WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 21, 2023) – The UIC women's basketball battled hard against Power Five opponent Arkansas (11-3), but came up on the short end of a 66-58 decision on Thursday at the West Palm Beach (Fla.) Classic.
The Flames were led by junior forward
Makiyah Williams (Chicago, Ill./Trinity/Marquette), who scored 15 points, and graduate student guard
Keimari Rimmer (Chicago, Ill./Proviso East/DePaul), who collected 12 points and eight rebounds.
COACHES' COMMENT
"I felt like we competed and we played tough. However, I don't think we played our best basketball," said head coach
Ashleen Bracey. "I have a ton of respect for Arkansas and (head coach) Mike Neighbors. He has done a great job for that program. We are starting to realize we can play with people around the country and I would like to see us put together 40 minutes against a tough team like Arkansas."
FIRST QUARTER (18-12, UA)
- Immediately after tipoff, the Flames got on the board first behind a jumper from senior forward Danyel Middleton (Chicago, Ill./Bolingbrook/Marquette).
- Graduate student guard Dais'Ja Trotter (Louisville, Ky./Seneca/Cincinnati) followed a made lay-up with a jumper from the top of the key off an assist from senior forward Jaida McCloud (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) to keep UIC ahead, 6-3, less than three minutes into the game.
- A 5-0 run by the Razorbacks was countered after senior guard Kristian Young (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) spun past her defender for the make, followed by Williams' first make of the game to tie the score at 10-10 entering the media timeout at the 3:35 mark.
- Williams pulled UIC within 13-12 when she connected on a jumper after an offensive rebound from junior guard Krystyna Ellew (Chicago, Ill./Taft/Wisconsin) with 1:49 left in the quarter before the Razorbacks closed out the quarter on a 5-0 run.
SECOND QUARTER (32-27, UA)
- The Flames' first basket of the quarter came from Rimmer, who drove the lane for a layup to cut the Razorbacks' lead to 24-14 with 8:12 left.
- Middleton drew contact from Arkansas' Makayla Daniels on a made layup, later converting the three-point play with 7:10 remaining in the half (27-17).
- Young faked out two Arkansas defenders to find junior forward Ky Dempsey-Toney (Franklin, N.J./Franklin) in the lane for her first basket of the game just past the midpoint of the quarter.
- Trotter connected on the Flames' lone three-pointer of the half with 1:50 to play, cutting the Razorbacks lead to 32-27 going into halftime.
THIRD QUARTER (47-37, UA)
- Young was the first to score in the half on a layup at the 8:03 mark to cut into the Razorbacks lead, 32-29.
- Arkansas' Samara Spencer attempted to drive the lane but was denied by Rimmer for her first block of the game. She soon followed that up with her second layup of the game with 5:32 left in the third as UIC trailed by six (37-31).
- Rimmer continued to remain hot on the offensive side of the ball, with back-to-back layups off assists from junior guard Sandra Frau-Garcia (Pego, Spain/Casper College) as the Razorbacks' lead was cut to 42-35.
- Williams became the first UIC player to break into double figures, when Frau-Garcia found her open for the jumper late in the period.
FOURTH QUARTER (66-58, UA)
- Rimmer joined Williams in double figures at the 8:57 mark as the Flames trailed by 11 (50-39).
- McCloud collected her first basket of the game off a pass in traffic by Young with 6:35 left (50-43). Young finished the quarter with five assists and led the team with seven in the game.
- Senior guard Sara Zabrecky (Munster, Ind./Munster/St. John's) drove the baseline to connect on the layup for her first basket of the game with 4:35 remaining (57-45).
- Zabrecky later connected with the Flames' second three of the game from the corner to cut the Razorbacks' lead to 59-52 with 2:11 to play, capping off a 9-2 run by the Flames.
- Middleton added a steal and score in the final seconds to provide the final margin.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- Finishing non-conference play with a 7-4 record, head coach Ashleen Bracey now owns a 15-7 record against non-conference opponents in her two years with the Flames.
- Sitting at 1,155 career points, McCloud now ranks 14th in program history.
- After her 15-point performance, Williams has now scored in double figures in the past five games. She leads the team in scoring this season (13.0 ppg.).
- With another three-point to her name, Trotter has now made a three-pointer in nine games this season for the Flames. She leads the team with 18 threes this season.
UP NEXT
The Flames return to the court at 4 p.m. (CT) Dec. 30 to open up Missouri Valley Conference play at Belmont (7-3) at the Curb Event Center in Nashville. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be accessible at
UICFlames.com.
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 on UIC women's basketball, 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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