LINCOLN, Neb. – The Panthers struggled to contain the Nebraska Huskers in a 77-57 loss in the second round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).
UNI couldn’t counter Nebraska’s size in its final game of the season at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Panthers led in one category on the day getting eight second-chance points to the Huskers’ five. UNI had three players in double-figures with point guard Maya McDermott leading the way.
“Our biggest challenge was that they [Nebraska] are big and long,” said Head Coach Tanya Warren following the game. “They have great size and they shot it extremely well. Their size and their length really bothered us.
“We got a really good start and then they switched up defenses and hit a three. Then we started turning the basketball over. Mostly all year long we’ve done a really good job of taking care of the basketball. But they had 16 points off our turnovers which is a little out of character for us. Again, their length and their size really bothered us.”
The teams traded baskets to begin the game. The Panthers had their best run of the day early in the first quarter, putting up nine points in under two minutes. UNI put together one other run in the first from guard Emerson Green, making a jumper and three to put the Panthers up by eight with two minutes left. Nebraska ended the quarter on a 6-1 run giving UNI a one-point lead after 10 minutes.
The beginning of the second was all Huskers as they made the first two buckets. It took the Panthers almost three minutes for their first points, cutting the lead in half on a McDermott layup. The two then went shot-for-shot until Nebraska closed out the second on another large run to get their first double-digit lead. But center Rachael Heittola hit a wide-open three with three seconds on the clock to put UNI back within single digits at halftime.
The Panther deficit returned to double-digits in the third as their first points didn’t come until a free throw attempt from guard Kam Finley near the second-minute mark. The basket at the line sparked a five-point run for UNI, getting the team back into single-digit territory. But the Huskers countered with their own run to push the game out of reach. The Panthers got in a basket occasionally but struggled defensively as the final four and a half minutes favored Nebraska 13-7.
McDermott put some life back into UNI’s game early in the fourth. The sophomore point guard made back-to-back field goals to get within 14. The Huskers were able to answer two shots of their own. After a Panther timeout with seven minutes left, the teams returned to back-and-forth scoring. But it was too late for UNI to counter by going basket-for-basket, ending the season with a 77-57 loss.
On the floor, the Panthers were 22 of 57 from the field (38.6%), nine of 29 from behind the arc (31%), and four of seven (57.1%) from the free throw line. UNI had 10 assists with 24 points in the paint and seven points from the bench. On defense, the Panthers grabbed 34 boards, had six steals, and made two blocks.
McDermott had a 19-point game while contributing two assists and two steals to lead UNI on offense. Green and forward Grace Boffeli also had double-digit performances at 11 and 10 respectively. Boffeli led the Panthers in rebounds with nine, while Heittola and forward Ryley Goebel had a block each.
UNI ends the season with a 23-10 record and finished third in Missouri Valley Conference play. For the second season in a row, the Panthers set a program scoring record, making 2,461 points across 33 games.
Senior guard Kam Finley ends her UNI career as the seventh-best player in program history for three-point attempts with 558. She made 171 threes’ in her career, the 9th best in program history, and has appeared in 136 games tied for fourth in the Panther record books. UNI also says goodbye to senior center Cynthia Wolf. Wolf also made her mark in Panther history with 497 defensive rebounds for the seventh-best career in UNI history. Wolf also made 119 blocks during her time in Cedar Falls for the 5th most blocks in program history.
