Women’s basketball sets record for single-season wins

The women’s basketball team plays its last regular season game against Detroit at 7 p.m. Thursday at the UIC Pavilion. “We are not finished with this historic season,” says head coach Regina Miller. Photo: Steve Woltmann

The women’s basketball team (20-8, 9-6 Horizon League) broke the program record for single-season wins Feb. 27 with a 73-65 road victory over No. 1 Youngstown State (13-13, 9-4 Horizon League).

UIC’s win total eclipses the 2006-07 squad, who went 19-13 and made the program’s lone trip to the postseason.

UIC, in fifth place in the Horizon League standings, concludes the regular season Thursday when the Flames host Detroit (6-21, 3-11 Horizon League). Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the UIC Pavilion.

The Flames led by one point with six minutes remaining but allowed Cleveland State (14-14, 9-6 Horizon League) to score nine consecutive points in a 78-70 defeat Saturday. The Vikings scored 40 points in the paint and 21 points off turnovers.

During Feb. 27’s record-breaking win, senior Katie Hannemann led all scorers with 24 points.

UIC’s defensive pressure collected 13 steals and forced 20 YSU turnovers. The Flames scored 21 points off turnovers and 14 second-chance points on 15 offensive rebounds.

UIC out-rebounded YSU (39-27). The Flames limited Heidi Schlegel, the Penguins’ leading scorer, to 10 shots and two free throw attempts. She finished the contest with 17 points.

“The win was a total team effort and we are extremely proud to have made history at UIC,” head coach Regina Miller said.

“To defeat the top team in the conference on their court takes a tremendous defensive performance and our players stepped up to the challenge. We are not finished with this historic season and there is much more to accomplish in the upcoming weeks.”

The Penguins jumped out to a 23-12 advantage with 8:45 left in the first half, their largest lead of the contest. UIC went on an 8-0 run and tied the game at 31 on three free throws from Terri Bender with 2:12 on the clock.

Hannemann’s jumper with 1:34 before halftime gave UIC a 33-31 lead heading into the locker room. The Flames are 18-0 this season when leading at the break.

YSU scored the first two points of the second half but UIC responded with an 8-0 run to go ahead, 41-33. The Penguins narrowed the Flames’ lead to 44-43 on Jenna Hirsch’s three-pointer with 12:34 remaining. But that was the closest YSU could get as UIC scored 21 out of the next 29 points. UIC’s largest lead was 71-56 with 1:25 left on the clock.

Hannemann (977 career points) needs 23 more points to become the 19th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. She pulled down eight rebounds and picked up two steals.

Sophomore Ruvanna Campbell picked up her ninth consecutive double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. She has a league-high 19th double-double of the season. She collected three assists, three blocks and three steals.

Senior Rachel Story poured in 16 points for her 22nd double-digit scoring performance of the season. She passed the 900-career point mark in the second half and tied her career high with seven rebounds.