OMAHA, Neb. (Dec. 1, 2023) – Graduate student guard
Dais'Ja Trotter (Louisville, Ky./Seneca/Cincinnati) and senior center
Tara Green (West Helena, Ark./Central High School/New Orleans) each scored 16 points to lead five UIC players in double figures as the Flames (5-2) secured a tough 95-89 victory at Omaha (2-5) on Friday night inside Baxter Arena.
Green scored her 16 points in 14 minutes of action off the bench, making 6-of-7 shots. As a team, UIC shot a season-high 56.1 percent from the floor and made a season-high 24-of-32 free throws.
COACHES' COMMENT
"I'm really pleased with another road victory. The ability to win games on the road is tough because you're going into someone else's environment," said head coach
Ashleen Bracey. "I give credit to Omaha, they are a very good offensive team, and we struggled a little to defend them, but we really controlled the game from start to finish. They made some runs, but we responded well. It was a compete team effort and I'm proud of the team."
FIRST QUARTER (22-13, UIC)
- Taking the ball up in transition, senior Jaida McCloud (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) found Trotter open from beyond the arc, swishing the Flames first three-pointer of the game less than 90 seconds into the game.
- Back-to-back layups from McCloud extended UIC's lead early on at 11-5.
- After grabbing a defensive rebound, junior guard Krystyna Ellew (Chicago, Ill./Taft/Wisconsin) connected on her second shot of the game, courtesy of senior guard Kristian Young's (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) third assist of the game.
- Coming off the media timeout, Green connected on back-to-back shots, her first as a member of the program (19-12).
- In the closing seconds of the quarter, junior guard Sandra Frau-Garcia (Pego, Spain/Casper College) found senior guard Sara Zabrecky (Munster, Ind./Munster/St. John's) open for a three-pointer.
SECOND QUARTER (45-39, UIC)
- Less than a minute into the quarter, Frau-Garcia sank an uncontested shot in the key to extend UIC's lead to 24-16.
- Frau-Garcia was taking the ball up court when she saw Trotter open to drive the lane for the lay-up for her fourth assist of the game. (30-21).
- Not one often to find space beyond the arc, McCloud sunk her second three-pointer of the season to keep the Flames ahead, 33-25.
- Coming back to the court after the media timeout, Ellew found junior forward Ky Dempsey-Toney (Franklin, NJ/Franklin) open by the hoop, sinking her first layup of the game (37-28).
- Graduate student guard Keimari Rimmer (Chicago, Ill./Proviso East/DePaul) attacked the paint, drawing contact and sinking her layup. She converted her free-throw to push UIC's lead to double-digits at 42-32.
- Inbounding the ball with only two seconds left, Young saw Ellew leave her defender for the paint, dished her the ball and Ellew made the contested layup as the buzzer sounded.
THIRD QUARTER (73-62, UIC)
- Three points apiece from McCloud and Young started the Flames off with a 6-0 run within the first two minutes of the quarter (51-41).
- Back-to-back layups from Rimmer gave UIC a 13-point lead at the 7:00 mark.
- After finding Ellew open from beyond the arc, Green grabbed the offensive rebound for the putback for her fourth make of the game midway through the quarter (63-49).
- Zabrecky connects with the Flames' third made three-pointer of the quarter to extend UIC's lead to 12 points.
- Green sank four free throws to become the fourth member of the Flames to reach double-digits (12 points) while Rimmer finished the quarter with her first three-pointer.
FOURTH QUARTER (95-89, UIC)
- Nabbing the ball from Omaha's Aaliyah Stanley, Young had a free path to the basket, banking in the layup at the 7:53 mark (77-65).
- Green found continued success in the interior, converting a layup and then following with a jumper to extend UIC's lead to 16 points.
- A 10-1 rally from the Mavericks was thwarted after four consecutive free throws from Trotter to keep UIC ahead 86-75 with 1:57 left.
- The Mavericks trimmed the gap to six points in the closing minute of the game, but the Flames made 9-of-12 free throws down the stretch (including all six from Zabrecky) to seal the win.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- UIC's 95 points are the most it has scored in a game since Dec. 16, 2017, when the Flames defeated Evansville, 96-77.
- Young had a season-high nine assists, surpassing her eight-assist performance at Saint Louis last Sunday.
- The 24 foul shots and .750 free throw percentage were both season highs for the Flames, topping their 72-percent free throw mark against IUPUI on Nov. 19.
- UIC's bench has outscored its opponent's reserves in all seven games this season, including a 44-40 edge on Friday (led by Green's 16-point performance).
UP NEXT
The Flames finish their lengthy road trip with a stop in Green Bay on Dec. 13 to face the Phoenix at 7 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at UICFlames.com.
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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