WICHITA, KS – Megan Maahs hit a contested layup with 2.2 seconds remaining to give UNI a 93-91 lead and a double-overtime road win over Wichita State Sunday evening.
The senior scored six of her 17 points in overtime, including the two final field goals of the game to lift the Panthers to the win over the former MVC foes.
Maahs was one of five Panthers to score in double figures, including Bre Gunnels who scored a career-high 18 points, while shooting 10-12 from the free-throw line. Gunnels tallied 11 rebounds for the double-double.
Maya McDermott score 15 points in her Panther debut, including nine points in the third quarter when she was 3-3 from the three-point line. Karli Rucker added 12 points and Nicole Kroeger scored 13.
The Panthers led 67-51 after a strong third quarter, but the Shockers battled back, shooting 11-17 from the field in the fourth. Seraphine Bastin hit a pullup jumper with 58 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime.
In the first overtime, the Panthers led late, but Bastin again tied the game, this time on a free throw with 15 seconds remaining. Rucker missed a contested layup in the final seconds.
Wichita State took an early lead in the second overtime, but Gunnels tied the game on a free throw with 2:09 remaining, before Maahs made the first of her final two shots to put UNI up 91-89. Bastin again tied the game up with 24 seconds left with a pair of free throws, but Maahs took her defender to the basket and hit the shot to give UNI the 2-point win. Wichita State went 0-4 from the field over the last 3:00 of the game.
UNI was 34-69 (49.3%) from the field for the game and 10-31 (32%) from the three-point line. The Shockers took seven more shots and had more chances at the free-throw line, but the Panthers made more three-pointers than WSU attempted (nine).
UNI tallied 18 assists on 34 made baskets. Cynthia Wolf led the way with five and Rucker added four.
The win brings UNI back to .500 on the season and is the first road win of the season for the Panthers. The loss is the first for the Shockers who fall to 3-1 on the year.
UNI has now won six straight against Wichita State and has not lost to WSU since the Shockers left the MVC.
UNI is back home for their next game against South Dakota State on Dec. 12 at 3 p.m. No determination has yet been made on whether to allow fan attendance.
NOTES
– Bre Gunnels broke her career-high with 18 points, her previous best was 15 on the road against Illinois State in Jan. 2020.
– UNI is now 36-40 all-time against Wichita State but has won the last six meetings dating back to 2016. The last loss in the series was March 14, 2015.
– Maya McDermott made an impression in her career debut. She was 6-7 from the field and 3-4 from the three-point line, including 3-3 from the arc in the third quarter.
– The last time five Panthers scored in double figures was Nov. 30, 2019, in an 87-77 loss to Alabama.
– Emerson Green scored nine points. She has scored at least nine points in all four games this season.
– The Panthers were 15-27 (55.6%) from the field in the second half.
– The game was just the fifth multi-overtime game in program history.
– It is the fourth OT game between the two programs, the Panthers have won three of the four OT games.
