UNI Opens 2017-18 Season at Home Against IUPUI

UNI GAME NOTES

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – After an impressive shooting display against Sioux Falls in exhibition action on Sunday, the Northern Iowa women's basketball team officially opens the 2017-18 regular season against IUPUI at home on Friday.

The Panthers and Jaguars will tip off at 7 p.m. CT, with the game marking the first of a two-game homestand for UNI to open the season. The Panthers host Iowa State on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. CT.

HOW TO TUNE IN
The game against IUPUI will be televised on ESPN3. Fans can go here to watch the broadcast.

LIVE STATS
Live stats for Friday's game will be made available via the UNI athletics website (www.UNIPanthers.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

The Panthers are 26-23 all-time in season openers and 27-19 all-time in home openers.
Under the direction of Tanya Warren, UNI has compiled a 7-3 mark in season openers.
Last time out, the Panthers routed Sioux Falls, 80-53, in exhibition action with UNI draining 12 shots from 3-point land to bury the Cougars at home.
UNI played four freshmen, with the quartet combining for 34 points. Freshman Karli Rucker led the Panther freshmen, with 15 points, six assists and three steals.
Megan Maahs and Mikaela Morgan are UNI's lone returning starters on a roster that features one senior, four juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen.
Preseason All-MVC and 2017 Sixth Player of the Year Ellie Howell will step into the starter's role this season, with senior Kennedy Kirkpatrick also increasing her minutes for the Panthers at the point guard position.

ANOTHER 24-WIN SEASON IN THE BOOKS

UNI posted its third season with at least 24 wins or more after going 24-9 in 2016-17.
The Panthers have earned all three 24-plus winning seasons in the Coach Warren-era, with the first coming in 2010-11.
The back-to-back 24-win seasons is a first for the program.

WARREN MOVES INTO FIRST PLACE AT UNI

Head coach Tanya Warren became UNI's all-time wins leader following UNI's 65-64 win against Missouri State on March 4, 2017.
Warren passed former Panther coach Tony DiCecco who previously held the record with a 183-161 mark in his 12 seasons at UNI.
Warren enters 2017-18 with a 186-139 record.

SERIES WITH IUPUI

UNI and IUPUI have only met once on the basketball court, with the Panthers taking last season's contest 69-62 in Indianapolis, Ind.
Ellie Howell turned in a 22-point performance to lead UNI on the road as the Panthers edged out the Jaguars. Howell was 9-of-13 shooting from the field, while adding five rebounds and two steals to cap her stellar performance
Last season's contest was also a season opener for both squads.

SCOUTING THE JAGUARS

IUPUI finished 24-8 overall and 12-4 in Horizon league play, with the Jaguars earned a trip to the WNIT. The trip was IUPUI's second-straight, as the Jaguars were defeated by Saint Louis in the opening round.
The Jaguars earned a program-best 24 wins last season and finished second in the Horizon, while head coach Austin Parkinson became the winningest coach in program history (120-career wins).
This season, IUPUI earned a 106-42 exhibition win over Urbana tipoff the year. The Jaguars had five players in double-figures against Urbana with Morgan Allen (15), Taylor Drake (13), Danielle Lawrence (12), Macee Williams (12) and Sydney Roule (11) all chipping in at least 11 points on the day.

SEASON OPENERS UNDER COACH WARREN

Since head coach Tanya Warren took over the reigns in 2007, the Panthers are 7-3 in season openers.
UNI is 3-3 at home to open the season under Warren and a perfect 4-0 on the road.
The Panthers won their last season opener at home against Rockhurst 58-39 on Nov. 15, 2015.
Overall, the Panthers are 26-23 all-time in season openers since the program started in 1968 and 27-19 in home openers.

DEFENDERS OF WARREN

UNI is 132-17 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.

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.

PRESEASON RECOGNITION

UNI was selected to finish third in the MVC before the start of the 2017-18 season.
The Panthers have been voted in the top-half of the MVC Preseason Poll in all but one of head coach Tanya Warren's seasons at UNI.
Redshirt junior Ellie Howell was selected to the Preseason All-MVC squad.

PANTHER CUBS

UNI welcomes five true freshmen to the roster this season, with one lone senior leading the pack in Kennedy Kirkpatrick.
Karli Rucker, Nicole Kroeger, Bre Gunnels, Riley Wheatcraft and Marissa Robson make up the five freshmen for UNI.
That total is the most since 2015-16's six true freshmen, that squad earned a 24-11 record while advancing to the third round of the WNIT.

RISING STAR

Sophomore Megan Maahs burst onto the scene last season, earning a spot on the Missouri Valley Conference's All-Freshman Team after averaging 7.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game as a true freshman.
Maahs was UNI's first MVC All-Freshman team member since Ellie Howell in 2014-15.

HOWELL HUSTLE

Redshirt junior Ellie Howell earned the Missouri Valley's Sixth Player of the Year award last season, after averaging 12.2 points and 22.5 minutes per game in 2016-17.
The honor for UNI is the second for the program and first since Angie Davison (2015).

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."

Calendar

Upcoming Events