UNI Women's Hoops Plays at Iowa Sunday

Sunday, December 16

Iowa City, Iowa

2 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

University of Iowa

UNI Women's Hoops Plays at Iowa Sunday

12/12/2018 10:47:00 AM | Women's Basketball

GAME NOTES | RADIO: KXEL | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS

THE GAME
UNI women's basketball returns to action 2 p.m. CT Sunday on the road against Iowa City after the longest layoff of the season. The Panthers and Hawkeyes again renew the I-380 rivalry for the 17th consecutive season.

UNI enters the contest winning four of the last five contests, including two straight. The Panthers picked up a 64-60 win over North Dakota at home last week and will be well rested with 12 days off between games.

Karli Rucker leads UNI with 15.6 points per game. Ellie Howell is second with 12.0 PPG. Leading rebounder Megan Maahs will miss the remainder of the season with an injury. Howell is second on the team with 4.6 RPG.

Iowa is ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll and is 7-2 on the year with the losses coming against No. 2 Notre Dame and Florida State (RV). Senior Megan Gustafson was named the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year and is averaging 24.3 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.

The two teams have one common opponent in IUPUI. The Panthers topped the Jaguars 53-40 in Indianapolis while the Hawkeyes topped IUPUI 72-58 in Iowa City.

The game will be available on BTNPlus.

SERIES INFORMATION
The Panthers trail the all-time series with Iowa 21-2. Iowa has a 10-1 advantage all-time in Iowa City with the only UNI win coming in an 83-62 victory in Dec. 2016. The Panthers fell last season in Cedar Falls 71-47. The Panthers also won the first meeting 83-39 in 1975.

FANTASTIC FREE THROWS
UNI remains in the top 20 in free throw percentage in the country. The Panthers are shooting 78.4 percent from the line. Good enough for 17th in NCAA DI. Abby Gerrits leads the way at 15-16 (93.8 percent). Six UNI players shoot 75 percent or better.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The Panthers remain perfect at home. UNI is 3-0 with wins over Delaware, Creighton and North Dakota. UNI has wins over Delaware, Creighton and North Dakota so far this season.

SUPERB SOPHOMORE
Sophomore point guard Karli Rucker has stepped into the starting point guard position with dramatic effects. She leads the Panthers in points, field goals attempted, and assists. She is shooting 45-105 (.429) from the field and 23-26 (.885) from the free throw line. She has scored more than 20 points three times and is the only UNI player to hit the 20-point mark this season.

RETURN TO FORM
Senior Ellie Howell suffered a setback in her junior season, shooting just .361 from the field compared to .435 her sophomore season. She is back to form so far in the 18-19 campaign. She is 35-77 (.455) from the field and is averaging a career-high 4.6 rebounds per game.

GUNN-ING FOR A STARTING JOB
Sophomore forward Bre Gunnels has stepped into the starting lineup over the last two games. She earned her spot in the lineup shooting .400 from the field and .455 from the three-point line. She is also averaging 4.0 rebounds per game in just 10.1 minutes per game on the court.

LAUNCHING FROM DEEP
Uni is in the top 100 in the nation for three-point attempts, three-pointers made and three-pointers per game. The Panthers have shot 207 threes, hitting on 60 shots and accounting for 180 of UNI's 512 points so far this season.

PICKED SECOND
UNI was picked second in the Missouri Valley Preseason Poll released before the season. The Panthers picked up four first-place votes and 325 total points. Drake is the preseason favorite, the Bulldogs grabbed 35 first-place votes and 363 total points.

UNI WBB ON THE RADIO
The Panthers can be heard on 1450 FM KXEL and live online at UNIPanthers.com. Chris Kleinhans-Schulz will again be on the call for the UNI this season.