Women’s basketball heads to quarterfinals

Ruvanna Campbell is the Horizon League’s Defensive Player of the Year. — Photo: Steve Woltmann

The women’s basketball team (16-13, 6-10 Horizon League) will face No. 3 Cleveland State tonight in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League tournament after falling to the Vikings in the regular season finale Saturday, 58-46.

The postseason game will be held at Cleveland State.

The Flames held Cleveland State to 26 percent shooting in the first half Saturday but the Vikings drained seven three-pointers in the second half, including four by Kiersten Green. Cleveland State finished 10-of-22 from beyond the arc.

The Vikings scored 13 points off UIC’s 21 turnovers and picked up 17 steals overall. CSU grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and tallied 14 second-chance points.

The Flames owned a 39-33 advantage on the boards and outscored the Vikings, 26-14, in the paint.

UIC has outrebounded 25 out of 29 opponents this season. The Flames made a season-high 90 percent of their free throws.

“We had an excellent opportunity to run away with the game when Cleveland State was not making shots in the first half,” head coach Regina Miller said. “Unfortunately, we did not take care of the ball or convert their missed shots into points. Their three seniors took over the game in the second half and we did not make enough plays offensively.”

Ruvanna Campbell, who was named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, collected her fourth straight double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. She ranks third nationally with 14.3 rebounds per contest.

Kendyl Nunn scored eight points off the bench and grabbed 10 rebounds for her third double-digit rebounding performance. She collected two of UIC’s 10 steals.

Caitlin Garant finished with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. Melita Emanuel-Carr pitched in eight points and two assists.

UIC jumped out to a 6-0 advantage and held the largest lead of the contest at 14-7 but the Vikings responded with a 9-2 run to tie the score at 16. Gisselle Truiett’s free throws with seven seconds before halftime tied the score at 24 going into the break.

The Vikings started the second half on an 8-0 run and would not relinquish their lead. UIC went on a 6-0 run to narrow Cleveland State’s lead to 52-44 with 4:44 remaining but the Vikings responded with a 6-0 run to seal the victory.