University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Illinois State
UNI women's basketball: Panthers head to Illinois State for MVC opener rematch
1/28/2026 12:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Panthers look to bounce back in Illinois against the Redbirds.
UNI (10-9 / 6-3 MVC) at Illinois State (11-9 / 5-4 MVC)
- 6 p.m. CT | January 29, 2026
- CEFCU Arena | Normal, Illinois
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- The Panthers head to Normal, Illinois, to take on the Illinois State Redbirds on Thursday, January 29. This will be the second meeting of these teams this season as the Panthers and the Redbirds met inside the McLeod Center on December 3 for the MVC opener. That contest saw UNI take home a 68-54 victory with Jenna Twedt leading the Panther offense with 16 points on four three-pointers. Bri Robinson, Ryley Goebel, and Taryn Wharton also finished in double digits with 15, 13, and 10 points, respectively. Goebel finished with a game-high 13 boards while Elise Jaeger continued her dominant rebounding season with 10. Goebel stuffed the stat sheet and added seven steals and two blocks.
UNI is coming off its first MVC loss in the McLeod Center this season in a 68-65 contest with Evansville. An 11-point Aces run in the third quarter proved to be the difference maker as the Panthers couldn't get over the hump and dropped the contest in Cedar Falls.
In that matchup, Jenna Twedt led the Cats with 30 points, including six three-pointers. She made eight free throws and brought in three boards. Lauren Walker was the other Panther in double-figures with 13 points. Elise Jaeger finished with 15 rebounds and two steals while Ryley Goebel and Maren Schmotzer each had three blocks. Goebel came up with three steals to boot.
Against Evansville, sophomore Kaylynn Janes made her first collegiate start in place of the injured Bri Robinson. Jenna Twedt's 30 points were a career high to go along with six threes, eight field goals, and eight free throws. Maren Schmotzer recorded a career-high three blocks against Evansville, and Lauren Walker finished with a career-high 13 points to go along with a career-high five field goals and a career-high-tying four rebounds.
Jenna Twedt was named the MVC Newcomer of the Week on Monday, January 26. Twedt led the Valley in scoring last week with 50 total points, including a 20-point performance in UNI's 15-point victory over then-MVC-undefeated Murray State. The junior led the Panthers in scoring in both contests and averaged 25 points per game, highlighted by a career-high 30-point performance against Evansville. The 30 points tied for the most scored by a Valley player in a single game last week. She posted the highest three-point percentage in the Valley last week (52.9%) among players with at least 10 attempts, shooting 9-for-17 across the Panthers' two matchups. Twedt was one of just three athletes in the league to record multiple 20-plus-point performances.
Ryley Goebel was named the MVC Player of the Week on Monday, January 19. Goebel had one of the most dominant games in Panther history on Sunday in UNI's lone matchup of the week. The senior forward finished with 32 points on 14-for-18 from the floor and 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. She added 12 boards, five blocks, and three steals to her totals. Goebel recorded her seventh double-double of the season and the eighth of her career with 32 points and 12 rebounds. The senior guard set career highs with her 32 points, 14 field goals, and two three-pointers, and tied a career high with five blocks. Goebel's five blocks give her 200 in her career, making her just the seventh to do so in Valley history. Her two three-pointers were her first triples since her freshman season.
The anthers 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 January 26, UNI leads the Missouri Valley Conference with 4.1 blocks per game, a 38.2% field goal percentage defense, and 28.8 defensive rebounds per game. The Cats are second in the Valley with a 63.9 scoring defense and a 33.2% three-point percentage. UNI's 28.8 defensive rebounds per game rank 30th in the nation. Individually, Elise Jaeger is third in the nation with a Valley-leading 9.4 defensive rebounds per game. The sophomore is second in the Valley with 10.1 rebounds per game, the 24th-best mark in the nation, and 192 total rebounds. Ryley Goebel leads the conference with the nation's 16th-most blocks per game (2.21), 20th-most total blocks (42), and 23rd-best field goal percentage (57.4%). The senior is second in the league with seven double-doubles, third with 2.00 steals per game, fourth with 153 total rebounds, and sixth with 8.1 rebounds per game. Jenna Twedt is second in the conference with a 37.9% three-point percentage, third in the Valley with 2.47 threes per game and 47 total threes, and fourth in the MVC with 124 total three-point attempts.
Last season, 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 was just one of 19 to do it in NCAA history at the time 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 and now sits with 204 career blocks. She is currently third on UNI's career blocks per game list with 1.8 blocks per outing. Against Evansville, Goebel tied KK Armstrong (2008-12) for fifth all-time on UNI's steals list with 191 career steals after three against the Purple Aces. She is now three steals away from Loretha Mosley (1987-91) in the No. 4 spot. She is currently the only NCAA Division I women's basketball player averaging 2+ blocks AND steals this season. After accomplishing this feat last season, Goebel looks to become the first player in Division I to do so in consecutive seasons since Cheyenne Parker (2010- 15 HPU/MTSU) did it in 2011-12 / 2012-13.
UNI continued an active program-record 564-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 seven triples against Evansville to continue the streak.
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.
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.
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 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.
