University of Northern Iowa
Bradley
Panthers Top Bradley 70-50 to Advance to MVC Semifinal
3/12/2010 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 12, 2010
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team rallied from an early 10-point deficit to claim a 70-50 win over Bradley in the quarterfinal of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Friday afternoon in Family Arena. Nicole Clausen finished 3-of-5 from three-point range to finish with nine points and 202 career threes, tying the UNI record for threes in a career. Jacqui Kalin finished with eight points and nine rebounds for the Panthers. The win advances UNI to the semifinal for the first time since 2006. Raisa Taylor led Bradley (16-13) with 12 points, and Kate Yohn finished with 10. Both teams got off to a slow start, each team tallying just one basket through the first four minutes of play. Bradley rattled off 10 straight points to build a 12-2 lead with 13:41 left in the half. The Panthers chipped away at the BU lead, and Lizzie Boeck scored five points in a span on 23 seconds to cut the UNI deficit to 18-17 with 6:34 on the clock. Sonya Harris scored for the Braves, but Katelin Oney knocked down a three from the top of the key to tie the game, 20-20. Lizzie Boeck converted a three-point play at 4:19 to give the Panthers their first lead of the game, 23-20. Katie Yohn answered with a three-point play to tie the game for the third time, 23-23. Kalin hit a pair of free throws, and Amber Kirschbaum hit a short jumper to give UNI a four-point edge. Leah Kassing made a free throw for the Braves, but Boeck hit two jumpers in the final minute to send UNI into the break in front 31-24. Bradley scored first in the second half, but the Panthers scored five straight points to extend their lead to 36-26 with 18:20 remaining. BU scored the next four points to cut the UNI advantage to 36-30. Nicole Clausen hit a three with 14:14 left to end a four-minute scoring drought for UNI and extend the Panther lead to 39-30. Kirschbaum and Boeck hit jumpers in the paint, Kalin hit a three and Rachel Madrigal scored on a layup to cap a 12-0 Panther run that put UNI in front 48-30 with 9:36 to play. Bradley scored the game's next nine points to cut the Panther lead to single digits, 48-39 with 7:40 remaining. Erin Brocka connected on a pair of free throws to end the BU run, but Latasha Hollingshed converted a three-point play to pull the Braves within eight, 50-42 with 5:28 on the clock. Clausen hit a three to extend UNI's lead to 11, 53-42. Taylor made it a 10-point game with a free throw at 4:38, but Oney made a free throw and Kim Wypiszynski hit a pair to stretch the UNI lead to 56-43 with 4:09 on the clock. The Panthers led by at least 11 points and by as many as 22 on the way to the win. UNI shot 24-of-61 (39.3 percent) from the floor, including 9-of-22 (40.9 percent) from three-point range. The Panthers were 13-of-18 (72.2 percent) from the free-throw line. Bradley finished 18-of-55 (32.7 percent) from the floor, including 2-of-9 (22.2 percent) from behind the arc. The Braves were 12-of-24 (50 percent) from the free-throw line. The Panthers return to action on Saturday when they will face top-seeded Illinois State in the semifinal at 5 p.m.
