UIC will open Horizon League play with a pair of road games this weekend.  The Flames will visit Purdue Fort Wayne Thursday night, before playing at Cleveland State Saturday.

The game against the Mastodons will be the Flames' first action in over a week.  With a season-opening loss to Northwestern well behind them, the team is focusing on getting off to a strong start in conference play.  With a home-and-home, double round-robin league schedule accounting for 22 of the season's games, any wins the Flames can get this weekend will pay dividends later in the season.

This will be the first meeting between the programs as Horizon League foes.  UIC owns a 4-2 advantage in the brief all-time series, though the Mastodons did win the previous matchup, 61-50 in 2019.  Purdue Fort Wayne enters with a 1-0 record, posting a win over D-III Manchester in their opener.  Ryin Ott turned in a 16-point performance that garnered her Horizon League Freshman of the Week honors.

Jaida McCloud and Keona Schenck both scored in double digits in UIC's opener at Northwestern.  McCloud put in work getting to, and capitalizing at, the free throw line, where she made 8-of-9 shots.  Schenck provided a threat from downtown with three 3-pointers.  Three freshmen and two first-year transfer students all made their UIC debuts, as Tasha Pointer rotated lineups among her young squad.

A win would make the Flames 1-1 in their first two games for the third time under Pointer.  They are seeking to start conference play with a win for the first time since topping Cleveland State in 2010.

Thursday's game can be seen on ESPN+.