University of Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois
Oney Scores 33 to Lift UNI to Third Straight MVC Win
1/7/2012 1:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- University of Northern Iowa senior Katelin Oney had a career night, scoring 33 points to carry the Panther women's basketball team to a 70-66 road victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday evening at SIU Arena. Oney's 33-point performance ties for the 11th best scoring output all-time by a Panther.
With the game tied at 65-65 and only one minute remaining, UNI got free throws from Oney and Rachel Madrigal to take a 67-65 lead. Southern Illinois' Cartaesha Macklin could only convert one of two free throws with 13 seconds left in the game, and two more free throws from Madrigal and one from Mercedees Morgan sealed the victory at 70-66.
The win is UNI's third straight, and improves the Panthers' record to 10-5 overall and 3-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Oney drained 5-of-11 three-pointers and hit 9-of-18 total shot attempts on her way to UNI's highest individual scoring output since Jacqui Kalin scored 34 points against Indiana State on Jan. 30, 2010. Oney added 10 free throws and chipped in eight rebounds in the game.
Behind Oney, the Panthers received 14 points from senior guard K.K. Armstrong and 11 from Madrigal. Junior forward Amber Kirschbaum tallied seven points and nine rebounds to lead UNI on the glass.
For the first time this season, UNI won a game when shooting a lower field goal percentage than its opponent. UNI was 20-of-59 (33.9 percent) from the floor, while Southern Illinois shot 22-of-60 (36.7 percent). The Panthers also overcame a 48-38 rebounding deficit in the victory, and took advantage of 12 steals and 20 Saluki turnovers.
UNI held a 34-24 halftime lead after a 10-0 run late in the first half. Southern Illinois chipped away at the Panthers' lead for the first seven minutes of the second half, and was able to cut the margin to 41-40 with 13:20 remaining in the game.
Over the next eight minutes, UNI pushed its lead back to 10 points at 63-53, only to see it erased by a 12-2 Saluki run that tied the contest at 65-65. UNI hit five free throws in the final 1:12 to hold on for the victory.
UNI will return home to host Indiana State at 7 p.m. on Thurs., Jan. 12, in the McLeod Center.
NOTES: K.K. Armstrong is just 16 points shy of the 1,000-point mark for her career after scoring 14 on Saturday ... three Panthers recorded three steals in the game - Amber Kirschbaum, K.K. Armstrong and Mercedees Morgan ... UNI is 10-0 when it holds its opponents to under 44 percent shooting ... for the first time in the Tanya Warren era, UNI won both games of its conference-opening road swing ... the last time the Panthers completed the feat was in the 2006-07 season with wins at Creighton and Drake.
