UNI women's basketball ends 2022 against Bradley

UNI women's basketball at Bradley

7 p.m. | Dec. 30
Peoria, Ill. | Renaissance Coliseum (4,200)
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KXEL | Chris Kleinahus-Schulz: Play-by-play

PEORIA, Ill. -- UNI women's basketball will end the calendar year on the road to begin conference play.

The Panthers kick off the Missouri Valley Conference portion of the season this week with two road games. UNI will play in Illinois against both Bradley and Illinois State over the week starting with a stop in Peoria to play the Braves. In their last meeting against Bradley, the Panthers came away with a 77-56 win at the McLeod Center towards the end of the 21-22 season.

THE PANTHERS:
- UNI ended the season with a hard-fought 88-72 loss to No. 12 Iowa before the holiday break. The Panthers outrebounded the Hawkeyes but couldn't find enough around the basket to bring down Iowa on the road.
- The Panthers end their second non-conference portion of the season in a row at .500 or higher. UNI has also been at .500 or higher headed into MVC play in four out of the past five seasons.
- UNI begins Valley play on the road for the first time in three years this week. The Panthers will take a trip to Illinois with stops in Peoria and Normal for contests against Bradley and Illinois State. The last time UNI began the year on the road was in 2019, when it went 1-2 with three games on the road.
- Sophomore forward Grace Boffeli continues to shine offensively for the Panthers. Boffeli is currently 22nd in the nation in field goal percentage, averaging 58.4% a game. That's also good for second in the MVC, behind only Drake's Maggie Bair (67.9%).

THE BRAVES:
- Bradley is coming off a 57-65 loss against FIU at the FIU Holiday Hoops Showdown in Miami, FL, dropping them to 3-8 on the year.
- The Braves are coming up on program win 600 as they currently sit at 595 wins. Bradley's women's basketball team started playing in the 1975-1976 season winning two games in its first season for the university.
- Bradley Head Coach Kate Popovec-Goss is in her first season with the Braves. Prior to becoming the Head Coach in Peoria, Popovec-Goss spent time as both a player and a coach at Northwestern. She also had a stop in La Salle as the Director of Women's Basketball Operations for a season.
- The Braves are led by sophomore guard Caroline Waite with 13.6 points per game and is shooting 92% from the free throw line. Guard Alex Rouse also makes major contributions to the Bradley offense, averaging 11.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

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