CEDAR FALLS – UNI women’s basketball opens the 2024 MVC Tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against the Illinois State Redbirds. These teams have matched up on 90 previous occasions with Illinois State holding the series record at 48-42. The last contest between these two teams came in a 74-47 Panther victory inside the McLeod Center. In that matchup, Grace Boffeli led the UNI offense with 17 points. She added a season-high 13 boards to her total. Maya McDermott and Cailyn Morgan were the other two Panthers in double-figures with 12 and 11 points respectively. Ryley Goebel finished with a career-high-tying four blocks in the contest to go along with her five rebounds.
UNI is coming off a 67-46 victory over the Evansville Purple Aces on Saturday. Maya McDermott led the UNI offense with 17 points. Kayba Laube and Grace Boffeli were the other Panthers in double-figures with 11 points each. Boffeli finished with a double-double with 11 rebounds as well.
The Panthers held Evansville to four points in the first quarter. That was the lowest number of points the Panthers have allowed in a quarter this season. It was also the lowest first quarter allowed since a shutout of Evansville in 2021.
Forward Grace Boffeli recorded 11 rebounds in the game against the Purple Aces. Her 850 career rebounds leave her in third on UNI’s all-time rebounding list. She is now 32 shy of the no. 2 spot which is occupied by Megan Maahs (2016-21) with 882 career rebounds. Boffeli recorded her 11th double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds against Evansville. She is now 6 double-doubles away from tying Alex Cook (2001-05) for UNI’s top spot with 41 double-doubles.
Maya McDermott leads both the conference and the nation in free throw percentage. Her 96.1% (74-for-77) from the stripe saw all 39 free throws go down inside the McLeod Center during the regular season. She also leads the conference with 2.55 assists per turnover. That mark is the 16th-best in the nation.
Guard Kayba Laube leads the conference with a 42.5% three-point percentage. Her 71 three-pointers this season lead the MVC along with a league-high 2.45 threes per game.
As a team, UNI leads the conference with a league-low 12.6 turnovers per game. That mark is the 21st-best in the nation.
The Panthers recorded their 509th straight matchup with a three-pointer. In the game against the Purple Aces, UNI knocked down seven threes to continue a streak that has been active since December 2008.
With the win over Evansville, UNI recorded its 500th conference victory in program history. With a victory over the Sycamores, head coach Tanya Warren moved into the no. 2 spot in the MVC in all-time coaching wins passing Cheryl Burnett (Missouri State 1988-02) with 319. Next on the list is the no. 1 spot occupied by Cindy Scott (Southern Illinois 1983-98) with 353 overall victories.
With a win over the Salukis, UNI women’s basketball secured its 16th straight season at or above .500 in conference play. They also finish the regular season 9-4 at home, the 11th straight year the Panthers have been over .500 inside the McLeod Center. UNI women’s basketball has never posted a losing record inside the McLeod Center.
UNI cracked the NET top 100 for the first time this season after the victory at Indiana State. As of March 14, the Panthers are ranked No. 97 in the NET, the third-highest in the Valley behind Drake (71) and Belmont (75).
Illinois State is coming off a round-one victory over Evansville by a score of 85-64. That matchup featured a team-high 14 points from freshman guard Shannon Dowell. Four other Redbirds finished in double-figures with an 11-point performance from both senior guard Daijah Smith and grad forward DeAnna Wilson and a 10-point performance from both redshirt senior guard Maya Wong and freshman guard Brooke Coffey.
This season, a pair of Redbirds are averaging double figures including Wilson (14.8) and Wong (11.7). Senior forward Kate Bullman leads the Redbird rebounding effort with 7.8 rebounds per game, the sixth-best mark in the MVC. DeAnna Wilson is second on the Illinois State rebounding list this season with 7.1 per game. Bullman is second in the Valley this season with 2.1 blocks per game after a zero-block performance against Evansville. As a team, Illinois State leads the Valley with a 35.4% three-point percentage.
A pregame send-off event will be held at the Holiday Inn and Suites Davenport approximately 90 minutes prior to each game as the Panthers progress throughout the tournament. The UNI pep band, dance, cheer and TK will be in attendance to help spread the Panther spirit! There is no cost to attend.
UNI (15-14 / 14-6 MVC) vs. Illinois State (21-10 / 13-7)
2:30 p.m. CT | March 15
Vibrant Arena at the MARK | Moline, Ill.
ESPN+
Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
