CEDAR FALLS – UNI women’s basketball hosts the Flames of UIC for senior night in the final regular season matchup inside the McLeod Center for the 2023-24 season. This will be the 20th overall meeting between these two programs with UNI holding a 14-5 lead in the season series. The last time these teams met, the Panthers took home a 65-43 victory in January.
UNI is coming off a 78-59 victory over Valparaiso. That game saw Grace Boffeli record her eighth double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Emerson Green became the 30th member of the Panthers’ 1,000-point club with a layup in the first quarter against the Beacons. It was the first time in program history that three players crossed the threshold in the same season.
Forward Grace Boffeli recorded 11 rebounds in the game against the Beacons. Her 818 career rebounds leave her in third on UNI’s all-time rebounding list. She is now 64 shy of the no. 2 spot which is occupied by Megan Maahs (2016-21) with 882 career rebounds.
Maya McDermott leads both the conference and the nation in free throw percentage. Her 95.6% (65-for-68) from the stripe has seen all 35 free throws go down inside the McLeod Center. She also leads the conference with 2.88 assists per turnover. That mark is the eighth-best in the nation.
Guard Kayba Laube leads the conference with a 42.9% three-point percentage. Her 63 three-pointers this season lead the MVC along with a league-high 2.42 threes per game.
As a team, UNI leads the conference with a league-low 12.5 turnovers per game. That mark is the 16th-best in the nation. The Panthers recorded their 506th straight matchup with a three-pointer. In the game against the Beacons, UNI knocked down two threes to continue a streak that has been active since December 2008.
As a program, the Panther women’s basketball team is two conference wins away from 500.
With a win over the Salukis, UNI women’s basketball secured its 16th straight season at or above .500 in conference play.
UIC is coming off an 84-63 loss to Drake inside the Knapp Center in Des Moines on Thursday. The game saw a team-high 15 points from both senior Jaida McCloud and junior Ty Dempsey-Toney. Senior Danyel Middleton was the other Flame in double figures with 11 points.
This season, junior Makiyah Williams is leading the Flame offense with 12.5 points per game. Grad student Keimari Rimmer is the only other UIC player to average over 10 points per game this season with an average of 11.1 points per game.
The Flames are the best team in the MVC at getting to the charity stripe this season with 22.57 free throw attempts per game. They only convert on 67.9% of attempts from the free throw line, the worst mark in the league with 15.32 made free throws per game.
UNI womenâs hoops to recognize seniors Morgan, Holterhaus, and Heittola after a matchup with UIC.
UNI (12-14 / 11-6 MVC) vs. UIC (16-12 / 9-8 MVC)
2 p.m. CT | March 2
McLeod Center | Cedar Falls, Iowa
ESPN+
Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
