CEDAR FALLS – UNI and the Indiana State Sycamores faced off in the Panthers’ third Missouri Valley Conference matchup inside the McLeod Center. The Sycamores opened the matchup hot, but couldn’t sustain their offensive efficiency which opened the door for the Panthers to walk away with an 85-79 victory.
The Sycamores jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead early until Cailyn Morgan knocked down the first Panther points at 6:51 with a layup. A pair of free throws from Indiana State were followed by a pair of three-pointers from Maya McDermott and Morgan to cut the Sycamores’ lead to one point at 9-8.
UNI and Indiana State traded baskets through the middle of the first quarter until McDermott knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 24 heading into the second quarter.
Out of the break, McDermott sank a bucket before Indiana State drained a three-pointer to push their lead out to one at 27-26. A Kayba Laube three-pointer and Shateah Wetering layup gave UNI a four-point lead until the Sycamores netted a three-pointer to cut it back to one point.
Out of the second quarter media timeout, Emerson Green sank a layup to put the Panthers ahead by three points. Back-and-forth baskets heading into halftime ended with back-to-back three-pointers from Kayba Laube to close the half with a 44-42 advantage in favor of Northern Iowa.
A pair of free throws from Maya McDermott opened the third quarter Panther scoring before Emerson Green took over the contest with seven straight points. Shateah Wetering sank a pair of free throws to add to the UNI run. Seven points from the Sycamores pulled Indiana State back within four points until Rachael Heittola sank a pair of free throws to end the run. The teams battled down the stretch and held the matchup to a four-point lead heading into the fourth quarter with UNI up 68-64.
Shateah Wetering opened the final frame for the Panthers before back-to-back-to-back layups from Indiana State closed the gap and tied the matchup at 70. A pair of Panther layups gave UNI a four-point advantage until Indiana State sank a free throw to cut the lead to three points at 74-71.
After four straight offensive rebounds from the Panthers, Maya McDermott ended up on the free-throw line and sank both. Indiana State wouldn’t go down without a fight down the stretch, but came up just short in the end after sinking a three-pointer to cut the UNI lead to six with under 30 seconds to play.
Guard Maya McDermott led the Panthers with 20 points. She added four rebounds and four assists to her total. Three other Panthers finished in double-digits with Emerson Green recording 18 points, Kayba Laube following up a huge performance against Evansville with 16 points, and Shateah Wetering tallying 14 points. Green and Rachael Heittola led the Panther rebounding effort with six boards each.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
UNI is now just one win away from evening up the series record with the Sycamores. 41 of the now 83 games have gone the way of the Panthers after their 85-79 victory.
Emerson Green recorded a season-high 18 points in the contest. The seven points she scored from the free throw line was a career-high.
The Panthers scored a season-high 23 points from the free-throw line. This was the first time they had eclipsed 20 free throws in a single game since their WNIT matchup against Colorado State where they had 22 free throws.
UP NEXT
The Panthers hit the road for the first time in 2024 as they head to take on the Flames of UIC on January 12. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago, Illinois. The game can be broadcast on ESPN+ or listened to on the Panther Sports Radio Network.
