University of Northern Iowa
Iowa State
Panthers Drop Home Opener to No. 17 Iowa State, 69-59
11/21/2010 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 21, 2010
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team fell short in its bid to upset No. 17 Iowa State, falling to the Cyclones 69-59 in front of 2,544 fans in the McLeod Center Sunday afternoon.
Jacqui Kalin led the Panthers (2-1) with 13 points, and Katelin Oney and Amber Kirschbaum each tallied 11. Erin Brocka finished with nine points and seven rebounds for UNI.
Hallie Christofferson led all scorers with 19 points. Kelsey Bolte tallied 13 points, and Anna Prins scored 10 points while collecting 10 rebounds for ISU (3-0)
The Panthers scored the first four points of the game, and after the Cyclones scored a trio of points to pull within one, Kalin converted a three-point play to return the Panther lead to 7-3.
The Cyclones took a brief 8-7 lead, but UNI outscored ISU 6-1 over the next 1:30 to take a 13-9 lead.
The Panthers maintained at least a two-point advantage until Lauren Mansfield hit a pair of free throws with 10 minutes left in the half to bring the score to 16-15. The Panthers responded with a 10-3 run in a span just under two minutes, capped by a three from Brocka that put the Panthers in front 26-18.
Amanda Zimmerman knocked down a three at the other end on ISU's next possession to cut the Panther advantage to five, but Lizzie Boeck knocked down a short jumper to bring the score to 28-21.
The Cyclones chipped away at the Panther lead, pulling within 31-30 when Zimmerman hit a free throw with 1:07 on the clock. Kirschbaum scored with 54 seconds left in the half to give UNI a 33-30 lead, which would be the score at the break.
Brocka hit a three at 16:07 to put the Panthers in front 38-34, but the Cyclones scored the game's next nine points to take a 43-38 lead.
UNI pulled within three, 45-42, when Kirschbaum scored with 11:17 remaining. Mansfield doubled ISU's lead with a three from the top of the key, but Kalin answered on the Panthers' next possession to keep UNI within one score, 48-45 with 10 minutes to play.
With UNI down 50-47, K.K. Armstrong hit one of two free throws with 7:51 on the clock to pull the Panthers within a pair.
The Cyclones stretched their lead back to five, 53-48, but Oney hit a three with 4:44 on the clock to cut the UNI deficit to two, 53-51.
Iowa State scored the game's next six points, four of them from the free-throw line, to take its largest lead to that point, 59-51 with 3:25 remaining.
Kirschbaum converted a pair of free throws with 1:22 on the clock to bring the Panthers within four, 61-57, but the Cyclones were a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the game's final 1:21 to secure the Iowa State victory.
The Panthers shot 27 percent (16-of-59) from the floor, including 7-of-25 (28 percent) from the three-point line. UNI was 20-of-23 (87 percent) from the free-throw line.
The Cyclones finished 19-of-46 (41.3 percent) from the floor, including 3-of-12 (25 percent) from three-point range. ISU was 28-of-36 (77.8 percent) from free-throw line.
Iowa State held a 42-34 rebounding advantage. UNI turned Iowa State's 15 turnovers into 13 points, while the Cyclones converted the Panthers' season-low 11 turnovers into 16 points.
UNI returns to action on Friday when it plays Louisiana-Monroe in the first round of the Aggie Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic in Las Cruces, N.M.
