UNI women's basketball looks to avenge road loss at Southern Illinois

UNI women's basketball at Southern Illinois

2 p.m. | Jan. 28
Carbondale, Ill. | Banterra Center (8,284)
ESPN3 | Dominic Hoscher: Play-by-play, Mike Trude: Analyst
UNIPanthers.com | Chris Kleinhaus-Schulz: Play-by-play

CARBONDALE, Ill. - After suffering their first Missouri Valley Conference road loss of the season, the Panthers hope to get back to their road-winning ways on Saturday.

UNI will have a Saturday afternoon matchup with the Southern Illinois Salukis on their home turf. The Panthers last played Southern Illinois in mid-February of 2022 on the road. UNI was not quite able to overcome the MVC regular season champion Salukis on their home court last season, falling 64-60. The Panthers will try to pick up their first win in Carbondale since 2021.

THE PANTHERS:
- Self-inflicted wounds down the stretch would give UNI its first loss in two weeks on Thursday night. The Panthers couldn't get a shot to fall in the final three minutes and 40 seconds of the game to fall 71-67 to Missouri State.
- Along with struggles down the stretch, the Panthers had three season lows on Thursday night. UNI shot 18.8% behind the arc through 40 minutes, only grabbed 23 boards, and made just six assists on buckets.
- Head Coach Tanya Warren is now the second all-time leader in games coached in the Missouri Valley. Warren led her 502nd game at UNI on Thursday night against Missouri State. She passes former
Illinois State Head Coach Jill Hutchinson for the honor and is on track to become the all-time leader on Feb. 12 at Valparaiso.
- Sophomore forward Grace Boffeli continues to shine under the glass for UNI and the Valley. Boffeli is first in the conference in overall rebounds and rebounds averaged per game with 152 overall boards averaging 8.4 per game. She is on pace to have the Panthers eighth-best rebounding average season, tied with current Drake Head Coach Allison Pohlman.

THE SALUKIS:
- Southern Illinois currently holds a 7-11 overall record and a 4-5 record in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Salukis are coming off an 87-73 loss to Drake in its last game on Thursday night.
- The Salukis almost set a team-high for points scored in a loss this season. The 73 points are just behind Southern Illinois' 80-76 loss to IUPUI at the start of the season.
-Southern Illinois has the third-highest-scoring offense in the league behind Drake and UNI. The Salukis are averaging 71.3 points per game which is tied for 79th in the nation.
- Saluki's guard Ashley Jones scored a career-high 30 points on 11-of-21 shooting in Southern Illinois' loss to Drake on Thursday. Jones leads the Salukis in shooting, averaging 15.4 points per game. In 14 of her 17 games, Jones has scored in double-figures, including hitting the 20-point plateau in five games this season.

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