Women’s basketball aims for win No. 9

Videography by Jeffron Boynes

UIC women’s basketball will shoot for its ninth consecutive win Dec. 28 in a 7 p.m. contest against Denver at the UIC Pavilion.

The Flames will face the Pioneers  (1-10) for the first time.

UIC (8-2) won its eighth consecutive game Dec. 21 with a 58-56 road victory over Big Ten program Wisconsin (6-5) inside UW Field House.

Rachel Story scored a game-high 25 points and hit the game-winning three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining.

The victory is the team’s sixth win over Wisconsin and the first  since 1979-80. It snaps a 13-game win streak by the Badgers in the series.

UIC has collected 25 Big Ten victories in program history, nine since the Flames became a Division I program in 1980-81. The Flames’ 8-2 record is the best 10-game start in the Division I era.

Caitlin Garant’s layup with 4:50 left in the first half gave the Flames a nine-point advantage at 28-19 and UIC led 30-24 going into halftime. Wisconsin tied the score at 45-45 with 8:34 left in the game, the first of four ties in the second half.

Two free throws from Jacki Gulczynski with 46 seconds left gave Wisconsin a two-point lead at 56-54 and UIC head coach Regina Miller called a timeout. On the next possession, Terri Bender found Story wide open on the right wing and Story buried a three-pointer to put UIC up 57-56 with 20 seconds remaining.

Morgan Paige missed a jumper with nine seconds left and a free throw from Story put the Flames up 58-56 with five seconds remaining on the clock. Following a Wisconsin timeout, the Badgers failed to get a shot off and the Flames walked away with their eighth consecutive victory.

UIC won the rebounding battle (43-33) for the ninth time this season and the Flames are 8-1 in those contests. UIC had 15 offensive rebounds, the seventh time this season that the Flames have collected at least 15 offensive caroms.

UIC collected seven steals and scored 11 points off 11 Wisconsin turnovers. The Flames also held advantages in points in the paint (28-24) and second-chance points (12-6).

Story was 10-of-20 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three-point land. She had 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the first half and 11 on 4-of-10 shooting in the second half. Story owns two straight 20-point efforts, four this season and 15 in her UIC career.

Story has been in double-figures in 11 straight contests dating back to last season. The Flames are undefeated (8-0) with Story in the lineup.

Redshirt sophomore Ruvanna Campbell collected her eighth double-digit rebounding effort with eight points and 11 rebounds. She had six offensive rebounds, which is one off her season-high (7) at SIUE (Nov. 20).

Bender collected a career-high nine rebounds to go along with six assists, four points and two steals. Katie Hannemann (eight points), Emily Kobel (six points) and Garant (six points) all hit clutch shots for the Flames. Kobel made two-three pointers (105 career made three-pointers) and needs two more three-pointers to enter the program’s Top 10.