Panthers Drop Defensive Battle Against Jackrabbits

Thursday, November 30

Brookings, S.D.

7 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

2-4

South Dakota State

6-1

Northern Iowa

South Dakota State

Panthers Drop Defensive Battle Against Jackrabbits

11/30/2017 9:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

FINAL STATS

BROOKINGS, S.D. – Despite a strong second half showing, the Northern Iowa women's basketball team (2-3) couldn't overcome a slow start as the Panthers fell to South Dakota State (6-1) on the road, 57-47.

The Panthers erased a 15-point deficit to pull within a point of SDSU with 8:12 remaining, but the Jackrabbits pushed back with a 5-0 run to regain momentum and hold on for the victory.

UNI fell to 2-4 with the loss, while SDSU improved to 6-1 on the season.

Megan Maahs led the Panthers on Thursday night, as the sophomore came a point shy of matching her career-high in points after scoring 15 against SDSU. The center also snagged seven rebounds and dished out an assist. Freshman Karli Rucker did however earn a career-high on Thursday, after scoring eight points against the Jackrabbits.

The Panthers and Jackrabbits were nearly identical shooting the ball, with each shooting 30% from the field. The big difference on the night came from the charity stripe, with SDSU sinking 17 of its 20 free throw attempts to UNI's seven of nine.

To begin the game, UNI struggled on offense as the Panthers shot 21.9% from the field in the first half. UNI and SDSU capped a defensive battle in the first quarter locked at 8-8, before the Jackrabbits outscored the Panthers 19-8 in the second quarter to take a 26-17 lead into halftime.

After falling behind to SDSU 32-17 early in the third quarter, Ellie Howell and Mikaela Morgan combined for nine points to kick start an impressive 13-0 run for the Panthers to close out the quarter only trailing 37-32.

Maahs scored back-to-back layups to continue UNI's hot streak into the fourth quarter as the Panthers pulled within a point with 8:12 remaining in the final period. SDSU answered back with a 5-0 run to take back momentum and earn the 57-47 victory over UNI.

UP NEXT
UNI continues its road swing as the Panthers travel to North Dakota on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 2 p.m. CT.

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.

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."

ADDITIONAL NOTES

UNI now trails the all-time series against SDSU, 9-3.
The Panthers are now 134-20 under head coach Tanya Warren when holding an opponent to under 60 points.
Megan Maahs' 15 points tied her season-high (Creighton).
Freshman Karli Rucker scored a career-high eight points.
Rucker also earned a career-high 18 minutes.