Panthers Prep for Final Home Weekend

GAME NOTES

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team (13-12, 9-5 MVC) will host its last homestand of the season this weekend, as the Panthers welcome Illinois State (13-13, 7-8 MVC) and Bradley (12-14, 6-9 MVC).

The Panthers and Redbirds will tipoff at 7 p.m. CT on Friday, while action against the Braves will commence at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday. The contest against Bradley will serve as Senior Day for Kennedy Kirkpatrick.

HOW TO TUNE IN
Friday's game will be televised on ESPN3. Fans can also listen in on 1540 KXEL or www.Panthers.com as Chris Kleinhans-Schulz calls the action.

LIVE STATS
Live stats will be made available via the UNI athletics website (www.UNIPanthers.com). Fans and media can visit @UNIWBB on Twitter for links to the feed.

TICKETS
Fans can purchase season and single-game tickets to UNI women's basketball home games through UNITIX. Call 319-273-4849 or visit www.UNITIX.uni.edu.

NEED TO KNOW

UNI (13-12, 9-5 MVC) welcomes Illinois State and Bradley for the final home weekend at the McLeod Center. Sunday's game against Bradley will serve as Senior Day for Kennedy Kirkpatrick.
Head coach Tanya Warren will have two shots this weekend for her 200th career win, as she sits on 199 entering Friday's contest.
Friday's game will feature the top two scoring defenses in the Valley, with ILS allowing 54.0 and UNI giving up 59.0 a game.
Last time out, the sophomore duo of Megan Maahs (16 points, 16 rebounds) and Rose Simon-Ressler (16 points, 10 rebounds) each recorded a double-double.
This season, Maahs has earned 10 double-doubles. That mark is the most since Alex Cook posted 10 in 2004-05.
Sophomore Megan Maahs ranks third all-time at UNI in total rebounds in a season, after hauling in 257 this season. Maahs is also fifth for most defensive rebounds (179) in a season at UNI.

SERIES WITH ILLINOIS STATE/BRADLEY

UNI took both contests from Illinois State and Bradley in the first meeting, with the Panther defense smothering the Redbirds and Braves for two impressive road wins.
The Panthers held Bradley (40) and Illinois State (36) to a combined 76 points over the weekend, which was the lowest two-game stretch for a UNI defense since holding Indiana State (29) and Evansville (44) to 73 points on Feb. 20/22, 2015.
Overall, UNI has won nine-straight against Illinois State and 13-straight over Bradley.

SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS/BRAVES

Illinois State is coming off a pair of wins against Indiana State and Evansville, while Bradley split against the Sycamores and Purple Aces.
The Redbirds have two players averaging in double-figures, with junior Simone Goods scoring 13.6 per game and senior Hannah Green earning 12.8 per contest.
Freshman Gabbi Hack leads the Braves, earning 10.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest.

50-POINT CLUB GROWS

Under head coach Tanya Warren, the Panthers are undefeated when holding an opponent to 50 points or less.
Over her 11-year career at the helm, Tanya Warren has earned a 71-0 record against foes when holding them to 50 points or less.
Warren's highest total for a season was in 2015-16, when the Panthers held 12 foes to 50 points or less.
This season, the Panthers are 6-0 when holding an opponent to 50 points or less.

PANTHER SHARP SHOOTERS

UNI has knocked down 192-of-616 (31.2%) from 3-point land this season.
The 192 made 3-pointers this season rank as the third-most in the MVC and 10th most in a season at UNI.
The Panthers are averaging 7.7 made 3-pointers a game.
Last season, the Panthers shot 250-848 (29.5%) from beyond the arc to average 7.6 made 3-pointers a game.
Senior Kennedy Kirkpatrick leads UNI with 38 made 3-pointers this season.

UNI CONTROLS THE GLASS

This season, the Panthers rank first in the MVC with a 5.4 rebounding margin over foes.
UNI has outrebounded 19 foes this season, with the highest margin of 18 coming against Wyoming earlier in November.
When outrebounding teams this season, UNI is 12-7 on the season.
The Panthers are averaging 40.3 rebounds per contest, which ranks first in the MVC.

MAAHS CLIMBS UP ALL-TIME LEADERBOARD

Megan Maahs has had a sensational season rebounding the ball in 2017-18.
Maahs currently sits third all-time for most rebounds in a season (257) at UNI, while ranking fifth all-time for most defensive rebounds in a season (179).
If the season ended today, her 10.3 rebounds per game would be tied with Alex Cook (2003-04) for the third-highest in a season at UNI.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE QUEEN

Sophomore Megan Maahs leads the MVC with 10 double-doubles this season.
That total is the most in a season for UNI since Alex Cook earned 10 in 2004-05.
Maahs ranks 21st in the NCAA for total rebounds per contest at 10.3.
In the MVC, Maahs tops the league this season in rebounds per game (10.3), defensive rebounds per game (7.3) and most double-doubles (10).

SEEING DOUBLE

Three Panthers have collected double-doubles this season, with Megan Maahs (10), Rose Simon-Ressler (2) and Ellie Howell (1) all earning the feat via the points/rebounds path.
Howell's came against Indiana State (1/14) after scoring 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Simon-Ressler's came in back-to-back games against Evansville (2/11) and Drake (2/16)
The double-doubles for Maahs and Howell against INS (1/14) marked the first time UNI had two players record a double-double in the same game since Feb. 2, 2014 versus Drake (Stephanie Davison, Jen Keitel, Hannah Schonhardt).

KIRKPATRICK SENIOR DAY

Kennedy Kirkpatrick's senior season has been by far her best, as she's earned career-highs in minutes, starts, points, rebounds, assists and steals for her senior campaign.
The Lawrence, Kansas native, has averaged 10.7 points per game, while also leading the Panthers from the 3-point line with 38 made from beyond-the-arc.

HOWELL HEATS UP IN LEAGUE PLAY

This season, redshirt junior Ellie Howell has scored in double figures a team-high 15 times, with 11 of those coming in conference play.
Howell scored a season-high 21 points against Loyola.
During MVC play, Howell is averaging a team-best 12.2 points per outing.

RUCKER BREAKS THROUGH

In the absence of Ellie Howell and Kennedy Kirkpatrick in UNI's exhibition contest against Sioux Falls, freshman Karli Rucker scored 15 points while adding six rebounds and six assists.
The freshman only scored one point in her first two regular season games but had a breakout performance against Creighton with seven points on 3-of-6 shooting.
Rucker's latest breakthrough was against UNO as the freshman scored 13 points against the Mavs after shooting 5-of-10 from the floor.

WARREN IN THE VALLEY

Head coach Tanya Warren is fifth all-time wins in the Missouri Valley Conference, with 127 league victories under her belt. Warren is behind Creighton's Jim Flanery (2003-13) who owns 131 wins.
Overall, Warren's 199 wins also rank fifth overall, placing behind Barbara Hilke (1983-92) of Eastern Illinois' 231.

WARREN ON THE VERGE OF 200 WINS

Tanya Warren enters Friday's contest on the verge of a great milestone, as the 11-year head coach sits on 199 career victories.
Should Warren secure 200 wins, she would become the only active MVC coach to achieve the feat.
Only four coaches in Valley history have crossed the 200-win mark, with SIU's Cindy Scott (353), MSU's Cheryl Burnett (319), Illinois State's Jill Hutchison (277) and Eastern Illinois' Barbara Hilke (231) being the only coaches in league history to do so.

SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on the UNI women's basketball program, follow the Panthers on Twitter at "@UNIWBB" and on Facebook at "UNI Women's Basketball."

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