CHICAGO- UIC used a strong second half to defeat the Western Michigan women's basketball team, 66-58, Friday night. In a tale of two halves, Western Michigan opened the game on a 10-0 run, but had trouble finding the bottom of the basket late in the game.
Western Michigan (4-8) hit its first three shots of the night and led by 11 with 15:50 remaining in the opening frame. The Flames briefly tied the contest at 19-19 but never led in the first half, as WMU clung to a 28-27 lead at halftime.
UIC (4-7) scored the first four points out of the break and proceeded to on a 9-2 run. Once the Flames pulled ahead they continued to create seperation, going up by 20, 58-38, midway through the half. The Broncos made just two of its first 12 shots of the second half, while UIC made nine of its first 14.
"From one game to the next, I feel like we have been Jekyll & Hyde, and tonight it was even from one half to another," said WMU head coach Shane Clipfell. "That is the biggest thing we have talked to this team about was consistency. Our focus was really bad tonight, and there is no excuse for that."
UIC got a big boost from freshman guard Terri Bender who pumped in a career-high 16 points. She entered game averaging 3.7 points per game. Rachel Story also scored 16 points for the Flames, while Emily Korbel had 13 points, hitting three second-half three-pointers.
UIC shot 34.4 percent in the first half and heated up to 50 percent in the second half, to finish at 42.2 percent for the game. The Broncos were nearly even in its accuracy both halves and shot 35.0 percent overall.
Western Michigan was outscored in the paint, 40-20, and was outrebounded by six, 43-37.
A.J. Johnson led WMU with 12 points, also totaling three assists and three steals. Jasmine Knowles came off the bench to score a career-high 10 points, all of those in the second half. Miracle Woods had seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Broncos travel to Temple for its final non-conference game of the season, Jan. 7. WMU opens Mid-American Conference play Jan. 10, hosting Eastern Michigan.
GAME NOTES: Sophomore guard Courtney Haley made a pair of free throws in second half for first points of the season ... UIC was one of four opponents from the Horizon League.
