SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – UNI opened conference play at Missouri State with their final game of 2023. The Panthers came out hot and held the lead for all but 2:45 of the contest before a late run from the Lady Bears and a buzzer-beating layup pushed Missouri State in front of the Panthers down the stretch.
Emerson Green opened the matchup just past the eight-minute mark with a three-pointer. She was followed by Shateah Wetering and Rachael Heittola with a pair of layups to give the Panthers the early 7-0 lead. A layup by Missouri State ended the UNI run. Northern Iowa answered with five more points heading into the first media timeout with a three-pointer from Wetering and Maya McDermott’s first points on a floater to hold a 12-7 lead into the break.
Out of the first media timeout, Wetering added to her scoring with a layup. Back-and-forth buckets from both teams saw an 18-11 score after a pair of free throws from McDermott. The Panthers held a seven-point lead heading into the second quarter of action.
Maya McDermott opened the second quarter with a layup on the first offensive possession of the frame. Defense was the key for both teams at the beginning of the second quarter as neither team scored for just under four minutes before a Lady Bear layup was their first point of the second quarter with just over six minutes left in the quarter. A three-pointer from Katy Reyerson gave the Panthers a 10-point lead before Missouri State scored three points and cut the UNI lead to seven points at 23-16 heading into the media timeout.
Out of the timeout, Kayba Laube drilled her first basket of the afternoon on a three-pointer. Missouri State finished the second quarter on a 6-0 run to close the first half down four points with a score of 26-22 in favor of the Panthers.
Missouri State opened the second half with a layup which was immediately followed by a UNI layup from Rachael Heittola. The teams traded baskets until a scoring drought for both teams forced a late media timeout with three and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Panthers led the Lady Bears into the break by a score of 37-32.
Out of the media timeout, the teams continued to trade buckets until Maya McDermott sank the last points of the third quarter on an and-one layup to push the Panthers ahead by five points. UNI led heading into the final frame of opening day with a score of 42-37.
The Lady Bears opened the fourth quarter with a five-point run to tie the contest at 42. An and-one play from Shateah Wetering ended the run and put the Panthers back on top by three points. Missouri State answered with a layup before Rachael Heittola and Maya McDermott recorded back-to-back buckets to take a 49-44 lead into the media timeout.
Out of the break, the Lady Bears mounted a six-point run to take their first lead of the game at 50-49. A free throw from Emerson Green knotted things up at 50 before a Missouri State jumper gave the Lady Bears a two-point advantage. The Panther defense held tough after a miss on offense and forced a shot clock violation from MSU with 10 seconds left down two points.
Maya McDermott netted a layup to tie the game at 52 with just four seconds to play. Looking to hold the Lady Bears scoreless on the last possession, three-time MVC Newcomer of the Week Lacy Stokes found the basket with a buzzer-beating layup to claim a 54-52 victory for Missouri State.
Maya McDermott led all scorers with 19 points. She added four rebounds. Shateah Wetering was the only other Panther to record double-digit scoring with 13 points. Emerson Green brought in 10 rebounds, leading UNI. She added eight points and two steals in the contest.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Missouri State claimed their 61st victory against UNI with a 54-52 victory and their 35th at home.
Emerson Green brought in a career-high 10 rebounds in the contest.
Katy Reyerson scored her first collegiate three-pointer in the second quarter.
UP NEXT
The Panthers head home where they will take on the Purple Aces of Evansville on January 4. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT inside the McLeod Center and can be streamed on ESPN+ or listened to on the Panther Sports Radio Network.
