Panthers open two-game road stand at Illinois State

UNI (8-6 / 2-0 MVC) at Illinois State (4-7 / 1-1 MVC)

6:30 p.m. CT | January 10, 2024
CEFCU Arena | Normal, Illinois
ESPN+
Panther Sports Radio Network

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI women's basketball hits the road for the first time in 2025 for a road trip to Illinois where the Panthers will take on the Redbirds of Illinois State to open a two-game road swing. This will be the 92nd overall meeting between these two programs with a record of 48-43 in favor of the Redbirds. The Panthers have won both of the last two matchups including a 79-75 final in the Hoops in the Heartland Quarterfinals last season. In that matchup, Maya McDermott, Kayba Laube, and Cailyn Morgan recorded double-figure performances with 20, 17, and 14 points respectively.

UNI is coming off a 75-64, come-from-behind victory against UIC. In that matchup, Maya McDermott and Shateah Wetering led the UNI scoring effort with 15 points a piece. McDermott added five assists and three rebounds to her total. Wetering finished the game 3-for-6 from deep. Taryn Wharton was the other Panther in double figures with 12 points. The 20-point comeback is the largest in Tanya Warren's career, beating out the Panthers' 18-point comeback at Murray State last season.

In the second quarter, Maya McDermott knocked down a three-pointer to become just the sixth Panther in UNI women's basketball history to eclipse 1,600 points. She finished with 15 points, adding to her double-digit streak. McDermott has scored 10+ points in all 14 contests this season.

UNI continued an active program-record 546-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 UIC to continue the streak. Kaylee Corbin knocked down her first three-pointer in a Panther uniform against the Flames. The third quarter was the second time the Panthers have scored 30+ points in a single quarter this season.

UNI checks in at no. 68 in the NET Rankings. The Panthers rank third in the Valley behind Belmont (58) and Murray State (67). Drake is number four at 82. Illinois State checks in at 146. This will be UNI's sixth Quad 4 matchup including victories over Pitt, South Dakota, Indiana State, Valparaiso, and UIC this season.

Kayba Laube continues to eye the 1,000-point club as she sits with 914 points, just 86 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. She is also just three three-point attempts away from breaking into UNI's top-five and passing Emily Berry (2001-05) with 563. Laube currently holds UNI's second spot in three-point percentage with a career mark of 42.4% and is on pace to break the Panthers' single-season record of 52.8% set by Kris Huffman in the 1988-89 season. Laube is just 11 threes away (239) from being the third Panther on UNI's 250+ three-pointer list.

Illinois State is coming off a 79-55 victory against Evansville in a game that saw a number of notable highlights. Senior Caroline Waite surpassed 1,000 career points for her collegiate career and led Illinois State with 14 points in the win, finishing 4-for-9 from deep. She connected from deep at the 2:02 mark of the third quarter to move above the 1,000-career point mark. She finished in double-figures for just the second time this season and hit 4+ three-pointers for the second time on the year. Nevaeh Thomas tallied her fifth double-double of the year and second consecutive double-double, tallying 11 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Thomas has finished with a double-double in four of the last six games and averaged 18.0 points and 10.0 rebounds across the pair of wins this week. Doneelah Washington narrowly missed out on her second-straight double-double as she totaled 10 points and 9 rebounds for the Redbirds. She added four blocks to the performance, her third-straight outing with multiple blocks to open MVC play. Shannon Dowell reached double-figures for the fourth consecutive game, while Elyce Knudsen did so for the fifth consecutive game. Dowell led Illinois State with 11 points in the first half, totaling 13 points overall to go with 5 rebounds. Knudsen knocked down a pair of threes and tallied 12 points in the win. The Redbirds led 19-5 early in the first quarter and never looked back in the game. Dowell hit a pair of first quarter threes to help Illinois State build the cushion, forcing an Evansville timeout. The lead grew to as many as 36 for Illinois State in the second half, as nine different Redbirds registered a point.

For the third time this season Doneelah Washington earned MVC Freshman of the Week Monday. Washington averaged 12.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game in play last week on 9-for-18 (50%) shooting from the field. With 15 points and 10 rebounds, she recorded her first-career double-double Thursday against Indiana State, the first and only double-double by a freshman in Valley play this season. She nearly posted another double-double against the Purple Aces Saturday, tallying 10 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks in the win. Washington totaled 6 blocks across the two games, improving to a league-best 10 blocks since the start of Valley play. Washington is off to an impressive start to MVC play this season, leading all MVC freshmen in several stat categories. She's the top Valley rookie with 31 points (tied), 23 rebounds, 11 offensive rebounds, 54.5% field goal percentage (tied) and 1 double-double since the start of MVC play. Washington also leads all MVC players with 10 blocks since the start of the conference campaign.

Nevaeh Thomas has double-doubles in four of her last five outings, including a pair last week for Illinois State. It marked the second time this season she recorded consecutive double-doubles. Thomas leads Illinois State with five double-doubles on the year and is one of two players in the MVC with five-plus double-doubles this season (Gift Uchenna, Southern Illinois). She needs one double-double to tie her mark of six last season in her freshman campaign at Evansville.

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.

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