Women’s basketball wins at home

Senior Taylor Foulks scored her first career double-double Saturday. Photo: Steve Woltmann

The women’s basketball team (6-10, 2-1) picked up its second straight Horizon League win Saturday with a 82-75 triumph against Valparaiso (6-10, 1-2) at the Pavilion.

Freshman Terri Bender notched a career high with 22 points and redshirt junior Katie Hannemann tied her all-time high of 20.  Bender scored 19 of her 22 points in the second half, totaling 39 second-half points in the past two games.

Senior Taylor Foulks recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

“Terri (Bender) has been real consistent for us lately,” head coach Regina Miller said.

“I thought Katie (Hannemann) gave us some great production down low today.  I’m pleased with our overall effort, but we still have some work to do defensively.”

Thirteen seconds into the contest, Foulks drilled a three-pointer that ignited a 7-0 Flames’ run.

Valpo fought their way back with accurate outside shooting, finishing the first half with six treys.

UIC found early success in the paint with Hannemann and junior Megan Wallace, combining for 20 first half points and 9-of-12 from the field.

With 15 seconds left to play in the first half, Wallace sank a 15-foot jumper from the free throw line to put UIC in front, 38-37, going into the locker room.

Hannemann led all scorers at the break with 12 points.

The second half saw four lead changes in the first five minutes as both squads traded buckets.

With about six minutes left, UIC took control of the game with a 10-0 run and held a 69-58 lead with less than four minutes left to play.

The Crusaders cut that lead to five points with 16 seconds on the clock, but Bender sealed the win with four free throws in the final seconds.

Bender went 9-of-14 from the free throw line in the second half and 10-of-16 for the game.

Junior Emily Kobel provided UIC with a spark off the bench, going 3-of-6 from behind the arc in just 10 minutes of action.

The Flames forced Valparaiso to commit 20 turnovers.

UIC totaled a season-high 15 steals, with nine in the second period.

Bender led the way with a career-high five steals and Foulks chipped in four, moving into eighth on UIC’s career steals list with 192.

The Flames return to action on Thursday at Wright State, with tip scheduled for 6 p.m.