University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Indiana State
UNI women's basketball: Panthers head to Indiana for their final road contest of the regular season
3/4/2026 2:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball
UNI women’s basketball looks to end the regular season on a high note with its final road game coming at Indiana State.
UNI (15-13 / 11-7 MVC) at Indiana State (9-20 / 5-14 MVC)
- 6 p.m. CT | March 5, 2026
- Hulman Center | Terre Haute, Indiana
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- The Panthers take their final road trip of the regular season on Thursday, March 5 as they head to Terre Haute, Indiana, to take on the Indiana State Sycamores. This is the second meeting of the season between these two teams, as UNI took home a 91-79 victory inside the McLeod Center on February 12. In that contest, Ryley Goebel dominated both sides of the floor with 32 points, 16 rebounds, five blocks, and three steals. Jenna Twedt finished with 24 points while Kaylynn Janes put up 17 to round out UNI's doublefigure scorers. Elise Jaeger brought in 13 rebounds while Jenna Twedt dished out six assists.
UNI is coming off a 14-point victory over UIC inside the McLeod Center on Jacqui Kalin's jersey retirement day. UNI scored first and never lost the lead as Taryn Wharton scored a career-high 22 points to lift UNI over UIC, 82-68, in a matchup with postseason implications. UNI secured its 20th consecutive season at or above .500 inside the McLeod Center with the victory. The Panthers are now 192-84 all-time inside the McLeod Center.
In that matchup, Taryn Wharton led the Panther offense with 22 points. Three other Panthers finished in double-figures, including Ryley Goebel (15), Elise Jaeger (15), and Jenna Twedt (11). Wharton was 8-for-14 from the floor and 5-for-5 from the free throw line and added three assists and three steals. Elise Jaeger finished with 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Goebel blocked three shots.
The Cats are now 13-1 on the season when three or more athletes score in double-figures (Wharton 22, Goebel 15, Jaeger 15, and Twedt 11). With two three-pointers against the Flames, Jenna Twedt broke into UNI's single-season top 10 in three-pointers made. She passed Molly Kelly (1989-90) for no. 10 on the list and is now tied for ninth with 74 three-pointers this season. She is tied for ninth on the list with current assistant coach Katelin (Oney) Vandevender, who had 74 three-pointers in the 2011-12 season. Elise Jaeger finished with her sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Jaeger moved up to second on UNI's single-season defensive rebounding list, as she passed Megan Maahs who had 229 in the 2017-18 season. Jaeger has recorded 250 defensive rebounds this season and is just 10 defensive boards shy of UNI's single-season record held by Alex Cook with 260 in 2022-03. Elise Jaeger tied career highs with six field goals, three three-pointers, and seven assists. Taryn Wharton scored a career-high 22 points and tied career highs with eight field goals, five free throws, and three steals. Maren Schmotzer brought in a career-high seven rebounds and tied career highs with five points, one field goal, and three free throws.
Ryley Goebel was named the MVC Player of the Week for the fourth time this season on Monday, February 16. In UNI's lone matchup of the week, a 12-point win over Indiana State, Ryley Goebel led the Panthers with 32 points and 16 rebounds, her ninth double-double of the season. Goebel also finished with five blocks and three steals against the Sycamores. She became the only player in UNI and Missouri Valley Conference history with 200+ career blocks AND steals. This is the 12th time a Panther has had nine or more double-doubles in a single season. She is the seventh individual athlete with nine or more double-doubles in a single season at UNI. Goebel set career highs with 16 rebounds and eight free throws and tied a career high with 32 points against Indiana State. With five blocks against Indiana State, Ryley Goebel moved past Sharon Zeilmann (Missouri State, 1983-87) for No. 4 on the MVC all-time blocks list.
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.
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 March 2, UNI leads the Missouri Valley Conference with 4.2 blocks per game, a 38.3 defensive field goal percentage, and a 63.6 scoring defense. The Cats are second in the Valley with 28.5 defensive rebounds per game and a 34.1% three-point percentage. The Panthers' 28.5 defensive rebounds per game are the 24th-most in the nation. Individually, Ryley Goebel is third in the nation with a Valley-leading 2.68 blocks per game, sixth in the nation with 75 total blocks, and 18th in the nation with a 58.9% field goal percentage. Goebel is third in the MVC with 10 double-doubles and has one of 28 triple-double performances (23 players) in the NCAA Division I this season, as well as one of three in the Valley. Goebel is third in the league with 1.89 steals per game, and fifth with 225 total rebounds and 8.0 rebounds per game. Elise Jaeger is fourth in the nation with a Valleyleading 9.3 defensive rebounds per game. The sophomore is second in the Valley with 10.2 rebounds per game and 275 total rebounds. Jenna Twedt is second in the conference with 2.64 threes per game, 74 total threes, and a 37.8% three-point percentage.
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 237 career blocks. She is currently third on UNI's career blocks per game list with 1.9 blocks per outing. Against Drake, Goebel passed Loretha Mosley (1987-91) for No. 4 on UNI's all-time steals list with three steals in the contest. She now sits with 206 career steals and is now 12 steals shy of tying Betty Davis (1979-83) for third on the list.
UNI continued an active program-record 574-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 eight triples against UIC to continue the streak.
UNI owns active streaks of 18 consecutive seasons at .500 or better in Missouri Valley Conference play, after its 2026 victory over Valparaiso, and 17 years in a row with at least a top-half finish in the league standings, after UNI's 2026 victory over UIC. 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.
