University of Northern Iowa
6-4
North Dakota
4-6
Weekly, Herzberg Lead Panthers Past North Dakota, 74-53
12/18/2016 4:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team turned in one of its most balanced games of the season, coming away with a 74-53 win over the North Dakota Fighting Hawks on Sunday afternoon. UNI improved to 6-4 overall.
UNI shot 41-percent from the field while holding North Dakota to just 26-percent from the floor. The Panthers also finished the game shooting 40-percent from the arc, including going 3-for-4 in the fourth quarter while North Dakota only hit one three-pointer the entire game. The Panthers also forced 15 turnovers against UND, scoring 20 points on the Fighting Hawk errors.
UNI was led by senior Madison Weekly and sophomore Ellie Herzberg who both reach the 20-point mark. Weekly scored 23 points while adding five boards and four assists for her third game this season to reach 20-or-more points. Herzberg turned in 21 points, shooting 8-for-13 from the field while going perfect from the arc and the free throw line.
The Panthers came out firing, shooting 50-percent from the field in the first quarter and 60-percent from the three in the first five minutes of the period. UNI headed into the second quarter up 18-8, thanks in large part of a 13-2 run the Panthers went on sparked by Weekly going a perfect 3-for-3 from the arc in the first quarter.
UNI struggled in the second quarter, shooting just 20-percent from the three, but continued to give a strong defensive presence, holding UND to just three made field goals. North Dakota's Makailah Dyer scored eight of her 20 points in the second quarter, but UNI's balanced scored from Weekly, Herzberg, Angie Davison and Megan Maahs kept UNI ahead, heading into halftime up 36-19.
Herzberg took over in the second half, scoring 15 of her 21 points in the third and fourth quarters. Despite North Dakota shooting 50-percent in the third quarter, UNI was able to outscore the Fighting Hawks 16-8 in the paint with Maahs chipping in four points and Mikaela Morgan adding five.
UNI got its offensive rhythm back in the fourth quarter, shooting 75-percent from the three with Herzberg going a perfect 2-for-2 from the arc. The Panthers held North Dakota to just 25-percent from the floor in the final quarter, eventually claiming its 74-53 win.
The Panthers return to action on Thursday, Dec. 22 when they host the Kansas State Wildcats. The game is set to tip at 7 p.m. CT in the McLeod Center.
Post-Game Notes vs. North Dakota
- With her four made three-pointers against North Dakota, Madison Weekly took over sole possession of third all-time at UNI in career threes made (210).
- UNI held North Dakota to just one made three-pointer.
- With her 23 points against North Dakota, Madison Weekly moved into sixth all-time in career points. She now has 1,421 through 102 games, passing Lizzie Boeck who had 1,405 from 2007-11.
- Ellie Herzberg scored 21 points against North Dakota, the second highest point total of her career. She scored a career-high 22 points at IUPUI (11/11/16).
- UNI tied its season-high in assists with 18. Hannah Schonhardt had a season-high four dimes with Madison Weekly and Mikaela Morgan also adding four each. The last time UNI had 18 assists in a game was against Denver this year.
