University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois
Panther women’s basketball opens weekend at Southern Illinois
1/23/2025 6:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball
UNI looks to bounce back with a weekend road trip to SIU and Missouri State.
UNI (9-9 / 4-3 MVC) at Southern Illinois (3-12 / 1-5 MVC)
- 6 p.m. CT | January 24, 2024
- Banterra Center | Carbondale, Illinois
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI women's basketball heads to Illinois to take on the Southern Illinois Salukis inside the Banterra Center on Friday, January 24. This will be the 85th overall meeting between Panthers and the Salukis with UNI holding a 49-35 lead in the all-time series.
UNI is coming off a 74-60 loss to Belmont inside the McLeod Center. In that matchup, The Panthers were led by Maya McDermott with 16 points. She added five assists and four rebounds to her total. Ryley Goebel was the other lone Panther in double figures with 14 points. Goebel shot 60% (6-for-10) from the floor and added five rebounds. Kaylee Corbin recorded a career-high six rebounds against the Bruins and McDermott finished with 16 points. It was her 17th double-figure game of the season.
UNI continued an active program-record 550-game three-pointer streak that started December 6, 2008, versus Green Bay (6-of-19) following a 0-of-14 outing from behind the three-point arc December 3, 2008, against Northern Illinois. The Panthers knocked down three threes against Belmont to continue the streak.
UNI checks in at no. 81 in the NET Rankings. The Panthers rank third in the Valley behind Murray State (55) and Belmont (56). Drake is number four at 85. This will be UNI's eighth Quad 4 matchup of the season which include victories over Pitt, UIC, Bradley, South Dakota, Valparaiso, and Indiana State.
Kayba Laube continues to eye the 1,000-point club as she sits with 962 points, just 38 short of being UNI's 31st member and fourth member in the last two seasons after Grace Boffeli, Maya McDermott, and Emerson Green joined last season. Laube currently holds UNI's second spot in three-point percentage with a career mark of 42.2% and is just one three away (249) from being the third Panther on UNI's 250+ three-pointer list.
Last week, Maya McDermott was named to the 2025 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award midseason watch list, as announced by Her Hoop Stats. The team included 15 players over 10 conferences. Katie Dinnebier was the other MVC athlete to be named.
As of January 21, the Panther team leads the Valley in a number of statistical categories including three-point percentage (37.5), turnover margin (3.83), and turnovers per game (13.4). UNI also ranks second in the Valley in field goal percentage (45.7) and is third in assist/turnover ratio (1.07), steals per game (9.3), and threes per game (7.9). The Panthers' 37.5% from beyond the arc is the 10th-best mark in the nation. Individually, multiple Panther athletes are among the tops in the Valley. Maya McDermott leads the MVC in assist/turnover ratio (2.44), field goal attempts (291), field goals (133), free throw percentage (93.9). McDermott's 93.9% from the free throw line is ranked eighth in the country. McDermott is second in the conference in assists (88) total points (364), points per game (20.2), and three-point percentage (41.9) while sitting third in assists per game (4.9). McDermott's 20.2 points per game is 18th in the nation. Kayba Laube leads the MVC from beyond the arc including three-point percentage (49.6), three-pointers (57), and threes per game (3.17). Laube's 49.6% from deep is the third-best mark in the country while her 3.17 threes per game is fifth and her 57 total threes are eighth. Ryley Goebel is second in Valley in blocks (37) and third in the MVC in steals (43), steals per game (2.39), and blocks per game (2.06).
Southern Illinois is coming off an 85-70 loss to Evansville in Indiana on Sunday. The Salukis had three players in double figures against the Purple Aces including a 26-point, 19 rebound double-double from Gift Uchenna, a 19-point performance from Isabella Palmqvist, and a 14-point performance from Kayla Cooper.
The Salukis have the MVC's best offensive rebounding team, averaging 13.7 offensive rebounds per game behind the nations top offensive rebounder Gift Uchenna who is averaging 5.7 offensive boards per contest and 13.4 total rebounds per game, the second-best mark in the nation. Uchenna has a Valley-high 10 double-doubles this season.
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.
