CHICAGO (Nov. 6, 2023) – The UIC women's basketball team had a strong start to the 2023-24 season, as the Flames cruised to a 67-51 victory over crosstown rival Loyola. A dominant first quarter performance helped the Flames control the match from start to finish, with UIC leading by as many as 22 points in the victory. Three players reached double figures scoring for the Flames in the win.
COACH'S COMMENTS
"I'm thrilled with how we began the season," said head coach
Ashleen Bracey. "It's always challenging to play on the road and come away with a win. What I'm most proud of is our ability to defend tonight; that's something we've been struggling with. We really emphasized it in practice this week, and the team fully embraced it, holding Loyola to 51 points."
FIRST QUARTER
- Dais'Ja Trotter (Louisville, Kentucky/Seneca/Cincinnati) opened the scoring for the Flames with a lay-up on the first play of the game.
- At the 8-minute mark, Jaida McCloud (Peoria, Illinois/Richwoods) led the fast break, passing the ball to Kristian Young (Indianapolis, Indiana/Lawrence North), who added to the Flames' lead with a layup, extending their run to 6-0.
- McCloud made her presence felt early in the paint, drawing contact on a basket a head to the charity stripe. After converting the three-point play, the Flames had a 15-3 lead.
- At the end of the first quarter, the Flames led the Ramblers 21-3.
- All three of Loyola's points in the first quarter came from free throws.
SECOND QUARTER
- 26 seconds into the quarter, Trotter nailed the first three-pointer of the game for the Flames to give UIC the 24-5 advantage.
- Around a minute later, Danyel Middleton (Chicago, Illinois/Bolingbrook/Marquette) secured a defensive rebound and located Trotter downcourt for a two-point play to help UIC increase its lead to 19.
- After Trotter's basket, Loyola went on a 15-6 run and cut the UIC lead to 11 heading in to the half.
- Young's tenacious defense was seen throughout the second quarter. The guard forced three turnovers in the first half.
- Trotter led all scorers in the first half with 11 points, shooting 5-for-8 (.625) from the field. Makiyah Williams (Chicago, Ill./Trinity/Marquette) and McCloud each contributed five points.
THIRD QUARTER
- 78 seconds into the second half, Young nabbed her third steal of the game and found Keimari Rimmer (Chicago, Illinois/Proviso East/DePaul) positioned behind the arc who sank the Flames' third three-pointer of the game to give UIC the 34-20 lead.
- Ky Dempsey-Toney (Franklin, New Jersey/Franklin) notched her first basket of the game with a driving lay-up, extending the Flames' lead to 12 points with a little under four minutes remaining in the quarter.
- Up 40-31 with 2:20 to go in the quarter, Young's fourth steal of the game led to a lay-in by Rimmer to increase the UIC lead to 11.
- With one minute left in the quarter, the Flames forced a shot clock violation, marking the 20th turnover for the Ramblers on the evening.
- In the final seconds of the quarter, Williams crossed over her defender and hit a step-back three-pointer for her 11th point of the game as the buzzer sounded. UIC went into the fourth quarter with a 49-34 lead.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Krystyna Ellew (Chicago, Illinois/Taft/Wisconsin) showcased her shooting skills at the 9:00 mark with a well-executed midrange jumper to put UIC up by 17 points over the Ramblers (51-34).
- With 6:21 left in the game, Young's scrappy play was seen yet again as she grabbed the offensive rebound and converted in the paint for her first points of the game to give UIC the 55-39 lead.
- A steal by Middleton with five minutes remaining led to an easy fast-break basket for Williams, bringing the score to 57-40.
- With 3:20 remaining, Sandra Frau-Garcia (Pego, Spain/Casper College) lead the break at point guard, firing a full court pass to Middleton for the basket and the foul to give UIC the 61-44 lead.
- The Flames would score six more points to cruise to the 17-point victory over the Ramblers.
- Williams finished as the Flames' leading scorer with 13 points, while Trotter (12), Rimmer (11) and Middleton (10) all reached double figures in scoring.
FLAMES ON FIRE
- McCloud entered the game 21st on UIC's all-time scoring list. After her nine points against the Ramblers, she's tied with Rachel Story (2012-2014) for 18th.
NEWS AND NOTES
- This is the second year in a row the Flames have won their season opener. UIC defeated IUPUI 52-50 in the team's opener last year.
- UIC has won two in a row against the Ramblers. UIC now trails in the all-time series history by one game (35-34).
- The Flames' 67 points scored is the most in a season opener since scoring 72 in 2019-20 and the most in a season-opening win since 2018-19.
- 12 UIC players saw the floor in Monday night's win. Six Flames played more than 20 minutes in the victory, with McCloud and Young tying for a team-high 24 minutes played.
- UIC finished the evening with a .459 field goal percentage. The Flames out-rebounded the Ramblers 39-36 and had seven-fewer turnovers than Loyola (29-22).
UP NEXT
UIC will take a trip to Evanston to face off against Northwestern on Thursday. The Flames and the Wildcats will square off at 7 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Fans can stream the action on B1G+.
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).
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