Coach Bob Boldon said at the beginning of this season that his Lady Penguins would go through peeks and valleys as part of a long-term process.  Thursday’s loss to Loyola was just that, a game of transition.  Three years ago, trailing by 14 with more than a half to play resulted in 30+ point losses.  Saturday afternoon, YSU went back to the drawing board against a very good UIC team, and fought their way back into a game they appeared to have no chance at winning with three minutes left, forcing overtime.  The game was a valley, then a peek, then a valley again.  UIC took control for good in the overtime, hitting some threes and stopping YSU when they needed to as they escaped with a 77-68 win.

“Our kids did a good job today, even in the overtime”, said Boldon.  “Yesterday we had a good practice and they were just getting after it, so it was nice to see that carried over from yesterday.”

In the first half, the Penguins raced out to an 11-3 lead only to watch in evaporate.  A few minutes later, they were trailing 16-13.  Brandi Brown scored half of the Penguins points in the opening stanza pouring in 12.  UIC’s Taylor Foulks was killing the penguins with 14 first half points, going 4-4 from three-point range.  After 20 minutes, the Penguins trailed 30-24.  Foulks also hit a couple of key three-pointers in the overtime session to help preserve the win.

In the second half, Foulks hit another three that upped the UIC lead to 43-36 with 11:43 left in the game.  UIC increased the lead to 50-39 just under the ten minute mark when Jasmine Bailey pulled up and hit a jumper from the line. Monica Touvelle did all she could hitting a three to cut it to 50-42 on the ensuing possession.

Kenya Middlebrooks, one of the Penguins best shooters, spent most of the second half on the bench with four fouls.  Touvelle hit a three and connected on the baseline for two to cut the lead to 57-49.  Kelsea Fickiesen then connected on a drive that would cut the lead to six at 59-53 with 3:15 remaining in regulation.

Brown was determined to keep her team alive as she gathered an offensive board and made a shot to cut theUIC lead to 61-56 with 1:25 remaining in the game.  YSU used full-court pressure to add some heat, but UIC managed to get the ball downcourt and hit some foul shots down the stretch.  Middlebroks hit a three to make it 63-59 with 1:02 left in favor of the visiting Flames.  A five second call gave the Penguins the ball back but Fickiesen threw an errant inbound pass to turn it over.

Touvelle scored her season-high 14th point to make it a one point game on another three with 15.9 seconds to make it just 63-62.  Full court pressure caused a turnover on the inbound and YSU got possession with a shot to win the game.  Fickiesen was fouled on a drive and sent to the line for a couple of free throws.  After missing the first of two, UIC played ‘ice the shooter’, using a timeout.  Fickiesen hit the second to tie the game with 11.3 seconds remaining.  UIC brought the ball up but Fickiesen intercepted the pass and drove as far as she could before letting a hurried shot hit the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded ending regulation and forcing overtime.

Brown finished with 25 points on 11-16 shooting, she also hauled in eight rebounds for the Penguins.  Touvelle finished with a career-high 19 points and seems to be emerging as another weapon Boldon has with the ball.  YSU falls to 8-8, and 2-3 in league play.

“Our turnovers killed us”, said Touvelle.  “We are trying to cut back on them.  I had a big turnover in the overtime and we can’t make those mistakes and expect to win.  I missed more shots than I made, but my teammates encouraged me to keep shooting.”

For UIC, Bailey gathered 22 points and Foulks added an additional 23 caroms.  The Flames improved to 10-7 (3-3, HL) and looked like the better team until the collapse.