University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Valparaiso
Panthers to open final home weekend of the regular season
2/28/2024 1:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
UNI women’s basketball hosts Valparaiso in the first game of the final home weekend of the regular season.
UNI (11-14 / 10-6 MVC) vs. Valparaiso (5-20 / 4-12 MVC)
- 6 p.m. CT | Feb. 29
- McLeod Center | Cedar Falls, Iowa
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
CEDAR FALLS --- UNI women's basketball hosts the Beacons of Valparaiso in the first matchup of the final home weekend series of the 2023-24 regular season. This will be UNI's fourth all-time matchup on Leap Day with a record of 2-1 and Tanya Warren's first Leap Day game as a head coach.
These two squads have met on 18 other occasions with the Panthers holding a 13-5 record in the series. The last time these teams met was at Valpo on January 14. In that matchup, UNI took home a 76-52 victory inside the Athletic-Recreation Center in Valparaiso, Indiana. That contest featured a trio of double-figure performances from the Panthers with Grace Boffeli recording a game-high 16 points, Emerson Green tallying 15 points, and Maya McDermott finishing with 11 points. This victory was the Panthers' first road victory of the 2023-24 season.
UNI is coming off a 79-77 shootout loss at Drake on Sunday. That game saw Maya McDermott lead the Panther offense with 24 points. Four other Panthers recorded double-figure points as Kayba Laube, Grace Boffeli, Rachael Heittoila, and Ryley Goebel scored 15, 12, 11, and 10 respectively. McDermott's 24 points were her seventh 20+-point performance of the season.
Forward Grace Boffeli recorded seven rebounds in the game against the Bulldogs. Her 807 career rebounds leave her in third on UNI's all-time rebounding list. She is now 75 shy of the no. 2 spot which is occupied by Megan Maahs (2016-21) with 882 career rebounds.
Maya McDermott leads both the conference and the nation in free throw percentage. Her 95.5% (63-for-66) from the stripe has seen all 33 free throws go down inside the McLeod Center. She also leads the conference with 3.00 assists per turnover. That mark is the sixth-best in the nation.
As a team, UNI leads the conference with a league-low 12.2 turnovers per game. That mark is the 12th-best in the nation.
The Panthers recorded their 505th straight matchup with a three-pointer. In the game against the Bulldogs, UNI knocked down eight threes to continue a streak that has been active since December 2008.
As a program, the Panther women's basketball team is three conference wins away from 500.
With a win over the Salukis on Feb. 22, UNI women's basketball secured its 16th straight season at or above .500 in conference play.
Valpo is coming off back-to-back home losses to Belmont and UIC. In their latest matchup, a contest against UIC, the Beacons fell by a final score of 59-82. That game featured a 16-point performance from senior guard/forward Leah Earnest. She was the lone Beacon starter to eclipse the 10-point threshold. Off the bench, fifth-year guard Jill Harris scored 13 points.
This season, two Beacon athletes are averaging double figures with 16.1 points per game coming from Earnest and 10 coming from fifth-year guard Olivia Brown. Earnest is also the team's leading rebounder, bringing in 7.2 boards per game. As a team, Valpo is second in the MVC with 9.7 steals per game.
