MOLINE, Ill. – The UIC women's basketball program fell short despite a valiant effort against No. 3 Northern Iowa Friday night in the quarterfinals of Hoops in the Heartland, falling to the Panthers 73-57.
The Flames were led offensively by graduate transfer
Josie Filer, who scored a team-high 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and tallied five steals. Junior
Jaida McCloud scored 11 points and collected a team-leading seven rebounds. Senior
Tiana Jackson netted 10 points in the game and dished out four assists.
COMMENT FROM HEAD COACH ASHLEEN BRACEY
"I think we battled, I think our kids wanted it bad. I think that fourth quarter was a big separator for us, and we weren't able to come out the right side of it."
FIRST HALF
- UNI started the game with an early 8-2 run. UIC responded with an 11-2 run of its own, highlighted by three three-pointers from juniors Sara Zabrecky, Danyel Middleton, and Keona Schenck.
- UIC had a 20-17 lead after the first ten minutes of play.
- The Flames finished the first quarter shooting 50% (4-for-8) from beyond the arc.
- Tiana Jackson led the offense in the first half, scoring eight points. Most of that came from her work at the charity stripe, where she went 5-for-6.
- UIC shot 37.5 % from the field in the first half.
- At the halftime intermission, the Flames trailed UNI 35-30.
SECOND HALF
- Josie Filer had a strong second half, scoring nine points in the third quarter.
- The Flames completed the third quarter on a 6-3 run to keep the game close. The Flames trailed 45-36 heading into the fourth quarter.
- After grabbing 12 rebounds in the first half, UIC collected 18 more in the second half to finish the game with 30 rebounds.
- UIC had a strong outing from behind the three-point line, as the Flames went 10-for-30 from behind the arc. This was UIC's second-best performance from the perimeter all season.
The Flames concluded their inaugural season in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 18-15 overall record and a 9-12 record in league play. The women's basketball program would like to thank the Flames fans for their support and dedication throughout the 2022-23 season.
