Women’s basketball wins No. 4
Rachel Story scored a career high 34 points Saturday. Photo: Steve Woltmann
The women’s basketball team (15-4, 4-2 Horizon League) won its fourth straight game Saturday with an 83-78 victory over Cleveland State (8-11, 3-3 Horizon League) at the UIC Pavilion.
Senior Rachel Story scored a career-high 34 points and hit 4-of-6 shots from beyond the arc.
UIC continues Horizon League play Wednesday at Milwaukee (6-12, 2-3 Horizon League).
The contest is set to begin at 7 p.m. inside the Klotsche Center. The Panthers used a 20-2 scoring run to secure an 81-69 home victory over Detroit Saturday.
UIC’s 15-4 overall record is the program’s best mark through 19 games in the Division I era (1980-present). The Flames are 4-2 through the first six Horizon League contests for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign.
Redshirt sophomore Ruvanna Campbell scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season. UIC dominated inside with a 48-30 points-in-the paint advantage and 24 second-chance points.
“We wanted to breakout from the middle of the standings and we accomplished that,” head coach Regina Miller said.
“We wanted to keep the train moving forward instead of taking a step backwards. This win gives us confidence for playing Milwaukee and Wright State. Each team in this league can win on any given night so we have to bring our A-game.”
Cleveland State’s biggest lead of the contest came at 11-8 following Cori Coleman’s three-pointer with 16:29 left in the first half. UIC scored the next seven points and held a 39-31 halftime advantage.
The Flames’ largest lead of the contest was 54-39 following an 11-0 run capped by Campbell’s layup with 13:13 remaining in the game. The Vikings narrowed the UIC lead to 74-71 with 2:01 left, but the Flames sank 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch to seal their fourth straight win.
Story was 9-of-15 from the field and 12-of-14 from the free throw line. She drained 3-of-3 three-point attempts in the first half and sank 8-of-10 free throws in the second half. Story scored nine of her 17 second-half points with under three minutes to play.
Story’s performance is the fifth highest in program history and second highest in the Horizon League this season (Wright State’s Ivory James scored 35 at Murray State).
Campbell set career highs in field goals made (12) and field goal attempts (20). Eight of her 18 rebounds were on the offensive end. Campbell had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the second-half alone. It was her fifth 20-point effort and fourth 15-plus rebound performance of the season.
Redshirt senior Katie Hannemann chipped in nine points and sophomore Terri Bender had eight points, five assists and three steals. Bender owns 29 steals over the last nine games (3.2).
