University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
24-7, 15-3
Evansville - MVC Semifinal
14-17, 8-10
UNI To Play In Title Game After 82-58 Win Over Evansville
3/11/2017 6:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MOLINE, Ill. – The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball program advanced to the championship game at the MVC Tournament today after an 82-58 win over Evansville. UNI improved to 24-7 this season and will appear in its fourth championship game in program history tomorrow.
UNI had two 20-point scorers, led by senior Angie Davison who had a career-day against the Purple Aces. Davison scored a career-high 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting from deep, narrowly missing out on the UNI single-game made threes record of eight. Madison Weekly added 20 points of her own, also cashing in six assists.
UNI started the game with the hot hand from deep, shooting 83-percent from the arc up until the final minute of the quarter. The Panthers started the first quarter a perfect 3-for-3 from the three, eventually heading into the second up 23-16.
The Panthers heat from deep cooled off some in the second quarter, shooting just 3-for-12 from the arc, but UNI outrebounded the Purple Aces 14-5, including nine offensive rebounds to keep the ball in UNI's hands. The Panther offense was too much for Evansville with UNI stretching out to a 20-point lead with 1:06 on the clock on one of Davison's three-pointers.
UNI came out of halftime with a 41-25 lead and immediately kept the momentum going in its direction, shooting 64-percent from the floor and 60-percent from the three. Davison was a perfect 2-for-2 from the arc in the third quarter, but had help with eight players scoring at least one point in the third to send UNI into the fourth with a 28-point lead.
The youth on the Panther roster got in valuable tournament experience in the fourth quarter, with Rose Simon-Ressler putting up five points. UNI had six assists on six made shots in the fourth quarter, sending UNI to the championship game with its 82-58 win.
The Panthers will return to action tomorrow in the championship game at the MVC Tournament when they take on the Drake Bulldogs. The game is set to tip off at 2 p.m. in the iWireless Center. Fans can purchase tickets for the championship game at the iWireless Center with the ticket office opening at 11:30 a.m.
Post-Game Notes vs. Evansville
- Senior Angie Davison scored a career-high 21 points, scoring 12 in the first half on 4-for-7 shooting from the arc. She finished the game 7-for-13 for a career-high made three-point field goals, narrowly missing Brittni Donaldson's UNI record eight that she drained in 2014.
- Madison Weekly finished the game with six assists, giving her 127 this season. It moves her into seventh all-time in single-season assists, passing Loretha Mosley who had 126 in 1989-90.
- UNI had 31 made field goals on 26 assists against Evansville.
- Megan Maahs has had five-plus rebounds in six of the last seven games. She finished with 12 against Evansville.
- UNI knocked down a season-high 15 three-pointers against Evansville. The school record for threes in a game is 17, set against UMBC in 2007.
- Madison Weeekly knocked down six three-pointers today, giving her 60 this season. It ranks her 12th all-time in single-season threes made. She also has 253 career threes made, trailing the all-time leader in career treys, Jacqui Kalin, who had 265.
- For the second time this season, the Panthers had two 20-point scorers in a single-game. Angie Davison finished with 21 points while Madison Weekly added 20. Weekly and Ellie Herzberg both scored 20-plus points against North Dakota (12/18/16).
- Senior Hannah Schonhardt finished the game with a career-high seven assists. She led the team in the category with UNI finishing with 26 total, just two shy of the single-game record of 28 against Creighton in 1990.
