Women’s Basketball Loses Heated Battle to UIC Flames

Monday, November 24

Muncie, Ind.

6:30 pm

Ball State University

5-1,0-0MAC

UIC

3-3,0-0MVC

UIC

Ball St.

Women’s Basketball Loses Heated Battle to UIC Flames

November 24, 2025 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State women's basketball team (5-1) dropped a heated defensive battle to the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames (3-3) by a score of 66-64 Monday night in Worthen Arena.

The Cardinals were led in scoring by Tessa Towers with her fourth double-double of the season after chipping in 19 points and 11 rebounds. Grace Kingery rounded out the double-figure scoring with 13 points.

Things weren't looking great at the start of tonight's contest for the Cardinals. UIC had jumped to a 13-6 lead over Ball State by the media timeout. The Cardinals closed out the opening frame with a 6-0 run which led to BSU only trailing UIC by one (13-12) at the end of the first quarter.

Ashlynn Brooke opened the second frame with a 3-pointer to give the Cardinals their first lead (15-13) of the contest. BSU's lead didn't last long as both teams traded baskets throughout the remainder of the half. UIC held onto an ever so slight edge over Ball State throughout the first half, including the Flames being up by five (30-25) just under the two-minute mark. Ball State was able to enter halftime on a high note as Zhen Verburgt hit a running jumper at the buzzer to make it a tied ball game (30-30) at intermission.

After the break, the game continued to be a tight affair as both teams went back-and-forth up until the 1:48 mark. After that, the Cardinals began to pull away from the Flames by as many as eight (48-40). Kingery, Giorgia Gorini and Verburgt made an impact during the Cardinals short run that led BSU to eventually taking a five-point advantage 49-44 into the final 10 minutes of play.

UIC made a run to start the final stanza to move ahead of the Cardinals 51-49 with 7:24 on the clock. The contest was then tied four more times after that with Ball State holding onto a one-point lead (64-63) after a layup from Towers. The Cardinals could smell victory until the Flames scored a layup with 11 second left to take the lead back. Ball State was forced to foul UIC and was unable to capitalize on a few scoring opportunities as the clock expired which ultimately led to BSU's first loss of the season.

The Ball State women's basketball team will spend Thanksgiving break at the Florida Golf Coast Women's Basketball Tournament in Naples. The Cardinals will face Pitt on Friday and Alabama A&M on Saturday. Both games are slated to begin at 1:15 pm ET at the Community School of Naples.