University of Northern Iowa
1-2,0-0MVC
Ball State
4-0,0-0MAC
Panthers fall in first road contest against Ball State
11/18/2023 12:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball
UNI women’s basketball struggled from the free throw line in the first road contest of the 2023-24 season.
MUNCIE, Indiana --- The Panthers faced their first road opponent in the 2023-24 season with a matchup in Muncie, Indiana against the Ball State Cardinals. This was the second meeting of these two teams with the first coming in the second round of the 2013 WNIT. The Cardinals got the best of the Panthers in the matinee matchup by a score of 75-64.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cardinals came out hot and jumped out to a 5-0 lead early in the matchup. Shateah Wetering recorded the first Panther points in Indiana with a layup in the second minute of action. Following a layup from Grace Boffeli, Ball State jumped out to their largest lead of the first half with an 11-4 lead.
Northern Iowa would go on a 7-0 run to tie the matchup at 11. The run saw the Panthers go 3-for-3 from the floor with four points from Boffeli and a three-pointer from Wetering. Riley Wright sank two free throws to end a seven-point run by the Cardinals with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The first quarter ended with a three-pointer from Emerson Green, her first points of the game. The Cardinals led the matchup with a score of 20-16 heading into the second quarter.
Kayba Laube hit the first basket of the second quarter with her first three-pointer of the game. Following that, Ball State went on a five-point run which was closed out by Grace Boffeli's eighth point of the game on a layup with just under six minutes remaining in the first half. A Wetering layup out of a media timeout down the stretch was her seventh point of the game and brought the Panthers to within two points of the Cardinals. Boffeli would be the first Panther to crack double digits with her 10th point coming on a layup with 1:38 remaining in the second quarter.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Ball State tied their largest lead of the first half at seven points with a 35-28 lead heading into the halftime break.
Boffeli opened the second half with back-to-back layups on the first two offensive possessions. Ball State would jump to a 10-point lead with the next five points, their biggest lead of the game up to that point. A three-pointer from Shateah Wetering closed off an 11-2 run from the Cardinals. UNI closed out the third quarter with a 5-2 run with all five points coming from the free throw line. Ball State led the game 53-44 heading into the final quarter.
A five-point run by the Cardinals opened the fourth quarter before an 11-3 run by the Panthers. The run saw Grace Boffeli net her 18th point of the game on a layup followed by Cailyn Morgan from three-point range. The next six points came off the hot hand of Wetering with a three-pointer and an and-one layup to cut the deficit to six points.
Grace Boffeli was the first Panther to crack 20 points this season with a layup late in the fourth quarter. Ball State closed out the matchup with a 9-6 run and finished the game with a 75-64 victory. Boffeli led UNI with 24 points. She added eight rebounds and four assists. Shateah Wetering was the only other Panther in double digits with 19 points. She added five rebounds and five assists.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- Ball State now leads the series with a 2-0 record. Both matchups have occurred with the Panthers on the road.
- Shateah Wetering recorded a career-high 19 points and shot a career-high 100% 93-for-3) from the three-point line.
- Grace Boffeli scored a season-high 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting (64.7%).
- Cailyn Morgan recorded a career-high eight rebounds.
- Taryn Wharton recorded a career-high two blocks.
UP NEXT
UNI women's basketball heads to Las Vegas, Nevada for the South Point Shootout over Thanksgiving weekend. The Panthers will be taking on Syracuse on Friday at 1 p.m. CT and Vanderbilt on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CT. Games can be streamed on FloHoops or listened to on the Panther Sports Radio Network.
