CHICAGO (Dec. 15, 2023) – The UIC women's basketball team (6-3) outscored Chicago State, 24-3 in the second quarter and never looked back, earning a 76-46 win over the Cougars on Friday night at Credit Union 1 Arena.
 
Graduate student guard Dais'Ja Trotter (Louisville, Ky./Seneca/Cincinnati) led the Flames with 15 points and five rebounds. Graduate student guard Keimari Rimmer (Chicago, Ill./Proviso East/DePaul) and junior forward Makiyah Williams (Chicago, Ill./Trinity/Marquette) each netted 11 points.


COMMENT FROM HEAD COACH ASHLEEN BRACEY
 ""Defense is everything to me. We are setting out to compete for a championship. You don't win championships if you don't play defense and rebound. That is what we talk about and stress every single day and it just getting these kids some chemistry. They are buying in but it is just a matter of getting them to do it for 40 minutes. To be able to hold a team to three points in a quarter is special, it is what we are capable of. We just need to get to the point of doing it consistently."

COMMENT FROM FORWARD KEIMARI RIMMER
"We are playing against ourselves, and every day we are trying to get better. The biggest thing is about creating good habits and going into every game knowing you can lose if you don't take care of what you control"

FIRST QUARTER (17-16, UIC)

• Rimmer drew contact from the Cougars' Jacia Cunnigham on a made layup and converted the three-point play to get UIC on the board just 44 seconds into the game.
• Back-to-back makes in the paint from Trotter brought the Flames within one possession (14-11) with 3:58 left in the quarter. 
• Senior guard Kristian Young (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) found junior forward Ky Dempsey-Toney (Franklin, N.J./Franklin) in the key for the score just seconds after she checked into the game at the 2:13 mark (14-13).
• Senior guard Danyel Middleton (Chicago, Ill./Bolingbrook/Marquette) grabbed an offensive rebound and made the putback to restore UIC's lead with 21 seconds left in the quarter and the Flames would never trail again.

 SECOND QUARTER (41-19, UIC)

• After taking an early charge, Toney found herself at the charity stripe twice within the first two minutes of the second quarter, sinking three free throws to increase UIC's lead to four (22-18) with 8:07 left in the half.
• Senior center Tara Green (West Helena, Ark./Central High School/New Orleans) checked into the game and immediately found space in the key for her first bucket to increase the Flames' lead to 26-18 (5:55).
• Not shy of contact, Trotter continued to drive the lane and find her way to the charity stripe, sinking two free throws with 15 seconds left in the quarter to finish off a 21-0 run for the Flames, who opened up a commanding 41-18 lead. 
• The half ended with a Cougar free throw, but UIC held Chicago State to only three points in the quarter with CSU shooting seven percent from the field (1-of-7) and the Flames forcing 11 turnovers.

 THIRD QUARTER (56-29, UIC)

• Rimmer collected her first assist of the game when she found Middleton cutting down low for the layup to extend UIC's lead to 45-21 at the 6:25 mark.
• After stealing the ball, Dempsey-Toney glided past her defender for the layup with less than three minutes left in the quarter (48-25).
• Williams sank her first basket of the night after an offensive rebound from senior guard Sara Zabrecky (Munster, Ind./Munster/St. John's) as UIC led 53-26 with less than a minute to go in the quarter. 
• The Flames ended the period with Williams knocking down a three-pointer to give UIC its largest lead of the night to that point heading into the final 10 minutes.

 FOURTH QUARTER (76-46. UIC)

• Young capped off an early 6-2 run for the Flames after she stole the ball from Chicago State's Cunningham for the breakaway layup two minutes in, extending UIC's lead to 62-31. 
• Young converted a three-point play after a second steal resulted in contact on a made layup to keep the Flames ahead, 69-32 with six minutes remaining.
• Williams broke into double figures on a transition layup off a pass from junior guard Sandra Frau-Garcia (Pego, Spain/Casper College) at the 4:20 mark. 
• Freshman guards Erin Henry (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North/Example Academy) and Megen Sanaj (Chicago, Ill./Latin School of Chicago) checked into the game late for the Flames and found success from the charity stripe with a combined three free throws.

 BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• The Flames remain hot at Credit Union 1 Arena, improving to 3-0 at home this season.
• After a five-assist performance against the Cougars, Young has now collected 348 assists in her career, placing her seventh in UIC program history.
• The Flames held the Cougars to an opponent season-low shooting percentage (.267) and the third-most turnovers by an opponent this season (25).
• The Flames remained strong on the boards, collecting a season-high 56 rebounds and surpassing their 47-rebound performance in the Nov. 19 home victory against IUPUI.

 UP NEXT
The Flames return to the road next week at the West Palm Beach (Fla.) Classic. UIC is slated to play UTEP (4-6) at 10 a.m. (CT) on Wednesday, Dec. 20, followed by a 10 a.m. (CT) tipoff against Power Five opponent Arkansas (8-3) the next day.
 
Tickets for all UIC home basketball games can be purchased online through Ticketmaster and UICFlames.com/Tickets, as well as through the UIC Athletics Ticket Office (312-413-UIC1) or by visiting the Credit Union 1 Arena box office on game night.
 
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).