University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Creighton
Panthers return home to take on Creighton
12/6/2024 12:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball
UNI women’s basketball is back in the McLeod Center with a matchup against the Creighton Bluejays.
UNI (4-3 / 0-0 MVC) vs. Creighton (6-2 / 0-0 Big East)
- 2 p.m. CT | December 7, 2024
- McLeod Center | Cedar Falls, Iowa
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network
CEDAR FALLS --- UNI women's basketball returns to the McLeod Center on Saturday, December 7 for a matchup against coach Warren's alma mater the Creighton Bluejays. This will be the 63rd meeting between these two programs with Creighton holding a 42-20 lead in the all-time series. The last time these teams met, the RV Bluejays took home a 115-62 victory in Omaha, Nebraska. That game saw Taryn Wharton lead UNI scoring with 16 points while Emerson Green was the other lone Panther in double figures with 10.
UNI is coming off a 1-2 weekend at the Paradise Jam Tournament where they faced Auburn, Kansas, and Pittsburgh. The Panthers dropped contests against Auburn and Kansas by a combined four points (one to Auburn and three to Kansas) and picked up a victory in the Panthers' final game of the weekend in a 16-point win over Pittsburgh.
Against Pitt, Kayba Laube set a new UNI and Paradise Jam single-game record with 10 three-pointers against the Panthers. She finished with a career-high 34 points, making a career-high 10 field goals, all from beyond the arc. Laube also became just the fifth Panther to cross the 10-three threshold in the Missouri Valley Conference. She was named the MVC Player of the Week after her performance at the Paradise Jam.
UNI continued an active program-record 539-game three-pointer streak that started December 6, 2008, versus Green Bay (6-of-19) following an 0-of-14 outing from behind the three-point arc December 3, 2008, against Northern Illinois. The Panthers knocked down 16 threes against Pittsburgh to continue the streak.
As of December 2, the Panther team currently leads the Valley in a number of statistical categories including blocks per game (4.7), three-point percentage (42.9), turnover margin (3), and turnovers per game (14.9). UNI's 42.9% from beyond the arc is the third-best mark in the nation behind 44% from Stanford and 43.4% from Nebraska. Individually, multiple Panther athletes are among the tops in the Valley. Maya McDermott leads the MVC in field goals (62), points (170), and points per game (24.3). She is second in the Valley in assist/ turnover ratio (2.56), assists (41), assists per game (5.9), three-point percentage (50), three-pointers (22), and three-pointers per game (3.14). McDermott's 24.3 points per game is ranked third in the nation and her 170 total points is 11th. Kayba Laube leads the Valley from beyond the arc including three-pointers (31), three-pointers per game (4.43), and three-point percentage (56.4). Laube is top-three in all three stats in the nation including second in threes per game and third in both total threes and three-point percentage. Ryley Goebel leads the Valley in steals (22) and steals per game (3.14). Goebel is second in the conference in blocks (20) and blocks per game (2.86). Her blocks per game mark is eighth in the country while her total blocks rank 10th.
After the road loss to #10 Kansas State on Nov. 14, Creighton turned the page with a five game win streak. Over the last four games the Bluejays have been particularly effective, posting four straight victories of 20 points or more. Creighton's offense has reached 80 points or more all six wins, while falling with outputs of 71 and 68. Lauren Jensen and Morgan Maly have guided the Creighton offense, averaging 37.8 ppg. Defensively the Bluejays have gotten progressively better, limiting the last three opponents to less than 60 points.
Throughout the first eight games of 2024-25, Creighton has used the same starting five (Lauren Jensen, Morgan Maly, Kiani Lockett, Molly Mogensen and Mallory Brake) for each game. Jensen, Maly, Mogensen and Brake make up four of the five returning starters from last year's team, while Lockett has been added to the lineup as a regular this season. Heading into Creighton's ninth matchup of the season at Northern Iowa, Lockett has started in eight consecutive games, while Brake has recorded 40 consecutive starts. Veteran starters Maly and Mogensen have both started 71 consecutive games, each landing a spot in the starting lineup in the first game of the 2023-24 season. Jensen rounds out this year's starting bunch with 104 consecutive starts, beginning in the first game of 2021-22.
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UNI women's basketball action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Women's Basketball), X (@UNIwbb), and on Instagram (@uni_wbb). The 2024-25 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
