Women’s basketball beats Bradley
Ruvanna Campbell scored 24 points Sunday at Bradley. Photo: Steve Woltmann
UIC (5-1) posted its third straight comeback win in the fourth quarter Saturday, beating Bradley 66-56 in Peoria. The Flames went on a 25-11 fourth quarter run during their third road win of the season.
UIC return to action Saturday with a 4:30 p.m. game at Western Illinois.
From the opening tip, Bradley jumped out to a fast start with a 9-0 run and forced UIC into eight turnovers. UIC regrouped after the media timeout, shooting 50 percent from the floor to close the gap to 16-12 after the first quarter. Bradley increased their lead to nine points during the second quarter but the Flames clawed back to cut the lead to two points with 7:19 left.
UIC went into the locker room trailing 32-28 at the half.
“We had a good week of practice, I don’t think we played poorly,” head coach Regina Miller said. “Bradley came out and started strong; they hit some threes out the gate and played aggressive. We matched their intensity but had a lot of unforced turnovers.”
Ruvanna Campbell scored the first two baskets for UIC in the second half to tie the game at 32, but Bradley used an 11-2 run to take a 43-34 lead with six minutes remaining in the third quarter. Campbell finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and five steals. After the media timeout, UIC went on a 7-2 run to draw to 45-41 at the end of three quarters.
Marissa Grossfeld came off the bench to score two quick layups. The lead changed hands four times in the fourth quarter. Grossfeld scored all nine of her points in the quarter. Freshman Taylor Toney also contributed on the defensive end with four rebounds (three defensive) and two steals.
“It was a great overall team effort,” Miller said. “Taylor gave us a good lift off the bench, she was the unsung hero with hustle plays [defending and rebounding]. We dug in and went with man-to-man defensive down the stretch and wore them down.”
The Flames took their first lead of the game at 51-50 with 5:49 remaining in the fourth quarter on two free throws by Imani Moore. The Flames went on an 8-0 run to stretch their lead to as many as 13 points in the period.
“It was a great overall team effort as we are still playing around with lineups,” Miller said.
