EVANSVILLE, Ind. – UNI women’s basketball used balanced scoring and a strong defensive performance to earn a 67-49 road win over Evansville Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers struggled to shake off shooting woes in the first quarter, leading just 10-8 at the end of one. In the second, UNI started to pull away and it started on the defensive end.
UNI held the Aces scoreless for over five minutes of game time and went on a 9-0 run to build a 29-19 lead at the break. UNI kept the pressure on and outscored the Aces 38-30 in the second half to earn the win.
Karli Rucker led UNI with 10 points and tied her career-high with eight assists. Six Panthers scored seven or more points in the game. Cynthia Wolf tallied a team-high seven rebounds. UNI was 25-71 (35.2%) from the field and had 17 assists on 25 made shots. UNI also outrebounded Evansville 48-37.
The Panthers are now 15-9 on the year and 6-6 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
NOTES
The Panthers have now won 13 straight against Evansville.
Karli Rucker tied her career high with eight assists.
UNI is now 8-2 when Karli Rucker is the leading scorer.
UP NEXT
The Panthers host Illinois State Thursday, Feb. 20 and Bradley Saturday, Feb. 22 in a pair of key MVC Matchups. Thursday’s game will be a whiteout and Saturday’s game will be the five-sport passport game.
