University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Missouri State
UNI Finishes Regular Season With 72-64 Win Over Missouri State
3/7/2009 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 7, 2009
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --
The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team will head into the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference tournament on a three-game win streak after picking up a 72-64 victory against Missouri State Saturday afternoon in the McLeod Center. K.K. Armstrong led UNI (11-18, 9-9 MVC) with 17 points, and Kim Wypiszynski finished with 16 points. Lizzie Boeck added 11 points for UNI. Erin Brocka led the Panthers with six rebounds. Casey Garrison led MSU (10-19, 6-12 MVC) with 14 points, and Lacey Boshe added 12. Jasmine Malone led the Lady Bears with six rebounds. A three from Morgan Harrington at 15:00 gave the Lady Bears an early 12-4 lead. The Panthers scored the next six points to pull within two. Garrison made it a two-possession game with a pair of free throws at 11:42, but Wypiszynski made a layup, Nicole Clausen made a free throw, and Armstrong connected on a pair from the stripe to give UNI its first lead of the game, 15-14 with 9:38 on the clock. Clausen knocked down a three at 7:12 to put UNI in front 22-17, but MSU outscored the Panthers 7-1 over the next 2:12 to take a one-point lead, 24-23 at the five-minute mark. Lindsey Swanson put the Panthers back in front with a pair of free throws at 4:28. The Panther lead stayed between one and four points until Brocka scored on a putback at the buzzer to give UNI a 35-29 halftime advantage. Layups from Armstrong and Boeck on UNI's first two possessions of the game gave UNI a 10-point lead, 39-29 with 18:30 to play. The Lady Bears responded with a quick 9-2 run, making it a 41-38 contest with 16:25 remaining. Clausen drained a three on UNI's ensuing possession, and Brocka connected from long range on the Panthers' next trip down the floor. Armstrong made a layup to return the UNI lead to double-digits, and Indy Uhlenhopp connected on a layup at 12:28 to cap a 10-0 Panther run that brought the score to 51-38. MSU chipped away, and at 7:07 Maggie Dwyer scored to cut the Lady Bear deficit to 54-50. Danielle Wubbens found Brocka open on UNI's next trip, and the sophomore connected for three, extending UNI's lead to 57-50 with 6:48 to play. Malone answered for the Bears to bring it back to a four-point contest. Boeck and Dwyer traded baskets to keep the difference at four, but a layup from Wypiszynski and a pair of free throws by Armstrong doubled the Panther lead, 63-55 with 3:18 remaining. The Panthers maintained at least a five-point lead from that point, and built as much as a 10-point lead on the way to the 72-64 victory. UNI shot 26-of-54 (48.1 percent) from the floor, including 5-of-26 (31.3 percent) from three-point range. The Panthers made 15-of-18 (83.3 percent) free-throw tries. The Lady Bears shot 21-of-49 (42.9 percent) from the floor, including 7-of-17 (41.2 percent) from behind the arc. MSU finished 15-of-20 (75 percent) from the free-throw line. Both teams took care of the basketball, with the Panthers committing just 10 turnovers, and MSU giving the ball away 13 times. The Panthers will be the six seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Charles, Mo. UNI will open play in the quarterfinals on Friday at 8:30 p.m. against either Drake or Bradley.
