University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
UIC
Panthers open the final weekend of the regular season on the road in Chicago
3/5/2025 2:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball
UNI women’s basketball hits the hardwood for the final weekend of the regular season.
UNI (15-14 / 10-8 MVC) at UIC (12-15 / 9-9 MVC)
- 7 p.m. CT | March 6, 2024
- Credit Union 1 Arena | Chicago, Illinois
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI women's basketball opens the final weekend of the regular season in Chicago as the Panthers take on the UIC Flames inside Credit Union 1 Arena. This will be the 22nd overall meeting between the Panthers and the Flames with UNI holding a 16-5 record in the all-time series dating back to 1983. UNI was victorious in the last meeting in a 75-64 victory inside the McLeod Center.
UNI is coming off an 80-79 loss to Drake inside the McLeod Center on Saturday for senior day. In that matchup, Maya McDermott led UNI scoring with 27 points. She added a pair of rebounds and a pair of assists to her totals. Ryley Goebel and Emerson Green were the other two Panthers in double figures with 15 and 14 respectively. Goebel stuffed the stat sheets with seven rebounds, six steals, and five blocks.
UNI finished the home portion of the 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.
Maya McDermott finished with 27 points. That matchup was her 25th double-figure scoring effort of the season and her 14th 20+-point performance. McDermott moved up to no. 3 on UNI's all-time scoring list and no. 3 on UNI's single-season scoring list with her 27 points against the Bulldogs. McDermott also broke into UNI's top-10 in made free throws passing Karli Rucker's (2017-22) career mark of 302.
Ryley Goebel tied a career-high with five blocks against Drake. The forward became the first player in UNI and MVC history to record both 60+ blocks and 60+ steals in a single season. Goebel moved up to no. 3 all-time on UNI's blocks list and no. 3 on UNI's single-season blocks list.
Against Southern Illinois, Kayba Laube broke the UNI all-time three-point record set by Jacqui Kalin (2007-13). Her fifth three-pointer of the game gave her 266 career threes and eclipsed Kalin's 265-mark.
UNI continued its 541-game three-pointer streak with five triples against Evansville.
Against Murray State, Ryley Goebel became just the second athlete in UNI women's basketball history and third in Missouri Valley Conference history to cross the 50-block, 50-steal threshold in a single season.
Maya McDermott was named to the 2025 Women's College Basketball All-Star Game Midseason Watch List. The list includes 68 players for a game that will occur on April 5 in Tampa, Florida. Earlier this season, 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 on both lists.
Maya McDermott is two points shy of moving up to no. 2 on UNI's all-time scoring list. The senior guard is also just four free throws from moving up to no. 9 on UNI's all-time free throw list. Ryley Goebel is eight blocks away from moving into UNI's no. 2 all-time spot.
As of February 28, the Panther team leads the Valley in a number of statistical categories including three-point percentage (36.8), turnover margin (4.24), and turnovers per game (12.8). UNI's 36.8% from deep is the 15th-best mark in the nation. The Panthers are second in the Valley in blocks per game (2.9) and steals per game (9.4) and are third in scoring offense (74.9). Individually, multiple Panther athletes are among the tops in the Valley. Maya McDermott leads the MVC in assist/turnover ratio (2.56), field goal attempts (465), and free throw percentage (93.2). Her 93.2% from the stripe is the fourth-best mark in the nation. The senior guard is third in the league in assists (133), assists per game (4.6), field goals (208), points (556), and points per game (19.2). Kayba Laube leads the Valley with a 47% three-point percentage, the second-best mark in the nation, and is second in the MVC in threes (77) and threes per game (2.66). Ryley Goebel leads the Valley with 67 total blocks and 2.31 blocks per game. She is 12th in the nation with 67 total blocks and 15th in the country with 2.31 blocks per game.
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.
