CHICAGO – The No. 11 seed UIC women's basketball team (3-15, 1-13 HL) will begin postseason play on Thursday, Feb. 25 as it travels to face the No. 6 seed Cleveland State Vikings (9-8, 8-8 HL) in the first round of the Horizon League Women's Basketball Championships. The two teams are set to tipoff at 6 p.m. CT inside Cleveland State's Wolstein Center.

WITH A WIN, UIC WOULD:

• Improve to 4-15 on the season
• Win their first Horizon League Tournament game since 2017
• Snap a nine-game losing streak to Cleveland State
• Win their second road game of the season

LAST TIME OUT

• UIC hosted Milwaukee in its final series of the regular season this past weekend, falling 58-35 on Friday (Feb. 19) and 72-53 in Saturday's (Feb. 20) finale.
• On Friday, The Flames trailed by only four points at the end of the first quarter, but the Panthers increased the lead to 10 at the break.
• UIC was limited to 25 percent shooting with 10 field goals Friday and was limited to only 18 points in the second half as the Panthers set the final margin.
• The newcomers led the way once again for the Flames as freshman Lindsey Rogers led the squad with 10 points to go along with four rebounds. Kristian Young added nine points and a team-high seven boards. Young also dished out a game-high six assists.
• On Saturday, The Panthers got off to a fast start, outscoring the hosts 20-5 in the first 10 minutes and never looking back.
• After the game, UIC honored seniors Jada Nneji and Jealissa Presswood in a virtual Senior Day celebration.

ON MCCLOUD NINE

• Freshman Jaida McCloud was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team on Tuesday (Feb. 23), picking up the first All-Freshman award for the Flames since 2013. 
• McCloud was named Horizon League Freshman of the Week on Dec. 7 after picking up her first career double-double at Western Michigan (Dec. 5) with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
• McCloud's weekly award was the first for the Flames since 2016.
• The freshmen turned in a pair of double-digit efforts against IUPUI (Feb. 5-6), tallying 11 points on Friday (Feb. 5) and a game-high 16 points on Saturday (Feb. 6).
• McCloud has made a strong impression in her first season, turning in double-digit showings in nine games. She leads the Flames with an average of 13.7 points per game. 
• The Peoria, Ill. native also leads the Flames in rebounding average, averaging 6.2 rebounds per game.
• McCloud is shooting .441 on the season, and she ranks second on the team in field goals made with 64.
• Defensively, McCloud averages 2.2 steals per game and 0.8 blocks per game.

ROGER THAT

• Freshman Lindsey Rogers is one of four freshmen to start for UIC this season. She has made 12 starts and 14 appearances so far in her first-year campaign.
• Rogers is averaging 9.5 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in her first year with the Flames.
• The freshman is UIC's most efficient three-point shooter, sinking 42.9 percent (21-for-49) of her shots beyond the arc this season.
• Rogers turned in her first career double-double on Jan. 30 against Rockford, recording 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
• The Naperville, Ill. native had a strong weekend at the three-point line at Green Bay (Feb. 12-13), turning in 14 points on Friday (Feb. 12) with a pair of threes before putting out a team-high 15 points off a personal best five threes in Saturday's (Feb. 13) finale.
• Rogers now ranks 13th in the Horizon League in three-pointers per game, averaging 1.5 threes per game.

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS

• Cleveland State finished the regular season with the No. 6 seed, taking a 9-8 record on the season overall and a 8-8 record against Horizon League opponents.
• The Vikings last saw action against Youngstown State on Feb. 19-20, when the two teams split their two-game series at Youngstown.
• Mariah White leads the team as well as the Horizon League in scoring, averaging 19.4 points per game.
• White also hands out the most assists to her teammates, averaging 4.1 helpers per game to rank in the League's top five.
• Nadia Dumas leads the Vikings' rebounding efforts, pulling down an average of 6.1 boards per game to come in at ninth in the conference.
• The Flames and Vikings did not have a chance to meet during the regular season, but the Vikings own the advantage all-time, 45-33, taking the last nine meetings consecutively.