CEDAR FALLS – The UNI women’s basketball team heads to Las Vegas, Nevada to take on the Syracuse Orange and the Vanderbilt Commodores over Thanksgiving weekend in the South Point Shootout.
The Panthers are coming off a 75-64 loss to the undefeated Ball State Cardinals. In that matchup, forward Grace Boffeli tallied 24 points, two shy of a career-high, which garnered her Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Player of the Week honors. The honor was the third weekly honor of her career and the first of the season for Northern Iowa. Shateah Wetering had a career day against the Cardinals, recording 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three three-pointers, and six field goals which are all career highs. Two more Panthers recorded career highs in the matchup with Cailyn Morgan bringing down eight boards and Taryn Wharton blocking two shots.
UNI has only faced each of these teams on one previous occasion. The Panthers and the Orange of Syracuse faced off for the last time in December of 1999. In that matchup, the Orange took home the 64-63 victory. Northern Iowa owns the series with the Commodores with a 1-0 record. The lone matchup came in last season’s Cancun Challenge where the Panthers came away victorious by a score of 65-62. Panther guard Maya McDermott found fellow guard Emerson Green for the game-winning three with just one second remaining on the clock. In that victory last season, Boffeli recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Panthers in both categories. Northern Iowa returns 60 of the 65 points scored in that game heading into this season’s matchup.
Syracuse is coming off a two-point loss to No. 20 Maryland on Sunday, 83-81. That matchup saw junior guard Georgia Woolley tally 21 points and bring in eight rebounds in her season debut for the Orange. Woolley has recorded double figures in 12 straight games for Syracuse and averaged 12.9 points per game last season as a sophomore. The Buffalo transfer was named the MAC Freshman of the Year after a season with the Bulls.
Fifth-year guard Dyaisha Fair has scored in double figures in all 37 games she has played in for the Orange. Named to the preseason All-ACC Team, Fair is second on the NCAA active scoring leader list behind Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. Forward Alyssa Latham began her collegiate career with Syracuse with back-to-back double-doubles this season (15-10 vs Lafayette / 11-11 vs Central Connecticut State). She was the first freshman to record a double-double in their debut for the Orange since the 2017-18 season when Digna Strautmane did it in the season opener against Morgan State with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Vanderbilt is coming off an 88-42 victory over Alabama State. That victory moved them to 5-0 on the season which, coupled with last season’s streak, was the first time since the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons that Vanderbilt had started 5-0 to begin the season. In their last game, junior forward Sacha Washington led the Commodores with 24 points, her second 20+ point performance this season (20 vs Fairfield). Vanderbilt shot a season-high 59.3% from the floor (35-for-59) and held Alabama State to just 25.5% from the field. The Commodores opened Monday’s game versus Alabama State with a season-high 36 points in the first quarter, the most points they have scored in any quarter this season.
The games will be broadcast on FloHoops and can be listened to on the Panther Sports Radio Network.
UNI (1-1 / 0-0 MVC) vs. (N) Syracuse (3-1 / 0-0 ACC) / Vanderbilt (5-0 / 0-0 SEC)
Syracuse – 1 p.m. CT | Nov. 24
Vanderbilt – 3:30 p.m. CT | Nov. 25
Las Vegas, Nevada | South Point Arena
FloHoops ($) (PxP – Trey Bender (Syracuse) / Spencer McLaughlin (Vanderbilt))
Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
SOUTH POINT SHOOTOUT SCHEDULE
Friday, Nov. 24
11:00 am, UNI v. Syracuse
1:30 pm, Iowa State v. Vanderbilt
Saturday, Nov. 25
11:00 am Syracuse v. Iowa St.
1:30 pm, Vanderbilt v. UNI
*times in PST
