University of Northern Iowa
1-8,0-0MVC
Iowa State
7-4,0-0Big 12
Panthers fall to Cyclones in final non-conference matchup
12/20/2023 8:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The UNI women's basketball team traveled to Ames but fell to the Cyclones 87-70.
AMES, Iowa --- UNI took on the Cyclones of Iowa State in their final non-conference matchup of the regular season in Ames, Iowa on Wednesday evening. The Panthers got off to a hot start and held the lead until the buzzer of the first quarter. It was all Cyclones following the conclusion of the frame and they never looked back, finishing with an 87-70 victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Panthers got the ball rolling inside the Hilton Coliseum with a pair of back-to-back three-pointers from Maya McDermott. Shateah Wetering added a free throw to give Northern Iowa the 7-0 lead early in the first quarter. An Iowa State layup ended the Panther run, but Rachael Heittola answered with her first points of the matchup on a three-pointer.
The Cyclones would cut into the Panther lead with a seven-point run. The run was ended by another three-pointer this time from Taryn Wharton to take a 12-9 lead heading into a media timeout. Neither team could find a bucket out of the media timeout until McDermott sunk a layup to give UNI a five-point lead.
A pair of free throws from Iowa State were followed by a layup from Heittola before a five-point run from the Cyclones to knot things up heading into the second quarter of action.
Iowa State free throws opened the second quarter and gave the Cyclones their first lead of the matchup. Katy Reyerson sank her first basket of the game to tie the matchup at 18. The layup was followed by a pair of Panther points off of free throws from McDermott to give Northern Iowa the lead once again.
Five Cyclone points pushed Iowa State back out in the lead until Kayba Laube got a three-pointer to fall and tie the game at 23. The Cyclones went on a six-point run into the media timeout and led 29-23 with just over five minus remaining in the first quarter.
Out of the media timeout, Maya McDermott drained another three-pointer to cut the Iowa State lead to three. The Cyclones responded with a trio of points before Heittola drained a three of her own to hold the Iowa State lead at three points. The Cyclones netted five more points to match their largest lead of the matchup with an eight-point lead at 29-37.
Out of a timeout, McDermott drained yet another three-pointer for her 16th point of the first half. That was followed by an Iowa State three and a jumper from Shateah Wetering. The Cyclones ran down the game clock and scored on a buzzer-beater to end the second quarter with a 42-34 lead.
A jump shot from Maya McDermott opened the third quarter before a three-pointer from the Cyclones. A free throw from both teams was followed by a pair of jumpers and a free throw from McDermott to tie her career-high, 23 points with just over six minutes remaining in the third quarter. A pair of jumpers from Iowa State gave the Cyclones their largest lead and first double-digit lead at 52-42.
A free throw from Heittola was followed by back-to-back and-one layups with one from Wetering. A 10-point run from the Cyclones put them ahead by 19 with a score of 65-46. With three seconds left in the third quarter, Maya McDermott was fouled and sank both free throws to end the third quarter with a score of 48-65.
An offensive clinic from both teams opened the fourth quarter with back-and-forth buckets through the first four minutes. In that action, Katy Reyerson netted back-to-back buckets. The action saw the Cyclone come out on top with a lead of 78-56 with 5:24 remaining in the final frame.
A three-pointer from Heittola, a jumper from McDermott, and an and-one layup from Heittola cut the Iowa State lead to 16 at 80-64. The Cyclones won the battle down the stretch with a 7-6 advantage to take the matchup by a final score of 87-70. Maya McDermott led all scorers with 30 points. She added a team-high four rebounds, a team-high four assists, and a steal in her 35 minutes. She was 10-of-18 from the floor and 4-of-6 from range. Rachael Heittola was the only other player to record double-digit points with 16.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- Iowa State won their 40th game against the Panthers in the history of these programs and are now 40-9 overall and 20-1 at home.
- Katy Reyerson recorded her first collegiate points with a layup in the second quarter.
- Maya McDermott set a new career record with a free throw at the end of the third quarter. She finished with 30 points and was the first Panther to score 30 in a game since Karli Rucker scored 32 points in the 2020-21 season against Valparaiso on January 8.
UP NEXT
The Panthers close the year but open conference play at Missouri State on December 30. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT and can be streamed on ESPN or listened to on the Panther Sports Radio Network.
