University of Northern Iowa
Saint Louis
Panthers open WNIT at Saint Louis
3/23/2024 8:23:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Women’s hoops is set to take on the Billikens in Round Two of the 2024 WNIT.
UNI (16-15 / 14-6 MVC) at Saint Louis (18-18 / 9-9 A-10)
- 5 p.m. CT | March 24
- Chaifetz Arena | St. Louis, Mo.
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
CEDAR FALLS ---  UNI accepted an invitation to the 2024 Women's National Invitation Tournament. This will be the ninth consecutive year, outside of the COVID 2020 season, the Panthers have participated in postseason play. Women's basketball opens the 2024 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) in the second round with a matchup against Saint Louis. These two teams have met on nine previous occasions with UNI holding a decisive 8-1 lead in the series. The last time these two teams met was last season in the Panthers' second game of the year. That matchup saw an 84-64 victory in favor of UNI with a game-high 23-point performance from Maya McDermott. Grace Boffeli and Kam Finley were the other two Panthers in double-figures with 12 and 11 points respectively.
UNI is coming off a 92-83 overtime loss in the Hoops in the Heartland Semifinals to top-seeded Drake. That matchup saw Maya McDermott lead the Panther offense with 33 points. She added five assists. Grace Boffeli and Kayba Laube were the other two Panthers in double-figures with 16 and 14 points respectively. Boffeli added 13 rebounds to her total.
Forward Grace Boffeli recorded 13 rebounds in the game against the Bulldogs. Her 874 career rebounds leave her in third on UNI's all-time rebounding list. She is now eight shy of the no. 2 spot which is occupied by Megan Maahs (2016-21) with 882 career rebounds. Boffeli recorded her 12th double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds in the MVC Semifinals against Drake. She is now five double-doubles away from tying Alex Cook (2001-05) for UNI's top spot with 41 career double-doubles.
Maya McDermott leads both the conference and the nation in free throw percentage. Her 96.3% (78-for-81) from the stripe saw all 39 free throws go down inside the McLeod Center during the regular season. She also leads the conference with 2.79 assists per turnover. That is the 11th-best mark in the nation.
Guard Kayba Laube leads the conference with a 44.7% three-point percentage. Her 80 three-pointers this season lead the MVC along with a league-high 2.58 threes per game.
As a team, UNI leads the conference with a league-low 12.6 turnovers per game. That mark is the 21st-best in the nation. The Panthers recorded their 511th straight matchup with a three-pointer. In the game against the Bulldogs, UNI knocked down 10 threes to continue a streak that has been active since December 2008.
With a win over Evansville, UNI recorded its 500th conference victory in program history. With a victory over the Sycamores, head coach Tanya Warren moved into the no. 2 spot in the MVC in all-time coaching wins passing Cheryl Burnett (Missouri State 1988-02) with 319. Next on the list is the no. 1 spot occupied by Cindy Scott (Southern Illinois 1983-98) with 353 overall victories. With a win over the Salukis, UNI women's basketball secured its 16th straight season at or above .500 in conference play. They also finish the regular season 9-4 at home, the 11th straight year the Panthers have been over .500 inside the McLeod Center. UNI women's basketball has never posted a losing record inside the McLeod Center.
UNI cracked the NET top 100 for the first time this season after the victory at Indiana State. As of March 18, the Panthers are ranked no. 96 in the NET, the third-highest in the Valley behind Drake (65) and Belmont (78).
The Saint Louis Billikens are coming off a 66-61 victory over Central Arkansas on Thursday in the first round of the 2024 WNIT. That game saw a game-high 28 points come from senior forward Peyton Kennedy. The other lone Billiken in double-figures was grad guard Kyla McMakin with 14 points. Grad guard Julia Martinez was two points shy of a double-double with eight points and 11 assists.
This season, McMakin leads the Billiken offense with 17.1 points per game. She is followed closely by Kennedy with 16.3 points per game and by sophomore guard Brooklyn Gray, the third Billiken averaging double figures, with 11.2 points per game. Â
Martinez leads the Billikens with a total of 193 assists this season. She has recorded double-digit assists in five matchups this season with one of those performances resulting in a double-double and two in a triple-double. Her 193 assists lead the Atlantic-10 conference and is the 11th-best mark in the nation. Her 6.2 assists per game also lead the A-10 and is the ninth-best mark in the nation. She also led the A-10 in steals (86) and steals per game (2.77) this season. Martinez recorded back-to-back triple-doubles with a 10-point, 11-rebounds, and 10-assist game against La Salle and a 15-point, 10-rebound, and 11-assist game against Knox. Her two triple-doubles led the A-10 and were third in the nation for overall triple-doubles.
Kyla McMakin led the A-10 this season with 599 total points, just three points shy of a Saint Louis season record. Her 17.1 points per game was the second-best mark in the conference behind 17.9 points per game from Fordham guard Taylor Donaldson.
