CHICAGO – UNI women’s basketball opened the final weekend of the regular season on Thursday in Chicago against the UIC Flames. The teams battled back-and-forth over the course of the first quarter, but the Flames took control and never looked back in the Panthers’ 76-57 loss to UIC.
UIC opened the matchup with the first four points before Ryley Goebel tied the contest with four points herself. Though the Panthers struggled early, UNI made its last six field goals which, along with four free throws, tied the game at 17 after the first quarter. After starting 4-for-19, the Panthers finished 10-for-25 from the floor, but just 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Goebel opened the second quarter with back-to-back buckets before an eight-point run from UIC took over the lead which the Flames didn’t give back in the frame. UIC held a 36-28 advantage heading into the halftime break. The Panthers continued to struggle from range with only one three-pointer falling in the first half. Ryley Goebel led UNI scoring in the 20 minutes with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the floor.
The Flames continued to take over the matchup, outscoring UNI 40-29 in the second half to take home a 76-57 victory. The Panthers struggled from both the charity stripe (2-for-10) and from deep (1-for-7) in the second half.
Ryley Goebel led all players with 21 points. She added five rebounds, two assists, and two steals to her game total. Goebel was the lone Panther in double figures with Maya McDermott the next-highest Panther scorer with nine points. Elise Jaeger finished with a team-high nine boards.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
UNI falls to 15-15 on the season and 10-9 in conference play. The Panthers are now 16-6 all-time against the Flames.
Maya McDermott passed Karli Rucker (2017-22) for the no. 2 spot on UNI’s all-time scoring list. McDermott finished with nine points in the contest. McDermott also passed Jacqui Kalin (2007-08) for no. 7 on UNI’s single-season assists list. McDermott has dished out 135 assists this season.
Ryley Goebel finished with a career-high 21 points. The junior also broke into UNI’s top-10 in single-season steals with two steals against the Flames. She is tied for no. 10 with Ann Miller (1992-93) with 66 steals on the season.
UNI continued its 542-game three-pointer streak with a pair of triples against UIC
UP NEXT
UNI will look to make it 12 straight seasons at .500 or better overall when they take on the Valparaiso Beacons on Saturday, March 8. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network.