CHICAGO (Interstat) — Illinois-Chicago used a dominant opening stretch and a balanced offense to defeat Chicago State 87-50 in a women’s NCAA Division I basketball game Wednesday at UIC Pavilion. The Flames led 20-8 after the first quarter, 42-24 at halftime and 65-44 through three quarters before closing with a 22-6 fourth-quarter advantage. UIC improved to 3-1, while Chicago State dropped to 2-3. Attendance was 541. Julia Coleman anchored the Flames with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists in 19 minutes, while Nevaeh Foster scored 18 points and Salma Khedr added 15 points and eight rebounds.

The decisive portion came at the start, when UIC scored the first 19 points and forced Chicago State to play from behind. Miyah Brown opened with a turnaround jumper, Coleman followed with two layups, Foster hit a 3-pointer and added a layup, and Evyn Carrier contributed a pullup jumper, a tip-in and a free throw. Danyelle London capped the surge with a 3-pointer that made it 19-0 before Chicago State got on the board with a free throw. The Cougars settled briefly behind Brianna Hill, who scored six points in the first quarter, but the Flames answered with Brown’s late jumper and maintained a 20-8 lead after one. UIC then opened the second quarter with a Coleman layup and kept pressure on with 3-pointers from Tutu Clayton, Foster and Khedr, stretching the margin to 42-24 by halftime.

Chicago State’s best stretch came in the third quarter, when Keona McGee scored inside and Marisa Gant made three free throws, but UIC matched the push with Clayton jumpers and Coleman layups. Aunyai’ Deere added a pullup jumper for Chicago State, and Kyara Champagne made three free throws in the second quarter, but UIC maintained control. The Flames put the game away in the fourth with 3-pointers from London and Khedr and free throws from Mecca Crawford. Chicago State found some late offense from Mazzy O’Brien and Mia Carter behind the arc, and Paris Bass added a pullup jumper, but UIC answered with a jumper from Crawford and a late free throw from Magdalena Winter. Chloe Sisco hit a late 3-pointer for the Cougars before Winter made a free throw for the final margin.

Illinois-Chicago shot 32 of 68 from the floor, 9 of 30 from three-point range and 14 of 22 from the free-throw line. Chicago State shot 15 of 63 overall, 4 of 23 from beyond the arc and 16 of 24 at the line. The Flames held a 15-9 advantage in offensive rebounds, posted a 34-16 edge in points in the paint and turned 12 Chicago State turnovers into 29 points. The Cougars scored eight points off 13 UIC turnovers. UIC finished with nine assists and four blocks, while Chicago State had five assists and three blocks. Chicago State scored 50 points from 77 possessions for an offensive rating of 64.6. UIC scored 87 points from 76 possessions for an offensive rating of 113.8.

Coleman’s 16 points came after a 29-point, eight-rebound performance against Northwestern earlier this season. Khedr added 15 points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes, and Carrier posted eight points, 15 rebounds, two assists and one block in 18 minutes. Clayton finished with 12 points, four rebounds and nine assists in 20 minutes. Foster had 18 points, four rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes. For Chicago State, Hill scored 13 points and added two rebounds and one assist in 14 minutes. Crawford had five points and eight rebounds in nine minutes for UIC. Kaldjob contributed six rebounds and three blocks in 14 minutes for the Cougars. London added seven points, two rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes. McGee scored 13 points with one rebound and one assist in 23 minutes.

Chicago State entered after a win over Huston-Tillotson and had also beaten Mississippi Valley State, with losses to Texas State and Illinois State. UIC had beaten Northwestern and Robert Morris and lost to Ohio State. The Cougars next host South Dakota, while the Flames visit Iowa State. Chicago State’s upcoming slate also includes Seattle, Western Illinois, Indiana State, Winthrop, Illinois, Iowa State, Eastern Washington, Cleveland State and Howard. UIC’s schedule includes Iowa State, Lindenwood, Ball State, Lamar, Texas-Rio Grande Valley, Austin Peay, Loyola Chicago, Northern Illinois, Indiana State and Valparaiso.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Illinois-Chicago 67, Chicago State 65. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Illinois-Chicago with a 97.3 percent probability to win.