NASHVILLE – UNI women’s basketball traveled to Nashville, Tennessee for a matchup with the Belmont Bruins. UNI jumped out to a lead early with stellar shooting from beyond the arc, but Belmont came storming back and strung together multiple runs to outlast the Panthers down the stretch.
The Panther came out hot and jumped to a 12-6 lead with four three-pointers including back-to-back threes from Kayba Laube in the first minutes of the matchup. A jump shot from Belmont was answered by a layup from Grace Boffeli before a 10-point Belmont run to give the Bruins their first lead of the game at 18-14. A jump shot from Laube cut the run before a last-second three-pointer from Belmont closed the first quarter with a 21-16 advantage for Belmont.
The second quarter opened with a Grace Boffeli jump shot before an answer from the Bruins. A layup from Maya McDermott preceded a five-point run from the Bruins to take an eight-point lead. A 7-3 run from the Panthers closed the gap to four points before back-to-back threes from Belmont. UNI closed the half on another 7-3 run including Laube’s third three-pointer to close the first half with a score of 40-34 in favor of the Bruins.
Out of the halftime break, Belmont knocked down back-to-back layups to extend its lead to 10 at 44-34. Maya McDermott drained the first Panther points of the third quarter before a three-pointer from the Bruins. UNI and Belmont traded shots for the next couple of minutes until the Bruins popped off on a seven-point run to take a 16-point lead at 62-46. The third quarter ended with a jump shot from Cailyn Morgan with six seconds remaining on the clock to head into the final frame with Belmont on top by a score of 69-51.
Belmont opened the final frame with a hump shot before a five-point Panther run, including three points from Boffeli, cut the Bruin lead to 15 at 56-71. A seven-point UNI run later in the quarter cut the lead to 12 after a pair of Belmont buckets. Back-and-forth baskets down the stretch of the fourth quarter saw Belmont get the final point of the game with a free throw to take home an 84-72 victory.
Maya McDermott led the UNI offense with 15 points. She added five assists to her total. Grace Boffeli and Kayba Laube were the other two Panthers in double-figures with 13 and 11 points respectively. Both ended just one rebound short of a double-double with a game-high nine rebounds a piece.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
UNI continues to look for that first program win over Belmont, falling to 0-5 against the Bruins all-time
Kayba Laube passed Katelin Oney (2008-12) and entered the top-10 on UNI’s three-pointer list in the first quarter. She finished with three threes in the matchup.
Laube recorded a career-high nine boards in the game against the Bruins.
UP NEXT
The Panthers take a quick ride north for their next matchup as they will face the Racers of Murray State on Saturday, February 17. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT. The game can be streamed on ESPN+ or can be listened to on the Panther Sports Radio Network.
