In UIC's home opener Tuesday, the Flames will look for their first win of the season against familiar rival Valparaiso – and will look to avoid needing a comeback to get it.

The last two games of the team's road trip saw UIC make valiant fourth-quarter comebacks, only to fall short both times.  Against Purdue Fort Wayne, the Flames whittled a 12-point deficit all the way down to 2, but could not overcome late Mastodon free throws.  Then on Saturday against Cleveland State, a 20-point Viking advantage slimmed down to 7 before the Flames ran out of time.  In both games, defense played a huge role in the rallies.  UIC averaged 4.5 steals, and forced 9.0 turnovers, in the fourth quarters of the two games.

While showing that they could finish strong, the Flames also got out of the gate impressively in both Horizon League contests.  They led the Vikings after one quarter, and were tied with Purdue Fort Wayne after one, en route to a halftime lead.  But getting bogged down in one of the middle quarters put UIC behind the eight ball in each of their last two outings.

Jaida McCloud has led the team in scoring in every game, and is averaging 17.7 points per game.  She has been the squad's top rebounder in two of three games, and also leads overall in the category with 5.7 boards per contest.  Keona Schenck also averages double-digit points (11.0), while Kristian Young is one of the team's top rebounders as well as their leading assist maker.

Valparaiso enters at 0-4.  Three players are within one point of each other for the team lead.  The Beacons are averaging four blocked shots per game, but are being out-rebounded by nearly 21 caroms per contest.

The teams have squared off 50 times over the years.  Valpo won the most recent meeting, in December 2019, but UIC has won two in a row, and eight of the last 10, at Credit Union 1 Arena.  The all-time series is an even split, 25-25.

Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.  The game will be available on ESPN+.