Panther women's basketball to begin Hoops in the Heartland with Valpo matchup

UNI vs. Valparaiso

8:30 p.m. | March 11
Moline, Ill. | TaxSlayer Center (12,000)
ESPN+ | Scott Warmann: Play-by-Play, Laura Lenoard: Analyst
1560 KXEL | Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhaus-Schulz: Play-by-play)

MOLINE, Ill. -- The UNI women's basketball team will compete in the quarterfinals of the Hoops in the Heartland Missouri Valley Conference tournament on Friday.

The Panthers secured the number three seed in the tournament last week with a comeback win over Indiana State on Thursday. As the number three seed, UNI will take on the sixth seeded Valparaiso Beacons in a late night Friday matchup. This will be the third contest between the two teams in 2022 with the series split between home wins for each squad. Tip-off on Friday, March 11 in Moline at the TaxSlayer Center is set for 8:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

THE PANTHERS:
- The Panthers finished the regular season at their best mark since 2018-2019 with 20 wins and only nine losses. This is the 5th time in Head Coach Tanya Warren's tenure that UNI has reached the 20-win mark.
- UNI had their biggest come from behind win on Thursday against Indiana State. The Panthers faced down a 16 point deficit at the beginning of the second half against the Sycamores. But a 25-point run that spanned the 6th minute of the third quarter to the 8th minute of the 4th quarter propelled UNI to the 61-55 win.
- Senior guard Karli Rucker now leads the UNI women's basketball program in assists with 495. She passes Jacqui Kalin for the program record. The overall assist leader in Panther history belongs to men's player Dale Turner at 520.
- On Saturday afternoon against Evansville the Panthers had a SportsCenter-worthy shot from freshman guard Maya McDermott. At the end of the first quarter with time expiring, McDermott heaved a backcourt shot that swished into the net.
- Four Panthers were recognized on Tuesday morning for their work on the court and in the classroom as MVC Scholar-Athletes. Karli Rucker was named to the Scholar-Athlete First Team for the third time in her career while Nicole Kroeger, Kam Finley, and Cynthia Wolf were all named Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mentions for the first time.
- Senior Karli Rucker and freshman Grace Boffeli were named to two MVC All-Conference teams on Wednesday morning. For the fourth time in her career and one of only nine players to do so, Rucker was named First-Team All-MVC while Boffeli was named an All-MVC Honorable Mention for the first time in her young career at UNI.

THE BEACONS:
- The Beacons finished the regular season with a 11-18 record and split the MVC season going 9-9 through two and a half months of play. The Beacon's picked up the sixth seed after ending the season in a tie for sixth with Loyola as the Ramblers took both games in their matchups this year.
- Valparaiso has been playing some of their best basketball in the February and March, going 5-4 with a win against conference champs Southern Illinois at home in the ARC. Through the conference season the Beacons have averaged 63.3 points and 30.5 rebounds per game with some of the best three-point shooting in the conference.
- Senior guard Shay Fredrick has continued to be the standout for the Beacons on the court, averaging 12.7 points and 5.2 assists through the MVC season. But Valparaiso is a well-rounded shooting team with two other players scoring in double-figures from senior Carie Weinman and senior Grace White. White also leads the Beacons in rebounding at 6.1 boards per Valley games.
- Three Valpo players were recognized this week for a variety of end of season awards. Shay Fredrick was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team as well as the All-MVC First Team on Tuesday and Wednesday. Transfer guard Olivia Brown picked up a spot on the All-Newcomer Team while White was named to the All-Defensive team.

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