CHICAGO (Feb. 28, 2024) – The UIC women's basketball team (16-11, 9-7 MVC) has an important week of competition ahead, as the Flames face challenging Missouri Valley Conference opponents Drake and Northern Iowa. This week's games will be the Flames' last road contests before the MVC Tournament (Hoops in the Heartland) March 14-17 in Moline, Ill. Both of this week's games against the Bulldogs and Panthers will be available on ESPN+.
GAME INFORMATION vs. Drake 22-5, 15-1 MVC)
Thursday, Feb. 29 | 6 p.m. CT
Knapp Center | Des Moines, Iowa
Digital Yearbook
ESPN+
Live Stats
GAME INFORMATION at Northern Iowa (11-14, 10-6 MVC)
Saturday, March 2 | 2 p.m. CT
McLeod Center | Cedar Falls, Iowa
Digital Yearbook
ESPN+
Live Stats
LAST TIME OUT
UIC earned a dominant win at Valparaiso, 82-59 in a Sunday matinee. The Flames were led by junior forward
Makiyah Williams (Chicago, Ill./Trinity/Marquette), who recorded her first double-double of the season, with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Graduate student forward
Keimari Rimmer (Chicago, Ill./Proviso East/DePaul) chipped in 18 points in just 19 minutes of action.
On Feb. 22, Williams also led the Flames' offense, scoring 16 points, while Rimmer netted 14 points, grabbed four boards and had three steals in UIC's loss against Murray State.
SCOUTING DRAKE
Drake has only dropped one conference contest, as its record stands at 15-1 in the MVC and 22-5 overall. After suffering their only MVC loss to Illinois State on Jan. 27, the Bulldogs are currently on a seven-game win streak. In their last outing, it came down to the wire, with Drake overcoming UNI, 79-77.
As a team, Drake leads the Valley in field goal percentage (.481), ranks second in scoring (80.6) and in the top three in multiple other statistical categories. Junior Katie Dinnebier stands as the top scorer for Drake, averaging 18.3 points per game, which puts her third in the MVC. Junior Anna Miller leads the Bulldogs in rebounding at 9.9 per game, and she is also the top shot-blocker in the conference at 2.8 per game (75 total).
The series between UIC and Drake is relatively limited, with the Bulldogs leading 7-2. The teams first met during the 1978-79 season and their most recent encounter came Feb. 14 when Drake beat UIC, 82-62 in Chicago.
SCOUTING NORTHERN IOWA
Facing a difficult non-conference schedule, Northern Iowa struggled to find a win at the beginning of the season and currently has a 11-14 overall record (10-6 in the Valley). The Panthers started off MVC play with a narrow loss to Missouri State, 54-52, but rebounded with four wins in a row against Evansville (82-52), Indiana State (85-79), Valparaiso (76-52) and Murray State (95-75). Northern Iowa's other five league losses came at the hands of Belmont, Illinois State and Drake.
Juniors Maya McDermott (15.7 ppg.) and Grace Boffeli (15.6 ppg) lead the team in scoring. McDermott has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference, while Bofelli is also the No. 3 rebounder in the Valley (8.5 rpg.)
UIC and Northern Iowa already met once this season, where the Flames fell 65-43 at Credit Union 1 Arena. That game, Williams led the Flames with 19 points, while junior guard
Krystyna Ellew (Chicago, Ill./Taft/Wisconsin) collected nine points and seven rebounds.
TICKETS AND MORE
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 day.
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).
