University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Murray State
Panthers return home and open weekend slate against Murray State
1/18/2024 12:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball
UNI women’s basketball looks to keep its streak alive with a home matchup against Murray State.
UNI (4-9 / 3-1 MVC) vs. Murray State (12-2 / 5-0 MVC)
- 6 p.m. CT | Jan. 19
- Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
CEDAR FALLS --- UNI women's basketball returns to the McLeod Center Friday to take on the Murray State Racers. The Panthers and the Racers have only met on four other occasions with all four matchups falling the way of UNI. In their last matchup, Northern Iowa took home a 76-46 victory in Murray, Kentucky. In that matchup, Grace Boffeli and Maya McDermott were the two Panthers in double figures with 18 and 13 points respectively.
UNI is coming off their third straight victory to kick off 2024 with a 76-52 victory at Valparaiso. In that matchup, Grace Boffeli led the UNI offense in her first game back since game six at South Dakota. She recorded 16 points and seven boards in her 18 minutes on the floor. Guards Emerson Green and Maya McDermott were the other two Panthers in double-figures with Green posting 15 points and McDermott tallying 11. The victory was this season's first road victory for UNI who has now won three straight after snapping a nine-game losing streak.
Forward Grace Boffeli is just eight rebounds away from breaking into the Panthers' rebounding top 10. Her 692 total rebounds leave her eight shy of Julie Street (1989- 94) and her 700 career rebounds. Street finished with 277 offensive rebounds and 423 defensive rebounds in her career. Both guard Maya McDermott and forward Grace Boffeli are on track to join the Panthers' 1,000-point club. McDermott is just 29 points away from being the 27th member of UNI's 1,000-point club and the 10th member in the Tanya Warren era. Boffeli sits 43 points away from topping the 1,000-point threshold.
McDermott leads the conference in both free throw percentage (94.3%) and assists-to-turnover ratio (2.92). Her free throw percentage is second in the nation behind Mara Braun from Minnesota with 94.6% and her assists-to-turnover ratio is 10th nationally. McDermott has made all 15 free throws she has attempted inside the McLeod Center and all 12 that she has attempted in conference play.
As a team, UNI leads the conference with a league-low 12.9 turnovers per game. The Panthers continued their streak of matchups with a three-pointer against Valparaiso with three three-pointers against the Beacons. They are now sitting with an active, 493-game streak which began in December of 2008.
As a program, the Panther women's basketball team is just two wins away from crossing the 700-win mark. They are also 11 conference wins away from 500. Tanya Warren needs four MVC victories to break the 200-conference-win threshold and five Valley wins to claim the MVC's top spot for conference coaching wins.
The Racers are currently riding an 11-game winning streak after a 90-72 victory over Evansville in their last matchup. This season, Murray State has only lost to Power Five teams with their two losses coming in a three-point loss to Arkansas and a 112-79 loss to Indiana. The Racers sit atop the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) with a perfect 5-0 record and a +144 scoring margin in Valley play.
Murray State currently leads not only the conference but the nation in both scoring offense with 92.3 points per game and bench points per game with 41.6 points per game. The Racers lead the MVC in multiple categories including assist/turnover ratio (1.23), free throws made per game (17.29), free throws attempted per game (22.5), offensive rebounds per game (14.1), rebounds per game (42.57), scoring margin (18.7), three-pointers per game (9.6), three-point attempts per game (27.4), and turnover margin (5.64).
This powerhouse offense is led by senior forward Katelyn Young who is averaging 18.6 points per game which is ranked second in the conference. She has had two total games this season below the 10-point threshold with seven-point performances in game one at Arkansas and game 12 against Illinois State. Young sits just behind McDermott in terms of free throw percentage, shooting 90.2% from the line which is the second-best mark in the MVC. Young also leads the Racers' rebounding effort with 7.9 boards per game. Two of Murray State's top-four scorers have come off the bench in each of their 14 appearances this season and three of their top six. Coming off the bench in all 14 of her appearances, junior guard/forward Ava Learn is second in scoring per game this season for Murray State with 12.4 points.
