Saturday, Jan. 9 with a 72-57 home victory over Oakland.
• Freshman Nneka Obiazor has been making early impressions for the Penguins, leading the team and ranking eighth in the Horizon League with 13.5 points per game.
• Obiazor also leads Youngstown State in rebounds, pulling down an average of 7.8 boards per game to rank seventh in the League.
• Chelsea Olson hands out the most assists for the Penguins, doling out 3.0 helpers per game to come in at seventh in the conference.
• The all-time series stands at a tight 22-20 in favor of Youngstown State, but the Flames took the last meeting between the two teams (Jan. 30, 2020), pouring in 25 points in the final quarter to take a 59-53 win at home. The Indianapolis, Ind. native has reached double figures in all but one game so far and was the first Flame to record a double-double this season, tallying 11 points and 12 rebounds at Eastern Michigan (Nov. 29).

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.