Panthers Prepped For Illinois State, Indiana State

Friday, January 15

Cedar Falls, Iowa

7 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

Illinois State

Panthers Prepped For Illinois State, Indiana State

1/13/2016 5:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball

COMPLETE RELEASE IN PDF FORMAT

Game 16 vs. Illinois State (Friday, Jan. 15, 2016)
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Cedar Falls, Iowa (McLeod Center)
Live Stats: www.uni.statbroadcast.com
TV: ESPN3

Game 17 vs. Indiana State (Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016
Time: 2 p.m.
Place: Cedar Falls, Iowa (McLeod Center)
Live Stats: www.uni.statbroadcast.com
TV: ESPN3

The Basics: The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team will host another set of Valley games this weekend, battling the Illinois State Redbirds (Friday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m.) and the Indiana State Sycamores (Sunday, Jan. 17 at 2 p.m.).

The Series: The Panthers trail the Redbirds in the all-time series between the Valley foes, 29-41. UNI evened the series when playing in Iowa last season with a 71-43 victory, making it 16-16 in Cedar Falls. UNI has picked up wins in four of the last five contests against the Redbirds and are 9-9 against Illinois State under the direction of Tanya Warren.

Panther Quick Hits:
• The Panthers enter the game ranked No. 6 in NCAA Division I basketball in fewest turnovers and No. 3 in turnovers per game, averaging 11.3.
• Amber Sorenson is ranked No. 9 in Division I women's basketball in three-pointers made per game (3.13).
• The Panthers have won 17 or more games in six consecutive seasons.
• UNI made its fifth post-season appearance during the 2014-15 season, playing in the first round of the WNIT. It marked the fifth time out of the last six seasons UNI has played in a post-season tournament.
• UNI was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Honor Roll for the 2014-15 season, earning the 12th best GPA in NCAA Division I Women's Basketball. It is the fourth consecutive season UNI has been ranked in the top-15.
• The UNI women's basketball program is currently 84-44 inside the McLeod Center.

How to Watch and Listen: Fans will be able to follow along with the action against Illinois State and Indiana State with Chris Kleinhans-Schulz calling the action on 1540 KXEL (Panther Sports Network). Fans can also access the games live on ESPN3.

Tickets: Season and single-game tickets are available for all of UNI's home games this season through UNITix. For more information, call 319-273-4TIX (4849).

Follow the Panthers Online: UNI fans can get all their Panther news and notes on www.UNIPanthers.com. Fans can also access UNI on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/UNIAthletics and Twitter at @UNIAthletics. UNI Women's Basketball also has individual accounts:

Facebook: Search - UNI Women's Basketball
Twitter: @UNIPantherWBB
Instagram: @UNIPantherWBB

Join us at Pepper's: UNI will host a weekly press luncheon at Pepper's in Cedar Falls on Mondays at noon. All of the in-season head coaches will address the media with a weekly recap/preview of their team and then will be open to questions. All media and fans are welcome to attend.

About the Redbirds: Illinois State will enter the game against the Panthers 3-11 overall and 1-2 in league play. Their only league victory comes against Wichita State, beating the Shockers 70-49 on Jan. 3. The Redbirds are led by senior Octavia Crump, who is averaging 12.9 points per game. She is currently ranked in the top-30 in the country in field goal percentage. shooting 55.1 percent.

Shooting Forward: Senior Jen Keitel has moved into 10th all-time at UNI in career field goal percentage. She is averaging 10.5 points per game this season and 45.9 percent from the field, giving her a 48.4 percent shooting average in her career.

2-for-3: Sharnae Lamar tied her career-high in three-pointers made against Missouri State (1/10). She has had three games in her career where she has hit two threes (at Missouri State, 1/10/16; vs. North Carolina State, 11/25/12; at Chicago State, 11/14/11).

Matching Statistics: Madison Weekly finished the game against the Lady Bears (1/10) with a career-high tying 28 points, her 12th career game that she has reached the 20-point mark. She has scored 20-or-more points four times this season, and twice in the last three games.

Off the Bench: Senior Stephanie Davison, last season's MVC Sixth Player of the Year, only averaged 26.1 percent from the field during non-conference play. During UNI's four conference games, Davison is averaging 40.7 percent from the field and 7.3 points per game.

Points in the Classroom: The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team proved it has talent off the court as well, earning a combined team GPA of 3.65 for the fall semester. The Panthers had four student-athletes earn 4.0 GPAs as well.

Scoring Average: Madison Weekly's tied her career-high of 28 points against Missouri State (1/10) with her previous career-high 28 points against Southern Illinois (1/3). It was her 12th career game with 20-or-more points.

Weekly's 20-point Games

1/10/16	at Missouri State	28 points
1/3/16	Southern Illinois	28 points
12/9/15	at South Dakota State	24 points
12/2/15	Iowa	26 points
2/1/15	Missouri State	24 points
1/16/15	Drake	26 points
1/9/15	Southern Illinois	27 points
12/19/14	South Dakota State	22 points
12/4/14	at South Dakota	21 points
11/28/14	at Hofstra	21 points
11/14/14	at Tulsa	26 points
2/21/14	at Loyola	23 points

Five for 500: UNI currently has five student-athletes that have surpassed the 500 career-point mark. Madison Weekly leads the team with 890 career points in 72 games with Jen Keitel close behind with 874 points in 86 games. Senior Stephanie Davison comes in at 725 (107 games) while Amber Sorenson jumped over the 700-point mark against Wichita State (1/8), now holding 720 points in 86 games. Hannah Schonhardt joined the 500-point club this season, scoring 519 in 78 games.

She Does it All: Jen Keitel has made a name for herself in the Missouri Valley Conference as a scorer, averaging 10.5 points during her four seasons with the Panthers. Keitel has also been dominant on the defensive side of the ball, something that is evident this season. Keitel is currently ranked in the top-10 in both blocks (8th) and rebounds (6th) in the Valley this season and ranked in the top-15 in both categories in career all-time records at UNI.

Consecutive Starts: Junior Madison Weekly has started in 34 straight games for the Panthers. The Atkins, Iowa native has started all 15 games this season along with all 32 in 2014-15. She started the first 11 games of her career as a true freshman in 2013-14, but due to an early season injury, had to come off the bench for the remainder of the season.

It Is a Plus: Madison Weekly has recorded a team-high 511 minutes this season. She has racked up a team-high 246 points. When Weekly is on the court, UNI outscores its opponents by 30 points.

Turnover Margins: UNI has only been averaging 11.3 turnovers per game through 15 games this season, ranking No. 3 in the country and No. 1 in the Valley. The Panthers had a season-low seven turnovers against Creighton (12/22).