LAS VEGAS – The UNI women’s basketball team opened play in the South Point Shootout in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday afternoon with a matchup against the Syracuse Orange. The Panther offense failed to get into a rhythm in the matchup against a tough Syracuse defense.
The Orange opened the matchup with a seven-point run. A layup from Shateah Wetering at the 6:45 mark were the first Panther points of the matchup and stopped the Syracuse run. Guard Maya McDermott followed that up with a coast-to-coast layup to cut the Orange lead to three.
The next eight points went the way of Syracuse to extend their lead out to 15-4 before a three-pointer from Cailyn Morgan, her first points of the game, with 1:20 left in the first quarter. No one would score for the rest of the quarter as the Orange led 15-7 heading into the second.
Syracuse opened the second quarter with a basket before Rachael Heittola netted her first points of the game on a three-point shot just over a minute into the quarter. A five-point Syracuse run would put the Orange ahead by 12 points with just over eight minutes left in the first half. Kayba Laube’s first points of the game came off a three-pointer to cut into the deficit that UNI was facing. The Orange wouldn’t go away, mounting a 4-0 run following the Northern Iowa basket.
The Panthers saw five points in the final eight minutes of the first half with two from Shateah Wetering and three from Riley Wright on a layup and a free throw. The Orange closed the half with a five-point run and took a 33-18 lead into the halftime break.
UNI opened its second half scoring with a 6-2 run after Syracuse netted the first points of the half on a layup. Grace Boffeli recorded her first points of the day on a baseline jumper followed by a jump shot from Emerson Green and another layup on a fast break from Boffeli to climb back within 13. Back-to-back buckets from Syracuse pushed the Orange out to their largest lead of the game to that point with a 17-point lead just three and a half minutes into the second half.
A three-pointer from Cailyn Morgan was followed up by a Syracuse three to keep the Orange lead at 17 with five and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter. Emerson Green recorded her second basket with five minutes left in the third quarter on a pullup jumper. Rachael Heittola knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the Syracuse lead to 13 out of a timeout.
Cailyn Morgan hit another three to cut the Syracuse lead to 12 which was quickly followed by a three-pointer from the Orange to push their lead back out to 15 with 2:16 left in the third quarter. Heading into the fourth quarter, Morgan hit another three, and Boffeli and McDermott both recorded a pair of points to cut the Syracuse lead to just 10 heading into the final frame at 51-41.
The Orange opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back baskets to extend their lead before the Panther recorded six points to cut the lead to six with just over six minutes remaining in the matchup. UNI looked to cut the lead to single digits before a turnover resulted in a fast-break layup for Syracuse to push the lead back to 13.
Grace Boffeli sank two free throws and Emerson Green found a put-back layup to cut the Orange lead back to 11 with 3:30 left in the matchup. Out of a UNI timeout, Syracuse dropped two layups and a free throw to take a 67-51 lead with just under two minutes to play in the final frame. An Emerson Green would cut the Orange lead to 13 with just over a minute remaining for her ninth point of the game.
Syracuse recorded the last four points of the game and took home the 71-54 victory inside South Point Arena. Cailyn Morgan led the Panthers scoring 12 points. She finished 4-of-7 from three-point range and brought down eight rebounds. Forward Grace Boffeli finished with a team-high nine rebounds, also adding eight points.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
The Syracuse Orange extended their series record to 2-0 against the Panthers.
Cailyn Morgan tied her career-high 12 points which she recorded last season against Belmont. She set a new career-high with four three-pointers in the matchup.
Morgan tied her career high with eight rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Panthers wrap up their time at the South Point Shootout with a matchup against the Vanderbilt Commodores. The game tips off at 3:30 CT and can be streamed on FloHoops or listened to on the Panther Sports Radio Network.
