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March 10, 2010

Box Score

CLEVELAND - The UIC women's basketball team was eliminated from the 2010 Speedway Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship on Wednesday night at the hands of the Cleveland State Vikings, 78-72.

The last minute of the game was as intense as any sequence of the season with the winner moving on to the semifinals on Friday and the loser going home.

With 48 seconds to play, Cleveland State's Shalonda Winton made one of two from the free-throw line to give the home team a 73-66 lead.

The Flames hurried the ball down the court and senior Jessie Miller sank a three-pointer to shrink the lead to four. Following a quick foul, CSU's Shawnita Garland made a pair form the line to extend the lead back to six.

This time, it was freshman Taylor Foulks who had the answer, nailing a trey of her own to cut the Cleveland State lead to three with 28 seconds to go. Unfortunately for head coach Lisa Ryckbosch and her squad, that was as close as they would come.

"We expected a dog fight and it was a dog fight," said Ryckbosch after the game. "We started the second half not cranked up as high defensively; that gave them a little kick-start and they built on it."

All-Horizon League First Team selection Kailey Klein lived up to the billing in the big game for Cleveland State. The Cherry, Ill. native poured in a game-high 29 points, including 17 in the second half. Winton also chipped in with 14 points off the bench, 12 of which came in the final 20 minutes of play.

UIC's Jasmine Bailey also lived up to her billing as a big-game performer as she went for a career-high 27 points and tied a game-high with nine rebounds. The conference's leader in field goal percentage was 12-for-15 (80 percent) from the field on Wednesday.

"Jas is a rockstar," said Ryckbosch about her star sophomore. "She's played her best when the stakes are the highest."

Ryckbosch praised the effort of her whole team, despite coming up short.

"Our kids never gave up, they fought hard and we came up short."

The Flames shot the ball well in the game, firing at a 53.6 percent (30-for-56) clip on the night, but they committed 22 personal fouls and sent the Vikings to the free-throw line 34 times. Cleveland State made 25 free throws, while UIC only grabbed eight points from the charity stripe.

"They scored 25 points off the line and we scored eight and we lose by six," said Ryckbosch. "We weren't aggressive enough to get to the basket and put ourselves on the free-throw line. That was the difference."

UIC (12-18, 9-9 Horizon League) looked strong early, opening up a 10-point advantage, 18-8, in the first nine minutes of the contest. Cleveland State (17-13, 11-7 Horizon League) would not go away that easily, however, and they took a one-point lead, 26-25 about seven minutes later.

The Flames led at the break, 37-31.

For UIC, it was the second straight season ended against the Vikings and also their sixth straight loss to Cleveland State overall.

Fans can listen to podcasts featuring exclusive interviews with UIC head coaches, staff and student-athletes in two ways:

1. Download the free UIC Athletics Widget and click on the "UIC Flames Podcasts" link

2. Download podcasts for free on iTunes by searching "UIC Flames."

Fans wishing to learn more about affordable and flexible UIC ticket plans are encouraged to call 312-413-UIC1 or visit www.uicflames.com and click on the "Tickets" tab on the Flames home page.

UIC Flames Women's Basketball

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