CHICAGO – For the final time of the 2025-26 season, the Missouri Valley Conference announced its weekly honors, naming redshirt sophomore Julia Coleman the Newcomer of the Week after strong performances against the top two programs in the conference at home to close out conference play last week.

Coleman averaged 30.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, two steals and 1.5 blocks against Murray State (28-3, 19-1 MVC) and Belmont (20-11, 16-4 MVC) in front of the home crowd at Credit Union 1 Arena.

"We are so proud of Julia and her production down the final stretch of the season," head coach Ashleen Bracey said. "Julia is a stat filler and had a dominant performance on both ends of the court this weekend.  Julia is hitting stride at the right time as we head into post season play!"

The St. Louis, Mo. native opened the week against the Racers scoring 32 points, grabbing six rebounds and three blocks. Her scoring burst tied 10^th all-time in program history for the most points scored in a single game, tying 2023 UIC Hall of Famer Ruvanna Campbell's 32-point performance at Oakland in February 2016.

Not even 36 hours later, Coleman finished her weekend scoring 28 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebound against Belmont to secure her team-leading eighth double-double of the season.

Coleman caps off a stellar conference slate, averaging 16.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 0.6 blocks across 20 games, ranking in the top 15 in every stat category in the MVC.

The forward earned her second Newcomer of the Week honor after previously receiving the recognition Dec. 23 following strong games against DePaul and Austin Peay to close nonconference play. It marks the program's sixth weekly honor this season. Senior Jessica Carrothers has won the award three times, while redshirt freshman Magdalena Winter was named Freshman of the Week earlier this season.

The No. 7 seeded UIC women's basketball (14-17, 9-11 MVC) is set to open the 2026 Credit Union 1 MVC Women's Basketball Tournament against No. 10 Evansville (7-24, 5-15 MVC) Thursday at 6 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available at UICFlames.com.  
Fans wanting more information on the tournament can go to the UIC's Tournament Central or The Valley's Championship Central page.  All-session and single-session tickets in the UIC cheering section for the women's basketball tournament are on sale through the UIC Athletics Ticket Office by calling 312-413-UIC1 (8421) or e-mailing athleticsticketing@uic.edu.

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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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