CEDAR FALLS – UNI women’s basketball welcomes in the Salukis of Southern Illinois on Thursday night. Head coach Tanya Warren will be recognized pregame for her record-breaking 202nd MVC win which came in the Panthers’ 89-87, comeback victory over Murray State last Saturday. These teams have met on 83 previous occasions with the latest coming in an 85-76 victory in favor of UNI. In Thursday’s game, Warren will donate $25 for every three-pointer made by the Panthers.
UNI is coming off an 89-87 comeback victory over Murray State. In that matchup, Maya McDermott led the Panthers with 36 points. That mark is a new career-high for McDermott and ties the Valley-high for points in a game this season. The 18-point comeback is the largest in the Tanya Warren Era. With that victory, Tanya Warren set a new Valley record for conference wins in a career.
Forward Grace Boffeli recorded seven rebounds in the game against the Racers. Her 790 career rebounds are now just two short of Bre Gunnels’ (2017-22) no. 3 spot with 792 rebounds.
Maya McDermott leads both the conference and the nation in free throw percentage. Her 96.6% (56-for-58) from the stripe has seen all 30 free throws go down inside the McLeod Center and all 35 in conference play. She also leads the conference with 3.08 assists per turnover. That mark is the second-best in the nation behind Kiara Jackson of UNLV with 3.33.
As a team, UNI leads the conference with a league-low 12.2 turnovers per game. That mark is the 12th-best in the nation. The Panthers also lead the mVC with 1.08 assists per turnover.
The Panthers recorded their 503rd straight matchup with a three-pointer. In the game against the Racers, UNI knocked down 10 threes to continue a streak that has been active since December 2008.
As a program, the Panther women’s basketball team is five conference wins away from 500.
Southern Illinois is coming off an 80-70 victory at Indiana State. That victory saw junior forward Laniah Randle tie McDermott with the conference’s season-high 36 points. Sophomore guard Jaidynn Mason was the only other Saluki in double figures with 18 points. Randle was one of two Salukis with double-digit rebounding numbers. She finished the matchup with 11 rebounds (her ninth double-double of the season) and junior forward Seairra Hughes finished with 10 boards.
This season, two Saluki players are averaging double figures with Randle leading the squad with 19 points per game and Mason with 14.1. Southern Illinois leads the conference on the offensive glass with 13.4 offensive rebounds per game. They also lead the conference with the nation’s ninth-best mark of 11.8 steals per game. They also force a conference-best 20.71 turnovers per game which gives them a conference-leading 4.21 turnover margin.
UNI (10-13 /98-5 MVC) vs. Southern Illinois (8-16 / 3-11 MVC)
6 p.m. CT | Feb. 22
McLeod Center | Cedar Falls, Iowa
ESPN+
Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
