Women’s basketball rolls over foe in preseason opener

Caitlin Garant led all players with 20 points at the Flames’ opener against Elmhurst Saturday.

The women’s basketball team went on a 29-9 run to finish the first half and pull away for a 94-63 victory over Elmhurst College in an exhibition game Saturday at the UIC Pavilion.

UIC collected 25 steals against Elmhurst, including 17 in the first half.

Overall, the Flames forced 42 Bluejay turnovers. UIC shot 54 percent from the field (33-61) and 46 percent from three-point land (6-13).

Sophomore center Caitlin Garant led all players with 20 points, including 12 in the second half on 6-of-10 shooting. Four other Flames were in double figures, including sophomore Terri Bender (18), senior Emily Kobel (16), freshman Melita Emanuel-Carr (13) and senior Katie Hannemann (13).

Bender had a solid all-around performance as she recorded seven steals, five assists, four rebounds and shot 6-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. Kobel hit three treys and added four steals. Hannemann played 12 minutes and scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half.

Emanuel-Carr looked confident in her Flames debut, hitting 4-of-6 shots from the field and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. She dished out three assists and collected four steals in 34 minutes of action.

The game was tightly contested early on as the Bluejays trailed by three (12-9) after a Whitey Shaffer three-pointer with 11:47 left in the first half. Two free throws by Nikky Moan trimmed the UIC lead to 18-13 with 9:12 left but the Flames finished the half on a 29-9 run for a tally of 47-22 at the break.

The Flames came out of the locker room on fire as UIC used a 26-7 run to take a 73-29 lead with 11:30 left in the game. The Bluejays outscored the Flames 34-21 the rest of the way but the outcome was never in doubt.

The 2013-14 regular season opens Friday against St. Xavier, 7 p.m. at the UIC Pavilion.