CLEVELAND – The No. 11 seed UIC women's basketball team (3-16, 1-14 HL) closed out the 2020-21 season on Thursday night with a 69-43 loss to No. 6 seed Cleveland State (10-8, 9-8 HL) in the first round of the Horizon League Women's Basketball Championships.  

After a slow start in the first, the Flames outscored the Vikings 14-11 in the second quarter to pull within five at halftime, 25-20. UIC reduced the lead to as few as four late in the third quarter, but Cleveland State prevailed in the fourth, outscoring UIC 28-10 in the final frame to take the game, 69-43.

First Half Highlights

• The Vikings kept the Flames without a point in the opening three minutes, taking a 6-0 lead. Keona Schenck got UIC on the board with a three, cutting Cleveland State's lead in half, 6-3.
• Two more layups fell for the Vikings before the Flames would score again, 10-5. A free throw from Schenck finished out the scoring for UIC in the first, leaving Cleveland State with a 15-6 advantage after the first 10 minutes.
• The Vikings once again kept UIC without a score in the opening minutes of the second, as McCloud's layup at 5:40 served as the Flames' first bucket of the frame, 20-8. Another three from Schenck and another layup from McCloud would cut the lead back down into single digits, 20-13.
• Cleveland State sank a short-range jumper before buckets from Lindsey Rogers and Kristian Young cut at the lead once more, 22-17. The Vikings followed with a three, which Schenck replied to with her third trey of the day, 25-20, to finish out the first half.

Second Half Highlights

• The home team converted a three-point play and sank a jumper to start the second half, pushing their lead back into double figures, 30-20. Scheck fired off another three to kick off the scoring for UIC, 30-23, while Rogers and Jada Nneji followed with layups around four freebies for Cleveland State, 34-27.
• McCloud added six for the Flames off a pair of freebies and a pair of layups, reducing the lead to four, 37-33, but the Vikings quickly put away a pair of layups of their own to finish out the third quarter, 41-33.
• McCloud started things off for UIC in the fourth, 41-35, before the Vikings took eight unanswered, 49-35. Tiana Jackson ended the streak for Cleveland State, 49-37, but the Vikings struck again with nine more answered points, 58-37.
• UIC was unable to bridge the gap, eventually falling by a final tally of 69-43.

Facts & Figures

• Keona Schenck paced UIC's offensive efforts with 15 points behind a personal-best four threes. Schenck also made a pair of rebounds, a pair of assists and four steals.
• Jaida McCloud also turned in a double-digit effort for the Flames, tallying 14 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists.
• Lindsey Rogers turned in six points and three rebounds, while also handing out three assists and making a pair of blocks.
• Kristian Young led the team with nine rebounds to go with her four points and three assists.
• The Flames shot 34 percent (17-for-50) on the night, compared to 38.9 percent (21-for-54) for the Vikings. UIC shot 26.7 percent (4-for-15) from three, while CSU made just 14.3 percent (3-for-21) of its threes. At the free throw line, the Vikings shot 77.4 percent (24-for-31), while the Flames shot 55.6 percent (5-for-9).
• Cleveland State took 26 of its points off UIC's 30 turnovers, while The Flames profited 16 points off the Vikings' 20 miscues.
• The home team was also stronger in the paint, 34-24, as well as on the second chance, 7-3. UIC's bench outscored Cleveland State's 16-12.
• The Flames had the edge in assists, 13-11, but the Vikings got the edge on the boards, 40-33.