CEDAR FALLS – UNI women’s basketball was defeated by No. 25 Missouri State, 70-51, Friday evening at the McLeod Center.
Missouri State started the game on a 13-4 run en route to a 20-7 first-quarter lead.
The Lady Bears extended the lead to 20-13 with 3:07 to play in the second, but UNI rallied to cut the lead to 36-24 at the break.
Megan Maahs and Bre Gunnels started the third quarter with back-to-back buckets to cut the Lady Bears’ lead to 36-28.
The Panthers continued to chip away at the lead and cut the deficit to 48-42 with 2:04 to play in the third, but the Lady Bears closed the frame on a 7-3 run to take a 55-45 lead in the final quarter.
Missouri State outscored UNI 15-6 in the final quarter to earn the 19-point win.
Karli Rucker led the Panthers with 11 points. She also grabbed five rebounds and added five assists. Brice Calip was the game-high scorer of the night with 20 points, six rebounds and recorded six assists. Missouri State went 50% from behind the arc and 75% from the free-throw line in the matchup against the Panthers.
Maahs ended the night with five points and is now only 10 points away from joining Rucker in the 1,000 Point club. With her five points, she grabbed four rebounds putting her 17 rebounds away from the No. 2 spot on the All-Time Rebounding List.
The Panthers and the Lady Bears meet again Saturday at 4 p.m. at the McLeod Center to play in the second game of the MVC series.
GAME NOTES:
– Emerson Green made her first-career start.
– Kam Finley recorded a new career-high of three blocks.
– Maya Gyamfi went 2-2 from the free-throw line and grabbed two rebounds and two points.
– Megan Maahs is 10 points away from the 1,000 Point Club and 17 rebounds from the No. 2 All-Time Rebounding Spot.
– Karli Rucker scored a team-high 11 points. She moved past former teammate Ellie Howell for the No. 13 spot on the all-time scoring list.
