University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Indiana State
Panthers to finish homestand with a matchup against Indiana State
1/5/2024 4:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball
UNI women’s basketball will look to stay perfect in 2024 with a matchup against Indiana State.
UNI (2-9 / 1-1 MVC) vs Indiana State (5-7 / 1-1 MVC)
- 2 p.m. CT | Jan. 6
- Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
CEDAR FALLS --- The UNI women's basketball team will face off with their second conference opponent of 2024 when the Indiana State Sycamores come to town on January 6. The Panthers and the Sycamores have met on 82 occasions heading into the matchup with a record of 42-40 in favor of Indiana State. Northern Iowa has claimed victories in the last five matchups and 16 of the last 17 meetings. In Cedar Falls, the Panthers hold a 23-16 advantage over the Sycamores, with their last home loss coming in 2014.
When these teams met last, UNI came away with a 91-51 victory which saw four Panthers finish in double digits. Grace Boffeli led the scoring with 23 points while Rachael Heittola recorded 14, Maya McDermott tallied 12, and Emerson Green came away with 11.
UNI is coming off an 82-52 victory over Evansville which saw the Panthers lead the entirety of the matchup. The win snapped a nine-game skid, the longest losing streak in the Tanya Warren era. In the matchup, Kayba Laube led the Panthers with 15 points off the bench and shot 42.9% from beyond the arc.
In the second quarter, UNI allowed the fewest points in a single quarter this season, only giving up five points. The five points is the lowest a team has scored in a quarter against the Panthers since back-to-back games last season where the Panthers only gave up five points in a quarter against Illinois State and Murray State. In her first matchup on the Panther women's basketball squad, Emily Holterhaus scored 11 points in her 11 minutes on the court. Five Panthers scored in double figures against Evansville. This is the first time all season and the first time since a February 23, 2023 matchup at Belmont where five Panthers have scored 10 or more points in a game (Laube 15, Green 12, Holterhaus 11, McDermott 10, Goebel 10). Freshman Katy Reyerson continues to take advantage of her opportunities on the court and brought in a career-high 10 rebounds against Evansville.
Guard Maya McDermott is just 60 points away from being the 27th member of UNI's 1,000-point club. She continues to lead the Missouri Valley Conference in free throw shooting with a 92.9 free throw percentage. McDermott has converted on 26-of-28 attempts from the line with 10 of them coming inside the McLeod Center. After a three three-pointer performance in her last appearance, Kaybe Laube is ranked sixth in the conference with 1.82 three-pointers per game. UNI still leads the conference with a league-low 12.4 turnovers per game.
Indiana State is coming off a 77-47 loss to Drake. In that matchup, no Sycamores recorded double figures with freshman guard Asia Donald leading the team with nine points. This season, senior guard Kiley Bess leads Indiana State with 11.6 points per game.
The Sycamores are on the back end of a five-game road stand which saw their last home game come on December 10 in a 65-57 victory over Southeast Missouri State. In the Valley, Indiana State is one of the top shot-blocking teams in the conference. They average 3.3 blocks per game with an average of seven blocks coming in their last two contests. They blocked a season-high eight shots in their last matchup at Drake. They also lead the MVC with 14.5 offensive rebounds per game as a part of their conference second-best mark of 40.83 total rebounds per game.
A key aspect of the Sycamore offense is free throws. Indiana State is among the top 30 teams in the nation at getting to the line with a 28th-ranked 21.92 free throws per game and a 23rd-ranked 15.75 made free throws per game.
