University of Northern Iowa
Bradley
Panthers Clinch MVC Title With 71-61 Win At Bradley
2/25/2011 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2011
Rachel Madrigal led the Panthers (22-5, 15-1 MVC) with a career-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Jacqui Kalin added 16 points and six assists, and Katelin Oney finished with 15 points and two steals. Lizzie Boeck finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, and Erin Brocka tallied six points, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots.
Hanna Muegge led Bradley (13-14, 6-10 MVC) with 13 points, and Katie Yohn added 10.
Bradley built an early 13-9 lead. Boeck converted a pair of free throws, and Rachel Madrigal scored off an Erin Brocka steal in the back court to tie the game, 13-13 with 12:40 left in the first.
Bradley scored the next four points, and the Braves kept their lead between two and four points until Brocka hit a three on a UNI fast break to pull the Panthers within one, 19-18 at 7:45. Boeck made both a layup and the ensuing free throw after she was fouled, giving UNI a 21-19 lead with 7:13 on the clock.
Hanna Muegge was fouled attempting a three, and her three free throws put Bradley back in front, 22-21.
A layup from Katelin Oney and a pair of free throws from Raisa Taylor kept the Bradley lead at one. Madrigal gave UNI a two-point edge with a three at 5:34, and Boeck scored on the block on the Panthers' next possession to put UNI in front 28-24.
The teams traded baskets twice, and UNI went into the break with a 32-28 lead.
Madrigal scored on a layup, and Boeck scored on the block off a pass from Kalin to give UNI the first four points of the second half and a 36-28 lead with 18:36 to play.
Madrigal and Boeck scored on back-to-back possessions, and Kalin hit a three with 18 minutes left to open the half on a 7-0 run and give UNI its first double-digit lead, 39-28.
A basket from Leah Kassing ended the Panther run, but UNI got a basket from Amber Kirschbaum and threes from Madrigal and Oney to tack on eight quick points and give the Panthers a 47-30 lead with 15:26 to play.
Bradley responded with a 10-2 run that cut the Panther advantage to 49-40 with 10:49 on the clock.
Oney hit a three at 9:50 to return the UNI lead to double digits, 52-40. Leading 56-44, the Panthers came up with steals on back-to-back defensive trips, resulting in layups from Kalin and Madrigal. Brocka followed with a three that gave UNI a 63-44 lead with 6:02 on the clock.
Trailing 65-46, Bradley scored eight straight points to cut the Panther lead to 11, 65-54 with 1:41 to play.
Kalin ended a four-minute scoring drought for the Panthers with a pair of free throws at 1:19.
Muegge hit a three with 36 seconds left, and Latasha Hollingshed made one of two free throws to pull the Braves within nine points with 29 seconds left.
BU sent Oney to the line with 28 seconds left, and the junior converted both tries to give the Panthers an 11-point cushion.
Katie Yohn knocked hit a three with 10 seconds remaining to pull the Braves within eight, but a pair of free throws from Oney with six seconds left brought the final score to 71-61.
The Panthers shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) from the floor, including 8-of-25 (32.0 percent) from three-point range. UNI finished 11-of-12 (91.7 percent) from the free-throw line.
Bradley shot 22-of-64 (34.4 percent) from the floor, including 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) from three-point range. BU finished 12-of-14 (85.7 percent) from the free-throw line.
Bradley held a slight rebounding advantage, 38-37. BU turned 12 offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points. UNI converted six offensive rebounds into five second-chance points.
The Panthers turned BU's 14 turnovers into 19 points. Bradley converted UNI's 14 turnovers into 10 points.
UNI returns to action on Thursday when it hosts
