MOLINE, Ill. – UIC hit its stride at just the right time.  

  Trailing through the first three quarters and down by as many as 13, the seventh-seeded Flames rallied to beat Valparaiso 79-77 on Thursday night to earn a berth in the quarterfinals of the MVC women’s basketball tournament.

  They did it with their rebounding, defense and free throw shooting, plus some timely scoring from Danyel Middleton and Makiyah Williams. UIC moves on to play second-seeded Belmont at 6 p.m. on Friday.

   Middleton led the way with 22 points, including 11-for-14 free throw shooting. Williams added 17 points, four rebounds, a steal and two blocks.

   Jaida McCloud and Keimari Rimmer each scored 12 for the Flames (18-14) and McCloud did most of the work on defense in slowing Valpo star Leah Earnest over the final three quarters.

   Pounding the ball inside, UIC drew 24 fouls and sank 23 of 34 free throws. The Flames also turned around their rebounding after the Beacons outrebounded them 11-4 in the first quarter. UIC dominated the boards after that, outrebounding Valparaiso 30-18 over the final three quarters to finish with a 34-29 edge.

   The Flames got 14 of their rebounds on the offensive end, leading to a critical 18-6 edge in second-chance points. They also came up with nine steals and forced 19 turnovers.

  Earnest led 10^th-seeded Valparaiso with 23 points and eight rebounds. She gave the Flames fits with 13 first-quarter points on 6-for-8 shooting but was limited to nine shots and four field goals the rest of the way.

   Freshman Saniya Jackson added 16 points and Olivia Brown had 12 for the Beacons (5-25), who lost in the opening round for the third straight year.

   For the longest time, it appeared Valpo would be the one advancing.

   Running an efficient offense, the Beacons built a 31-18 lead early in the second quarter, led 41-34 at halftime and ran off eight straight points early in the second half to go up 49-36 and force a UIC timeout.

  The Flames stayed with their game, kept aggressive on the glass and chipped away with their free throw shooting. Middleton’s two free throws cut the lead to 63-62 before Earnest fired a pass from under the basket to Brown near the top of the key and she buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 66-62.

   That lead did not last long. UIC scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter, taking its first lead of the game at 68-66 when McCloud drove down the lane for a layup with 7:30 left. Rimmer followed with a putback of her own miss to make it 70-66 and the Flames led the rest of the way, holding the Beacons without a basket for the first 6:52 of the quarter.