UNI’s Road Comeback Falls Short at UNO

Wednesday, December 6

Omaha, Nebraska

7 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

2-6

Nebraska Omaha

7-2

UNI

Omaha

UNI’s Road Comeback Falls Short at UNO

12/6/2017 9:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Omaha 78, UNI 74 Women's Basketball Box Score

Box Score (PDF)

OMAHA, Neb. – Trailing by 13 late in the fourth quarter, the University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team (2-6) clawed back to push Nebraska Omaha (7-2) to the brink, but the Panthers' spirited comeback fell short as the Mavericks won, 78-74.

The Panthers erased an 11-point halftime deficit to take a 54-53 lead with 3:08 in the third quarter, but the Mavericks responded to build a 13-point advantage late in the game. UNI made a final run trailing 71-58 in the game, but ran out of time as the Panthers fell 78-74 to cap the road trip.

UNI was led by a career-scoring night from sophomore Rose Simon-Ressler, who earned her first start as a Panther and poured in 18 points on a blistering 8-of-9 shooting from the field. Freshman Karli Rucker and sophomore Megan Maahs each scored in double digits, with 13 and 11 respectively. UNO's Amber Vidal scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Mavericks.

Each team shot well from the field, with the Mavericks going 29-of-57 (50.9%) and the Panthers not far behind at 31-of-65 (47.7%). Once again however, the story of the game was at the free throw line as UNO knocked down 15-of-19 shots to UNI's 3-of-6.

Simon-Ressler kicked off the game with an early seven points as she paced the Panthers from the get go. The Mavericks bounced back however, with a 12-4 run to close out the first quarter with a 19-13 lead.
UNO built a 35-24 lead with 3:20 remaining in the second quarter, until Rucker drained her first 3-pointer of the game to end the Panthers' scoring drought. The Mavericks shot 57.1% from the field in the second period however, as UNO held on to its 11-point advantage with a 43-32 lead at halftime.

Coming out of halftime, UNI surged back with a 10-0 run to rattle the Mavericks and pull within a point of UNO. The Panthers claimed the lead at 54-53 with 3:08 remaining in the third quarter following a Simon-Ressler 3-pointer, but the Mavs closed out the quarter to earn a slim 58-56 lead.

The Mavs recovered from their horrid third quarter to a much-improved fourth quarter as UNO went on a 13-0 run. UNI would not give up however, after a late rally left the Panthers down by only a basket with six seconds left. The Mavericks would make both shots at the charity stripe to follow, as UNO closed out the game with a 78-74 win.

UP NEXT
After almost a month away from home, the Panthers return to the McLeod Center on Sunday, Dec. 10, as UNI hosts Wisconsin-Parkside at 1 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

The 32 points scored in the first half, was the second-highest of the season for UNI.
The start for Rose Simon-Ressler was the first of her career at UNI.
Simon-Ressler also posted a career-high 18 points for the game.
The 13-point game for freshman Karli Rucker was also a career-high.
Attendance for Wednesday's game was 995.