Illinois-Chicago avenges loss, holds on for two-point win

Apparently, the Southeast Missouri State University women's basketball team and the University of Illinois-Chicago are two evenly matched teams.

On Saturday, Illinois-Chicago got even for an overtime loss suffered a month earlier, defeating Southeast 78-76.

UIC survived four missed shots by Southeast in the closing seconds to once again avoid overtime. Southeast fell to 4-4 as it suffered its third straight loss.

The game featured 17 lead changes, with Southeast holding its final advantage at 74-73 when Simone Jackson hit a jumper with 2:22 left. LaShonda Grant put UIC ahead for good, 75-74, with :51 remaining.

Chrissy Dizon scored 20 points to lead UIC (3-8) to the nonconference victory.

Tatiana Conceicao again led the scoring for Southeast with a game-high 23 points, while Simone Jackson added 12. While UIC had four players finish in double figures, Southeast featured just Conceicao and Jackson in double digits.

Krystal Hugelier added 14 points for UIC, while Amber Washington finished with 12, and Kelly True had 11.

The team were tied 44-44 at halftime, but UIC held a slim 34-32 advantage in the second half.

Southeast fell despite hitting six more shots from the field and holding a 40-32 rebounding edge. Southeast's bench also outscored UIC's 33-15. But UIC held a 23-11 scoring advantage from the free-throw line.

Free throws helped account for the tie at halftime, as UIC outscored Southeast 17-7 from the line in the first half. For the game, UIC connected on 23 of 28 free throws, or 82.1 percent.

Southeast shot just 61.1 from the line, sinking 11 of 18 attempts. Southeast shot 47.6 percent from the field, while UIC finished at 41.4 percent.

Chandra Brown grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for Southeast, which held a 40-32 advantage.

Southeast returns to action Wednesday when Southwest Missouri State University visits the Show Me Center for a 7 p.m. contest.