WBI Scoreboard
UIC 84, IPFW 71
WNIT Scoreboard
Minnesota 62, Green Bay 60
UIC 83, IPFW 71
The fourth-seeded UIC women’s basketball team (23-9) collected the first postseason victory in program history Wednesday (March 19) with an 84-71 win over No. 5 IPFW (15-15) in first round action of the 2014 Women’s Basketball Invitational. The Flames advance to the quarterfinals of the East Region where they will meet the winner of the (1) Eastern Michigan/(8) Evansville contest either on Saturday or Monday.
Down 41-33 in the first half following an 11-0 IPFW run, UIC responded with a 19-2 run to take control of the contest. The Flames outscored the Mastodons 49-30 in the second half and limited IPFW to 24.3 percent shooting after halftime.
Ruvanna Campbell picked up her 23rd double-double of the season with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Rachel Story scored 19 points and became the 20th player in program history to pass 1,000 career points.
Katie Hannemann (17 points) and Terri Bender (14 points) were also in double-digits for the Flames, who moved to 3-0 all-time against IPFW. UIC held IPFW to 22.5 percent from downtown (9-of-40).
"We beat a very talented IPFW team for the first postseason win in school history,” said UIC head coach Regina Miller. “It is great to make history in front of our fans. We struggled out of the gate but picked up our defensive pressure after halftime. Rachel had a strong second half and we are thrilled she secured a permanent place in the UIC record book.”
The Flames held the advantage in rebounds (49-37) and moved to 23-4 this season when winning the battle on the boards. UIC dominated inside with 44 points in the paint and 16 offensive rebounds.
UIC was 23-of-32 from the line and made over 20 free throws for the first time since Jan. 18 at Oakland. The Flames shot 50 percent from beyond the arc (5-of-10) and 46.7 percent overall (28-of-60).
Campbell's double-double is her 13th over the last 14 games. Over the last five games, Campbell is averaging 15.8 rebounds per contest. Her 16 rebounds are one shy of the WBI record, set last year by Detroit’s Yar Shayok against Penn.
Campbell owns 397 rebounds this year and has broken Sharon Carroll’s (1979-80) single-season program record by one rebound. She has scored over 20 points 11 times this season. Campbell had 16 points and 11 rebounds in the first half. She also dished out a career-high eight assists.
Story joined UIC’s 1,000-Point Club with her ninth point of the night, a layup with 17:01 left in the game. She is the only player in the club to accomplish the feat in two seasons.
Story had 17 points in the second half on 5-of-10 shooting. It is her 27th double-digit performance of the season and the 51st of her UIC career.
Hannemann increased her career point total to 1,054 career points and is 17 points away from 15th place on UIC's all-time list. She missed her eighth double-double of the season by one rebound as she grabbed nine caroms. Additionally, Hannemann's 588 career rebounds enter the program's top 10 and now rank ninth all-time.
Bender collected her sixth double-digit effort over the last seven contests. She picked up three steals and her 90 steals this season are second most in a single season at UIC. Bender also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out five assists.
Minnesota 62, Green Bay 60
Leading by five points with just over 50 seconds remaining, the Green Bay women’s basketball team saw its lead slip through its fingers as Minnesota’s Rachel Banham hit two big threes in the closing seconds to help the Gophers escape with a 62-60 win in the opening round of the WNIT on Wednesday evening at Williams Arena.
With the loss Green Bay ended its season at 22-10 overall, concluding a campaign where it picked up its 16th-consecutive Horizon League regular season championship and 15th-consecutive 20+ win season.
Freshman Tesha Buck (Red Wing, Minn.) finished with a team-high 18 points, while sophomore Kaili Lukan (Barrie, Ontario) chipped in 15 and freshman Sam Terry (Baraboo, Wis.) 10 points.
With the Phoenix leading 33-23 at halftime, Minnesota (21-12) opened the second stanza with a big 11-0 run to take back the lead, 34-33 just over four minutes in. A quick 7-3 response run by Green Bay put the Phoenix back in front by five points (42-37) at the 11:11 mark.
Minnesota then went on a 7-1 run of its own to take a one point lead (44-43) with 7:14 remaining, but Green Bay again grabbed control and went up by six points (57-51) with a 14-7 run that ended with just over two minutes remaining.
The Phoenix held on to a five-point lead with 51 seconds on the clock, but Minnesota junior Rachel Banham came up big in the final seconds, hitting two big threes to help guide the Gophers to the win. She hit her first with 45 seconds on the clock, and after senior Breannah Ranger (Skokie, Ill.) missed a shot in the lane, Banham hit her second with 11 seconds on the clock to put Minnesota ahead, 61-60.
Terry had a chance to put the Phoenix ahead with a corner three with seven seconds remaining, but her attempt was blocked and UM’s Kayla Hirt was fouled on the rebound, sending her to the free throw line where she made the front end for the final 62-60 score.
It was a back-and-forth battle through the opening minutes until the Phoenix, behind a 3-pointer by Terry at the 15:09 mark, went on a 14-4 run over the next six minutes to take a 21-13 lead. Ranger had the next bucket before Terry hit another three and Buck drained back-to-back threes to close the run.
The Gophers cut into the lead, closing within five after a Rachel Banham triple made it 23-18, but it was as close as the Gophers could get in the first half. Minnesota, after Banham’s jumper on an assist from Noga made it 29-23, was held scoreless for the final two and a half minutes and the Phoenix added one more basket, setting the halftime score of 33-23.
Green Bay finished the game shooting 34.5 percent (20-58) from the field, cooling off after shooting 40.7 percent (11-27) in the first half to just 29.0 percent (9-31) in the second stanza. Junior Megan Lukan (Barrie, Ontario) had a team-high six rebounds, while the Lukan sisters and freshman Mehryn Kraker (West Allis, Wis.) had a game-high three steals. The Phoenix was out-rebounded, 42-31.
Tags: Green Bay - Women's Basketball · UIC - Women's Basketball
