UNI women's basketball continues home stand with Loyola and Valparaiso

UNI women's basketball vs. Loyola

6 p.m. | Feb. 4
Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650)
ESPN+ : (Brad Wells: Play-by-Play, Alex Oakland: Analyst)
1540 KXEL: Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhaus-Schulz: Play-by-Play)

UNI women's basketball vs. Valparaiso

2 p.m. | Feb. 6
Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650)
ESPN+ : (Brad Wells: Play-by-Play, Adam DeJoode: Analyst)
1540 KXEL: Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhaus-Schulz: Play-by-Play)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- After a big win over Indiana State to start a stretch of four games at home the UNI women's basketball team gears up to take on Loyola Chicago and Valparaiso over the weekend.

To start the second half of conference play, the Panthers will welcome the Ramblers and Beacons to town for the weekend. UNI last saw both teams at the beginning of January, getting a win over Loyola but suffering a last minute loss to Valparaiso. The Panthers will look to pull of the sweep this weekend with wins on Friday and Sunday.

Sunday's game against Valparaiso will be UNI's annual Pink Out game in support of breast cancer research and treatment. Head Coach Tanya Warren will donate $25 for every three-pointer made while team doctor Sharon Duclose will match Coach Warren's donations. Doctor Duclose will also donate an additional $500 if the Panthers win the game. And team nurse Lanett Kane will donate $5 for every free throw that will be matched by Coach Warren. All funds raised on Sunday will go to the Fearless Jenny fundraiser. You can match or donate to the fundraiser here.

THE PANTHERS:
- The Panthers got their home stand started off right with a team win against Indiana State. UNI's 72-49 win over the Sycamores helped for the team to hop the trees in the MVC standings to fourth.
- Head Coach Tanya Warren continues her pursuit up The Valley list for coaching wins in league contests. Warren moved into a tie for third on the all-time list with her 170th Valley victory Wednesday vs. Indiana State. Warren now sits alongside Illinois State's Jill Hutchison and can move all alone into third with her next win.
- The Panthers had five players in double figures on Wednesday afternoon against Indiana State. It's only the second time this season UNI has had more than four players score in double-figures. The other contest was against Graceland in December.
- Freshman guard Emerson Green had a season-high in steals on Wednesday with four through 15 minutes. Overall the Panthers had 10 steals against the Sycamores for their second-highest amount of steals in a game this season.

THE RAMBLERS:
- Since their last meeting with UNI, the Ramblers have won three out of four MVC contests with a game against Indiana State postponed to a later date. In those games Loyola won by an 11.7 scoring margin with scoring among 10 players.
- Loyola has been on a defensive tear as they head into the second half of the MVC season. Of their past six opponents, the Ramblers have kept four of them to 30% or lower shooting from the floor. Loyola is currently 25th in the nation in scoring defense, only allowing 55.4 points a game.
- The Ramblers are led by the dual attack of forward Allison Day and guard Maya Chandler. Day leads Loyola in both points and rebounds averaging 11.3 points a game and 5.8 rebounds rebounds per game. Chandler follows closely behind offensively with 10.3 points per game on 35.4% shooting from the floor.
- While Day and Chandler are the offensive leaders for the Ramblers, Loyola has a balanced attack with contributions across the lineup. Four different Ramblers players lead the team in different stat areas including points per game, assists, blocks, and steals.

THE BEACONS:
- Valparaiso is in the middle of the pack among the MVC entering the second half of conference play. The Beacons are 4-4 against Valley teams but pulled out the win against the Panthers back in January. Valparaiso put on a fourth quarter clinic, overcoming a 13-point deficit to win the game in Valpo 60-58.
- Having a big scoring quarter has been the Beacons secret weapon through the conference season in their wins. In each of their four wins, Valpo has at least one quarter with 20 or more points scored over 10 minutes.
- Helping with scoring for Valparaiso has been their consistency behind the arc. The Beacons lead the MVC in three-point field goals attempted, three-point field goals made, and three point field goals per game. Valpo and UNI average 8.3 treys a game with Valpo getting the advantage in the overall three-point shot total.
- The Beacons have a strong guard scoring trio in Shay Fredrick, Grace White, and Carie Weinman. The three average 32.8 points a game for over half of Valpo's scoring. Fredrick also leads the MVC in several categories including assists, assists per game, and minutes played. White also leads the MVC in the steal categories with overall number of steals and steals per game. White is Valpo's rebound leader as well.

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