CARBONDALE, Ill. – UNI women’s basketball jumped out to a 13-3 lead and held off Southern Illinois for a 60-57 Missouri Valley Conference road win Friday evening.
Kristina Cavey led the Panthers with 15 points. Karli Rucker went 5-6 from the free-throw line and totaled 14.
UNI led 17-9 after the first quarter, but the Salukis rallied for 35-33 lead at the half. The Panthers again battle back to take a 51-44 lead after the third quarter.
Nicole Kroeger hit a three-pointer with 2:02 remaining in the game to give UNI a 60-52 lead. SIU closed the game with a 5-0 run but missed a three-pointer at the buzzer and the Panthers held on for the three-point win.
The Panthers were 21-56 (37.5%) from the field and 5-17 (29.4%) from the three-point line.
SIU was 19-59 (32.2%) from the field and a 6-20 (30%) from the three-point line for the game. The Panthers came back in the second half, scoring 8/25 from the field and 4/10 from the three-point line, compared to SIU’s 7/24 from the field, and 1/10 from the three-point line.
The Panthers are now 9-4 on the year, and 1-1 in MVC play.
NOTES
– Kristina Cavey stepped into the starting lineup for Megan Maahs who was injured in the Drake game a week ago.
– Cynthia Wolf had a career-high three blocks.
– The Panthers are now 5-2 on the road this season.
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UP NEXT
UNI travels to Missouri State Sunday. The Bears topped Drake 69-67 on a three-point buzzer-beater Friday night.
