CHICAGO (Nov. 17, 2023) – The UIC women's basketball team (2-1) collected its first win at Credit Union 1 Arena this season, defeating SEMO (1-2), 87-74 Friday night. Junior forward Makiyah Williams (Chicago, Ill./Trinity/Marquette) paced a balanced attack for the Flames with a career-high 28 points, while senior Jaida McCloud (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
As a team, UIC shot the ball very well on Friday, finishing with a season-high .547 field-goal percentage after being well above 60 percent for much of the first three quarters.
COACH'S COMMENT
"I was really pleased with a win in our home opener tonight. I thought our fanbase was great," said head coach Ashleen Bracey. "We put up a lot of points (and) offensively, we were clicking start to finish."
FIRST QUARTER (25-17, UIC)
- Right after tipoff, senior Keimari Rimmer (Chicago, Ill./Proviso East/DePaul) found classmate Danyel Middleton (Chicago, Ill./Bolingbrook/Marquette) for a driving layup to get the Flames on the scoreboard seconds into the game.
- After the Redhawks' third score of the quarter, the Flames caught fire, going on a 15-2 run, highlighted by a pair of threes from Rimmer and graduate transfer Dais'Ja Trotter (Louisville, Ky./Seneca/Cincinnati). The Flames led 17-6 with 4:43 left in the quarter.
- Back-to-back made shots from Williams extended the Flames' lead to 23-8 late in the quarter before SEMO closed on a 9-2 run to get within 25-17 after 10 minutes.
- The Flames made 10 of their first 11 shots before cooling off slightly, finishing the quarter shooting 11-for-16 (.688).
SECOND QUARTER (44-38, UIC)
- McCloud opened the second-quarter scoring with a quick three-pointer (28-17).
- Rimmer converted an old-fashioned three-point play to extend UIC's lead to double digits (30-20) with 8:42 left to go in the half.
- Seven unanswered points for Williams (the last on a jumper after Rimmer's second steal of the game) made her the first UIC player to break into double figures. UIC remained ahead 43-28 with four minutes remaining.
- A late 10-0 run by the Redhawks was eventually thwarted by a made free throw from McCloud to finish out the half.
THIRD QUARTER (66-49, UIC)
- Middleton made her fourth shot of the night without a miss two minutes in to extend UIC's lead back to double digits at 49-39.
- After grabbing a defensive rebound, Williams took the ball coast to coast, faking a pass and banking in a short jumper to complete a 7-0 run and give the Flames a 53-39 lead at the 5:55 mark.
- Williams remained the offensive focus for UIC in the quarter, when junior Sandra Frau-Garcia (Pego, Spain/Casper College) heaved a half-court pass to her in the post and she banked in the turnaround jumper.
- Free throws from Middleton and Williams closed out the quarter to give UIC a 17-point lead.
FOURTH QUARTER (87-74, UIC)
- Rimmer became the fourth member of the Flames to score in double figures, sinking a jumper in the paint at the 8:17 mark for a 71-57 lead.
- Trotter came up with the shot of the night, barely beating the shot clock buzzer with her third three-pointer of the game (an off-balance one-handed shot from the top of the key that banked in), giving the Flames a 74-61 lead.
- After going 3-for-4 from the charity stripe all night, Garcia drove the lane for her first made shot of the game to give UIC a 13-point lead with 2:30 left in the game (84-71).
- Before the final buzzer sounded, McCloud grabbed her 10th and final rebound after a missed SEMO three-point attempt to secure her double-double.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- UIC tied up the all-time series with SEMO at 4-4, avenging last year's one-point loss to the Redhawks in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
- Williams nearly doubled her career high in scoring, which had been 15 points in the season-opening win at Loyola on Nov. 6. Prior to coming to UIC, Williams' career high at Marquette was nine points.
- After collecting three double-doubles last season (all in the final month of the season), McCloud picked up her first double-double of 2023-24 and joined Rimmer as the second UIC player to record a double-double this year.
- UIC's season-high .547 field-goal percentage was its best since Nov. 14, 2022, when it shot .569 in a win at Chicago State.
- Friday's 87 points matched the most scored by UIC in Bracey's two seasons as head coach. The Flames also reached that mark in last year's 87-62 win at Chicago State.
UP NEXT
The Flames return to Credit Union 1 Arena Sunday to face IUPUI (1-2) at 1 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be on
UICFlames.com. This game will be also be the first of a doubleheader as the UIC men's basketball team will play Aurora at 4 p.m. (CT), also at Credit Union Arena. Tickets for both games are available on Ticketmaster, through UICFlames.com or by visiting the arena box office on game day.
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).
#FireUpFlames | #ChicagosCollegeTeam
