AMES – The UNI women’s basketball team is set to round out the non-conference slate with an in-state showdown with the Iowa State Cyclones on Wednesday evening in Ames.
The last time these two teams met, the #7/8 Cyclones took home a nail-biting, 88-85 victory. That matchup saw both forward Grace Boffeli and guard Maya McDermott score 20+ points with a career-high 26 points coming from Boffeli and 22 coming from McDermott. Guard Kayba Laube was the only other currently active Panther to record double-digits with 12 points.
UNI is coming off a loss to South Dakota State inside the McLeod Center by a final score of 78-59. In that matchup, Maya McDermott led the Panther offense with 23 points, tying her career-high. She was the lone panther in double figures while Emerson Green and Rachael Heittola scored nine points each. Guard Maya McDermott remains one of just two players in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) to be perfect from the free throw line. McDermott has made 15- of-15 free throws this season. The Panthers are on a 488-game three-pointer streak dating back to December 6, 2008. Since then, UNI has made at least one three-pointer in every matchup played to date.
Iowa State is ranked No. 56 in the NET rankings. This will be the fifth time this season the Panthers have faced an opponent that is currently ranked in the top 60 and the eighth time an opponent is currently in the top 100. UNI holds the second-best average opponent NET rank in the nation with an average rank of 56. The only team ranked higher than UNI is UConn with an average opponent NET rank of 55. The Panthers also boast the ninth-hardest NET, non-conference strength of schedule. As of December 17, the Panthers have the fourth-hardest strength of schedule per the Massey ratings behind UConn, South Carolina, and Maryland.
Iowa State is coming off its first 100+-point game of the season with a 105-68 victory over Troy. The 105-point performance was the first time the Cyclones had surpassed 100 points since 2021. In that matchup, the Cyclone offense was led by a pair of 20+-point performances from both freshman center Audi Crooks and senior forward Nyamer Diew. Freshman forward Addy Brown recorded her fourth double-double of the season and third-straight with 13 points and 14 boards. Shooting 67% from the floor this season as a freshman, Audi Cooks ranks No. 7 in the nation in field goal percentage. Against Troy, Cooks shot 90% from the floor (9-for-10) in her 21-point performance including 1-for 1 from beyond the arc.
