UNI Faces Wyoming, UCF in Thanksgiving Weekend Tourney

UNI GAME NOTES

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team (1-2) continues its current six-game road swing with a pair of weekend contests in Orlando, Fla., against Wyoming (4-0) and Central Florida (2-3).

The Panthers and Cowgirls will tip off at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday, while UNI faces off against UCF on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. CT.

HOW TO TUNE IN
Saturday's game against Wyoming will not be televised, but Sunday's contest versus UCF will be available through a subscription here.

LIVE STATS
Live stats for this weekend's games will be made available via the UCF athletics website (www.UCFKnights.com). Fans and media can visit @UNIWBB on Twitter for links to the feed.

TICKETS
Fans can purchase season and single-game tickets to UNI women's basketball home games through UNITIX. Call 319-273-4849 or visit www.UNITIX.uni.edu.

NEED TO KNOW

UNI continues its road stretch with a pair of games over the Thanksgiving break against Wyoming (3-0) and UCF (2-3)
This weekend's games are hosted by UCF, with the Panthers, Wyoming and IUPUI visiting.
UNI is 3-2 all-time against the Cowgirls, while Sunday's contest against the Knights will be the first between the two programs.
Head coach Tanya Warren is 1-0 against Wyoming, after winning 2011's game 60-46.
Last time out, UNI lost a heart-breaker to Creighton in double overtime on the road.
Junior Ellie Howell led the Panthers with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting.
Sophomore Megan Maahs turned in her second double-double of the season and the third of her young Panther career. Maahs scored 15 points and snagged 14 rebounds before fouling out in the second overtime on Tuesday.
Senior Kennedy Kirkpatrick dished out a career-high nine assists for the Panthers in defeat.

SERIES WITH WYOMING/UCF

UNI and Wyoming have met five times on the hardwood, with the Panthers holding a slight 3-2 advantage in the series.
UNI won the last meeting against the Cowgirls in 2011 by a score of 60-46. Tanya Warren is 1-0 all-time against Wyoming.
The Panthers have never faced UCF on the hardwood.

SCOUTING THE COWGIRLS/KNIGHTS

Wyoming finished last season with a 22-10 record, advancing to the second round of the WNIT. UCF is coming off a 21-12 mark in 2016-17 and also advanced to the second round of the WNIT.
So far this season, the Cowgirls are undefeated with a 4-0 record while the Knights are 2-3.
Wyoming has earned wins over Adams State, Montana, Denver and Drake this season. UCF has defeated Chattanooga and Gardner Webb, while dropping games to Mercer, Virginia Tech and Elon.
Liv Roberts leads Wyoming with 15.3 points per contest, while snagging 5.7 rebounds a game.
Aliyah Gregory has paced the Knights this season with 16.0 points a game, with Fifi Ndour adding 12.6 a contest.

DEFENDERS OF WARREN

UNI is 133-18 under the direction of head coach Tanya Warren when holding an opponent to 60 points or less.
Five of UNI's top-10 scoring defense averages in school history have come during the Warren era, while the Panthers ranked second in the Valley last season after holding opponents to 58.3 points per game.
UNI was 19-0 in 2016-17 when holding foes to 60 points or less, so far this season the Panthers are 1-1.

PANTHER SHARP SHOOTERS

UNI has knocked down 18-of-61 (29.5%) from 3-point land this season.
The Panthers are averaging six made 3-pointers a game.
Last season, the Panthers shot 250-848 (29.5%) from beyond the arc to average 7.6 made 3-pointers a game.
Senior Kennedy Kirkpatrick leads UNI with five made 3-pointers this season, with Ellie Howell and Heidi Hillyard adding four so far.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Sophomore Megan Maahs turned in quite the performance to open the season, as she hauled in a career-high 16 rebounds and chipped in 10 points to earn her second double-double as a Panther.
Maahs turned in her second double-double of the season against Creighton, after scoring 15 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
For her career, Maahs has earned three double-doubles as a Panther. The sophomore has earned the last three double-doubles for UNI.
Maahs' 2016-17 double-double came after finishing with 11 points and 12 rebounds against Bradley on Jan. 15, 2017.

KIRKPATRICK LOGS CAREER-HIGHS

Kennedy Kirkpatrick has scored in double-digits in each of the first three outings this season to begin her senior campaign on fire.
Kirkpatrick set new career-highs in back-to-back games after scoring 15 in the season-opener and then 16 as a follow-up against Iowa State.
Against Creighton, Kirkpatrick set a career-high for assists after dishing out nine.

HOWELL PACES THE PANTHERS

After a slow start to the season, junior Ellie Howell has scored 17 and 16 points in back-to-back outings.
The junior is shooting 39.4% from the field, while catching fire from 3-point range with 50.0%.

RUCKER BREAKS THROUGH

In the absence of Ellie Howell and Kennedy Kirkpatrick in UNI's exhibition contest against Sioux Falls, freshman Karli Rucker scored 15 points while adding six rebounds and six assists.
The freshman only scored one point in her first two regular season games, but had a breakout performance against Creighton with seven points on 3-of-6 shooting.

ALL WE DO IS WIN

The 2016-17 season marked the eighth-straight season the Panthers have won at least 17 or more games.
The win total also marked the 15th season since the women's basketball program joined NCAA Division I basketball in 1982 that the Panthers have achieved at least 17 wins.
Tanya Warren now owns eight seasons with at least 17-plus wins or more in a season, which is more than all other coaches at UNI combined.

SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on the UNI women's basketball program, follow the Panthers on Twitter at "@UNIWBB" and on Facebook at "UNI Women's Basketball."

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