MOLINE, Ill. (Oct. 24, 2023) – Senior Jaida McCloud (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) of the UIC women's basketball team was named to the 2023-24 Preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference Second Team. The announcement was made Tuesday at the start of the league's annual tipoff event.

McCloud is the Flames' top returning scorer and rebounder (12.2 ppg., 6.6 rpg.). The Peoria, Ill. native ranked 17^th in the conference in scoring and 11^th in rebounding during the 2022-23 season.

In March 2023, McCloud achieved a significant milestone by surpassing 1,000 career points against Murray State. Currently, she is 19^th in UIC history in career scoring with 1,072 points. She scored in double figures in 25 games last season, and tallied three double-doubles.

Alongside the announcement of the preseason all-conference teams, the MVC released its preseason poll Tuesday. UIC was selected to finish 6^th in the conference this year. The poll and the preseason all-conference teams were determined through a vote by MVC head coaches, sports information directors and media members.

This year, UIC is determined to outperform expectations with nine players returning, including senior starters McCloud and Kristian Young (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North), who averaged 6.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Additionally, the Flames will welcome eight newcomers, including Chicago-natives Krystyna Ellew (Chicago, Ill./Taft/Wisconsin), Keimari Rimmer (Chicago, Ill./Proviso East/DePaul) and Makiyah Williams (Chicago, Ill./Trinity/Marquette), who transferred to UIC during the offseason.

Season and single-game tickets for UIC women's basketball are now on sale by going online to Ticketmaster, visiting UICFlames.com/Tickets or contacting the UIC Athletics Ticket Office at (312) 413-8UIC (8421).

UIC tips off its 2023-24 schedule Oct. 30 with a 7 p.m. (CT) exhibition game against Wisconsin-Parkside at Credit Union 1 Arena. The Flames will open the regular season with three consecutive road games (Nov. 6 at Loyola; Nov. 9 at Northwestern; Nov. 12 at Milwaukee) before their home opener at on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. against Southeast Missouri State.

For more information, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_WBB and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_wbb and @uicflames).