CHICAGO, Ill. - The Drake University women's basketball team dropped its season-opening tilt at Illinois-Chicago, Saturday at UIC Pavilion. The Bulldogs fell to 0-1 overall.

Senior Rachael Hackbarth (Colgate, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) led Drake with 17 points, including 13 in the second half. Hackbarth saw limited action in the opening half after committing two early fouls.

"Foul trouble in the first half hurt our team," said head coach Amy Stephens. "We have to do a better job of staying out of that situation."

The Bulldogs shot just 38.2 percent from the floor and never held a lead in the contest. UIC hit 44.7 percent of its shots and scored at a 68.4-percent clip in the second half.

"Overall, our defensive effort in the second half wasn't where it needed to be," Stephens added. "We gave up too many easy baskets."

The Flames opened the second half on a 10-4 run to take a 30-24 lead after playing Drake to a 20-20 tie in the opening half. Drake pulled within four, 34-30, at the 13-minute mark, but the Flames held the pressure through the closing minutes.

"We didn't have enough offensive balance overall to put ourselves in a position to win the game," Stephens said.

UIC held a 21-9 scoring advantage off turnovers despite forcing just two more than it committed.

After a 7-0 run put the Flames up 20-13 with six minutes remaining in the first, Drake fired off a 7-0 run of its own to tie the game at 20 at halftime. Brittnye McSparron (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) started the run with a layup in traffic and led the Bulldogs with six first-half points. She finished the game with 10 total points.

Senior Amber Wollschlager (Milbank, S.D./Milbank) scored six points on two three-point baskets.

The Bulldogs return home to face Iowa State Tuesday at 5 p.m.