University of Northern Iowa
Valparaiso
Panthers to face Valparaiso Beacons in road matchup
1/13/2024 1:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
UNI women’s basketball follows a UIC postponement with a matchup at Valparaiso.
UNI (3-9 / 2-1 MVC) at Valparaiso (1-12 / 0-4 MVC)
- 1 p.m. CT | Jan. 14
- Valparaiso, Ind.. | Athletics-Recreation Center
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
CEDAR FALLS --- UNI women's basketball will play its first game on what was supposed to be a two-game road trip before its matchup with UIC was postponed on Friday due to a facility issue at Credit Union 1 Arena. The matchup with the Beacons of Valparaiso will be the 18th overall meeting between these two programs with the last matchup going the way of the Panthers by a final score of 83-60 last season.Â
UNI is coming off a pair of victories inside the McLeod Center in their last competitions with an 82-52 victory over Evansville and an 85-79 victory over Indiana State. In the Indiana State matchup, four Panthers recorded double-digit points with Maya McDermott leading the way with 20 points, Emerson Green tallying a season-high 18, Kayba Laube adding to an impressive weekend with 16 points, and Shateah Wetering netting 14 points. The two-game homestand marked the second time all season that the Panthers had played back-to-back home games and the first time since the first and second games of the season against Green Bay and Iowa.
UNI leads the Missouri Valley Conference with a league-low 12.3 turnovers per game. That mark is 13th-best nationally. Guard Maya McDermott is 40 points away from being the 27th Panther to cross the 1,00-point threshold and the 10th in the Tanya Warren era. McDermott leads the conference and ranks second in the nation in free throw percentage. Her 93.9% from the line has seen 31 of her 33 attempts fall. She is a perfect 15-for-15 when playing inside the McLeod Center. McDermott also leads the league with three assists per turnover. This is the seventh-best mark in the nation as well.
UNI added to its streak of games with a three-pointer against Indiana State making eight threes. Their streak is now at 492 consecutive games with a three-pointer dating back to December 6, 2008. Head coach Tanya Warren continues to move closer to MVC history with each win. She needs just seven more conference victories to overtake the top spot for MVC coaching wins.
Valparaiso is coming off an 83-54 loss to Drake inside the Athletics-Recreation Center in Indiana. The loss was the Beacons' sixth straight loss with their last win coming in an 83-64 rout of Chicago State at the beginning of December. In the Drake matchup, senior guard Leah Earnest led Valpo with 14 points. The only other Beacon in double figures was senior guard Ava Interrante with 10 points. This season, the Beacon offense has been led by Earnest who has scored a total of 181 points in her 13 starts, averaging 13.9 points per game. She is also leading the Beacon rebounding efforts, averaging 6.3 rebounds per game with a total of 82 rebounds.
The Valparaiso defense has been stellar at taking the ball away this season, averaging 10.6 steals per game and forcing 19.23 turnovers per game. The 10.6 steals per game is the second-best mark in the conference just behind Southern Illinois' 11.3 per game and the 40th-best mark in the nation. The steal effort is led by freshman guard Raeven Raye-Redmond who is averaging 2.5 steals per game in her 12 games off the bench. That mark is third-best in the Missouri Valley Conference. Freshman guard Saniya Jackson sits at eighth in the MVC with 1.92 steals per game.
