University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Missouri State
Panthers close road trip with a matchup at Missouri State
1/25/2025 2:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball
UNI women’s basketball looks to keep up the momentum with a contest against the Lady Bears.
UNI (10-9 / 5-3 MVC) at Missouri State (14-4 / 6-1 MVC)
- 2 p.m. CT | January 26, 2024
- Great Southern Bank Arena | Springfield, Missouri
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI women's basketball continues its three-game road stand at Missouri State on Sunday, January 26 inside the Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Missouri. This will be the 93rd overall meeting between these two programs with Missouri State holding a 61-31 lead in the all-time series.
UNI is coming off an 84-59 victory over Southern Illinois to kick off a three-game road stand. In that matchup, Maya McDermott led the Panthers with 21 points. She added four assists and three rebounds to her total. Ryley Goebel and Shateah Wetering were the other Panthers in double figures with 15 points each. Goebel finished with seven rebounds. UNI improved to 10-9 on the season and 5-3 in conference play with the 84-59 victory over SIU. The Panthers recorded their 50th all-time victory over the Salukis, improving to 50-35 in the series.
Kayba Laube hit her 250th career three-pointer against the Salukis. She is the program's 3rd to eclipse 250 career threes. Maya McDermott finished with 21 points, her 18th double-figure performance of the season. Her third three-pointer ties her for no. 5 all-time in threes with Nicole Clausen (2006-10) with 206. Ryley Goebel became UNI's fourth-leading blocker in program history passing Carol Hogen (1981-83). Goebel's two blocks against SIU gave her 123 career blocks.
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 nine threes against Southern Illinois to continue the streak.
Kayba Laube continues to eye the 1,000-point club as she sits with 969 points, just 31 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 third spot in three-point percentage with a career mark of 42%.
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.Â
As of January 25, the Panther team leads the Valley in a number of statistical categories including three-point percentage (37.4) and turnovers per game (13.3). UNI also ranks second in the Valley in field goal percentage (45.8) and turnover margin (3.79) and is third in assist/turnover ratio (1.11), scoring offense (76.4), steals per game (9.2), and threes per game (8). The Panthers' 37.4% 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 (2.42), field goal attempts (305), field goals (142), and 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 (92) total points (385), points per game (20.3), and three-point percentage (42.4) while sitting third in assists per game (4.8). McDermott's 20.2 points per game is 19th in the nation. Kayba Laube leads the MVC in three-point percentage (48.3) and is second in three-pointers (58), and threes per game (3.05). Laube's 48.3% from deep is the third-best mark in the country while her 3.05 threes per game is eighth and her 58 total threes are 10th. Ryley Goebel is second in Valley in blocks (39) and third in the MVC in steals (43), and blocks per game (2.05).Â
Missouri State is coming off a 72-68, overtime victory over Drake on Friday night. The victory came after senior guard Paige Rocca netted the game-tying three-pointer after catching an inbounds pass with under a second remaining on the clock. The Lady Bears recorded the first six points in overtime and took control of the frame before senior guard Lacy Stokes iced the matchup with an and-one late in the overtime period to finish off a monumental victory inside the Great Southern Bank Arena.
Six different Lady Bears scored in double figures on the night, led by Stokes with 15 points and a team-high four steals. Bekemeier followed with 14 points and seven rebounds. Daniels scored 12 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, while Rocca added 11 points. The two forwards, Linthacum and Douglas, each poured in 10 points on the night. As a team, the Lady Bears won the battle in some key areas, including bench points (24-4), points in the paint (36-34) and points off turnovers (21-19). For the game, Missouri State shot 38 percent (25-66) from the field, 21 percent (3-14) from three and 66 percent (19-29) from the line. The Lady Bear defense forced 25 Bulldog turnovers and blocked four shots.Â
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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.
