University of Northern Iowa
Iowa State
Panthers Fall to No. 24 Iowa State, 79-54
11/20/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2008
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -
The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team could not keep up with No. 24 Iowa State in its home opener, falling to the Cyclones 79-54 Thursday night in the McLeod Center.
A trio of newcomers combined for 30 of UNI's points, led by freshman Indy Uhlenhopp, who came off the bench to score 12. Freshman K.K. Armstrong and junior transfer Kim Wypiszynski each scored nine points for UNI (1-1). Lizzie Boeck finished with five points and a team-high nine rebounds.
The Cyclones (2-0) were led by Kelsey Bolte, who was 5-of-7 from three-point range on the way to 17 points, all of them scored in the first half. Heather Ezell added 13 points and Amanda Nisleit scored 11 points for ISU. Ashley Arlen and Alison Lacey led the Cyclones with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
Iowa State scored the game's first seven points, and the Panthers were held without a field goal through the first four minutes to allow ISU to build a 16-1 lead.
After a field goal from Alexa Mennen brought the score to 16-3, Iowa State went on a 9-2 run that gave the Cyclones a 25-5 lead with 10:22 left in the half.
K.K. Armstrong scored as she was fouled. She made the free throw to bring the score to 25-10 with 8:28 on the clock. Armstrong drained a three from the top of the key on UNI's next possession. The Panthers came up with a defensive stop, and Wypiszynski hit a mid-range jumper from the right side to cap a 10-0 run by the Panthers that brought the score to 25-15 with 7:26 remaining in the period.
The Cyclones rallied to score the next eight points, however, and they out-scored UNI 14-4 through the end of the half to take a 39-19 lead into the half.
Iowa State picked up where they left off at the start of the second half, rattling off 12 points through the first 3:09 of the period to build a 51-19 lead. ISU took its largest lead at 13:27, when Nicky Wieben scored to give the Cyclones a 59-24 advantage.
The Panthers went on a 10-2 run to cut their deficit to 61-34 with 10:18 to play, but Iowa State maintained at least a 23-point lead throughout the rest of the game.
The Panthers shot 19-of-59 (32.2 percent) from the floor, including 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from three-point range. UNI finished 10-of-21 (47.6 percent) from the free-throw line. Iowa State shot 29-of-60 (48.3 percent) from the floor, including 10-of-24 (41.7 percent) from behind the arc. ISU was 11-of-16 (68.8 percent) from the free-throw line.
The Panthers committed 13 turnovers in the loss, resulting in 22 points for ISU. UNI turned 19 ISU turnovers into 17 points. The Cyclones held a 53-29 advantage on the boards.
UNI returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Western Illinois at 5:35 p.m.
