University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
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UNI women's basketball: Panthers take on in-state rival Iowa
11/15/2025 10:02:00 AM | Women's Basketball
UNI women’s basketball hosts No. 21 Iowa inside the McLeod Center.
UNI (0-2 / 0-0 MVC) vs. Iowa (3-0 / 0-0 B1G)
- 2 p.m. CT | November 16, 2025
- McLeod Center | Cedar Falls, Iowa
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI is back in the McLeod Center to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes on November 16. This will be the 31st meeting between these two programs with Iowa holding a 27-3 in the all-time series. The last time these teams met was last season in Iowa City. the Panthers rallied from down 18 to get within striking distance. The clock ran out on the UNI comeback attempt as the Panthers fell 92-86 at No. 22-ranked Iowa. In that contest, current Panthers Ryley Goebel, Taryn Wharton, Elise Jaeger, and Bri Robinson all saw minutes. Goebel finished with 11 points, five rebounds, and three blocks in her 28 minutes on the court. Jaeger recorded five points and four rebounds in 23 minutes while Robinson recorded three points in five minutes on three free throws and Wharton saw eight minutes of action.
UNI is coming off its first road loss of the season in a 62-58 defeat at Saint Louis. The Panthers led by as many as 11 in the first quarter, but the Billikens battled back and came out with the four-point victory, outscoring the Panthers 17-9 in the final frame. That contest saw Taryn Wharton lead the way with 15 points. She added three boards and one steal to her totals. Virginia Edmondson was the other lone Panther in double figures with 13 points. Edmondson knocked down five field goals and added eight boards and two assists. Elise Jaeger finished with a game-high 11 rebounds. She added six points. Elise Jaeger finished with a career-high four steals. Virginia Edmondson's 13 points and eight rebounds were career highs.
UNI opened the season with a 63-49 loss to North Dakota State inside the McLeod Center on November 3. The loss is UNI's first season-opening loss since the 2020-21 season, when the Panthers fell to Iowa in Iowa City by a score of 96-81.
The Panthers are coming off a 2024-25 season that saw numerous season-highs, including single-season points and field goals records as a team. UNI scored 2,519 total points on 934 field goals last season to set program records in those categories.
Starting in all 34 matchups, Ryley Goebel proved to be one of the top defenders in the Missouri Valley Conference after becoming the first player in UNI and MVC history to record 70+ blocks and 70+ steals in a single season. The senior forward became one of 19 to do so in the NCAA at the time. Her MVC All-Defensive team season saw 10.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, and 2.1 steals per game as she recorded the fourth-best field goal shooting season in program history with a 58.9% (162-for-275) field goal percentage and the third-most single-season blocks in program history (78).
Four Panthers were named to the MVC Preseason Watchlist in October, including Goebel, Taryn Wharton, Elise Jaeger, and Bri Robinson. Jaeger became the 12th Panther to be named to the MVC All-Freshman Team after averaging 5.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season, including four double-double performances.
UNI finished the home portion of the 2024-25 regular season with a 9-6 record inside the McLeod Center. It is the 12th consecutive season the Panthers have been over .500 inside the McLeod Center.
As of November 10, UNI leads the Missouri Valley Conference through two games with 5.5 blocks per game. The Cats are third in the Valley with 21.5 free throw attempts per game, 13 offensive rebounds per game, 42.5 total rebounds per game, and a 62.5 scoring defense.
Individually, Ryley Goebel and Elise Jaeger are second in the conference with their four total blocks and 2.0 blocks per game. Jaeger is second in the MVC with 8.5 defensive rebounds per game, third with 19 total rebounds, and fourth with 9.5 total rebounds per game.
Ryley Goebel became the first player in UNI and Missouri Valley Conference history to record 70+ blocks and 70+ steals in a single season. The forward is just one of 19 to do it in NCAA history and was named to the All-MVC Defensive Team for her efforts. Goebel moved up to No. 2 on UNI's all-time blocks list during the 2024-25 season with 162 career blocks. She is currently third on UNI's career blocks per game list with 1.8 blocks per outing and is one steal from breaking into the Panther top-10 in career steals.
Following a recent audit of historical Missouri Valley Conference coaching records, former Southern Illinois head coach Cindy Scott's win total while a head coach in the league was discovered to be 311 (not 353 as previously recorded). As a result, Missouri State's Cheryl Burnett, previously listed second with 319 wins, had been the league record-holder for total victories while a head coach in the MVC. With her 320th victory on March 7, 2024, at Indiana State, Tanya Warren officially became the Missouri Valley Conference's all-time winningest women's basketball coach. Warren, the longest-tenured active head coach in Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball, sits alone at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference leaderboard in Valley wins with her record-breaking, 202nd conference victory coming at Murray State. The 18-season veteran on the UNI bench has been the Panthers' wins leader since a 65-64 victory on March 4, 2017, against Missouri State put her past Tony DiCecco, and she claimed her 300th win in 2023 in an 83-60 blowout on February 12 at Valparaiso.
UNI continued an active program-record 548-game three-pointer streak that started December 6, 2008, versus Green Bay (6-of-19) following an 0-of-14 outing from behind the three-point arc December 3, 2008, against Northern Illinois. The Panthers knocked down six triples against Saint Louis to continue the streak.
This season, the Panthers return six total players including four that made starts in the 2024-25 season. Ryley Goebel leads the returners in playing time with Taryn Wharton, Elise Jaeger, Bri Robinson, and Kaylynn Janes seeing 2024-25 minutes. Mya Nicholson returns as a redshirt-freshman after not seeing any action last year. The six athletes combine for 306 career games played and 160 games played over the 2024-25 season, but just 63 career starts with 59 of them coming last season.
The Panthers bring in six newcomers including one NAIA transfer, Virginia Edmondson, one junior college transfer, Jenna Twedt, and four freshmen Abby Tuttle, Anna Greene, Maren Schmotzer, and Lauren Walker.
Edmondson comes to UNI from Montreat College where she made 61 starts in three seasons with the Cavaliers. Edmondson averaged 18.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. She had a standout 2024-25 season, posting 20.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest, including three 30-point games and four double-doubles. A native of Goldsboro, North Carolina, she was named the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Defensive Player of the Year and earned spots on both the All-AAC First Team and All-Defensive Team.
Jenna Twedt joins the Panthers from Kirkwood Community College after a standout two-year career. The 5-foot-8 guard started all 72 games for the Eagles, averaging 15.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. Twedt was named the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Tournament MVP as a freshman and earned Conference Player of the Year honors as a sophomore. A two-time First Team All-American, she made 112 three-pointers shooting 40.3% from beyond the arc last season.
UNI owns active streaks of 17 consecutive seasons at .500 or better in Missouri Valley Conference play and 16 years in a row with at least a top-half finish in the league standings. These are the best active streaks among the 22 total MVC men's and women's basketball programs.
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 2025-26 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
