Feb. 4, 2014

Box Score | Notes

CHICAGO - Bethany Watterworth tallied 17 points and Kim Bee recorded her third double-double but the Oakland women's basketball team (8-13, 3-5 HL) dropped a Horizon League matchup at UIC (17-5, 6-3 HL), 70-62, Tuesday night inside the UIC Pavilion. Oakland has now lost its last three contests.

"We played very hard tonight, which was good to see, because I was very disappointed in our effort versus Green Bay," said head coach Jeff Tungate. "Our lack of consistent post defense and ability to make open looks continues to hurt us. Consistency has been a problem all year and was again tonight. We've got to move on because we play Milwaukee in less than 48 hours."

Bee had 10 points and a team-high 10 rebounds, while Olivia Nash scored 12 points off the bench. Elena Popkey set a career-high with eight assists.

Oakland trailed 35-28 at halftime despite leading for a majority of the opening period. The Flames went on a 11-1 in the final six minutes of the half that saw the Golden Grizzlies go scoreless for over five minutes until Amy Carlton hit a free throw with 46.3 seconds remaining. Watterworth and Carlton each had 7 points each in the half.

UIC extended its leads quickly in the second half, using a 19-4 run to lead by 22 points at the midpoint of the closing period. Oakland then mounted a comeback closing the game on a 20-6 run and cut the lead to seven points on a Peyton Apsey 3-pointer with 53.6 second remaining. The Flames would hold on to their lead as they hit four free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

UIC was led by Ruvanna Campbell with 23 points and 13 rebounds and Katie Hannemann with 16 points. The Flames outscored the Golden Grizzlies 50-26 in the paint.

The Golden Grizzlies will begin a four-game homestand on Thursday as they start a doubleheader of basketball action on hosting Milwaukee at 4 p.m. It is a Black Out Game as all fans are asked to wear black and the first 250 Grizz Gang members get a free shirt.

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