TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Bella Finnegan led all scorers with 17 points Sunday afternoon, but visiting UIC narrowly defeated Indiana State, 56-50, inside Hulman Center.
 
Del'Janae Williams added nine points and was one of three Sycamores with a team-high five rebounds. Caitlin Anderson scored nine points off the bench, while Mya Glanton finished with eight.
 
Neither team led by more than five in the opening 20 minutes, but UIC came out of the locker room strong to open up an eight-point advantage. A technical foul on the Flames gave Indiana State momentum, as the Sycamores went on a 13-2 run to retake the lead early in the fourth quarter. Indiana State led 48-47 with less than three minutes remaining, but a 9-0 run by the visitors proved to be the difference.
 
First Half
Indiana State scored the first five points of the game on a Williams 3-pointer and a Finnegan jumper. Finnegan had the hot hand in the early stages, with eight points in the opening quarter. UIC came back to take a four-point lead midway through, but Indiana State responded with a pair of 3-pointers from Finnegan and a second-chance basket from Glanton to pull ahead 15-11. The teams combined for just one basket in the final three minutes of the quarter, as Indiana State took a 15-14 lead into the second.
 
Indiana State struggled to find an offensive rhythm early in the second quarter but back-to-back baskets from Williams and Anna McKendree, the latter's being a 3-pointer, put the Sycamores ahead 24-22. UIC scored four straight points to regain the advantage, but a fastbreak layup from Anderson inside the last 30 seconds sent the teams to the intermission even at 26.  
 
Second Half
Hattie Westerfeld opened the second half with a layup and Finnegan added another 3-pointer, but UIC went on a lengthy scoring run to take a 41-33 lead midway through. The Flames were whistled for a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Indiana State closed the quarter strong after that. Finnegan hit both free throws after the technical, and Anderson converted a three-point play to make it 41-38. The Sycamores ended up closing the quarter on a 9-2 run, cutting their deficit to 43-42 heading into the fourth.
 
Williams opened the final quarter with a layup and a pair of Anderson free throws put the Sycamores ahead 46-43. Indiana State's offense struggled for a period of time following the trip to the charity stripe, which allowed UIC to retake the lead at 47-46. Glanton gave Indiana State the lead once more with a layup with just under three minutes remaining, but a 9-0 UIC run proved costly for the Sycamores. Williams made a layup just before the buzzer, but it came as a consolation as the Flames earned a split of the season series.
 
Inside the Numbers

• Despite the loss, Indiana State limited UIC to a 35.7 percent clip from the field.
• Bella Finnegan, Mya Glanton, Del'Janae Williams and Caitlin Anderson combined to scored 43 of Indiana State's 50 points.

 
News & Notes

• Bella Finnegan has scored in double-figures in three of the last four games, and is averaging 15.0 points per game in that span.
• Sunday's loss snapped a streak of four straight wins for Indiana State against UIC.

 
Up Next
Indiana State heads back on the road for the next two games, starting Thursday at 7 p.m. at Southern Illinois.
 
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