Fifth-year senior guard Karli Rucker and second-year freshman Grace Bofelli have both earned all-Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) honors for their play during the 2021-22 season. 

Rucker was named to the conferences’ all-first team for the fourth consecutive year. She led the Panther women in scoring, assists and three-point percentage over the course of the year and provided valuable veteran leadership to the women’s basketball team. She joined ten other women’s basketball players in the MVC as all-first team performers. 

Boffelli was named all-MVC honorable mention for this past season. She had a breakout season for the Panthers and earned a spot in the starting lineup around the midway point of the season. As a second-year freshman, Bofelli averaged 8.4 points per game to go along with 8.8 rebounds per game. Her season high in points came against Illinois State on Feb. 27, where she put up 17 against the Redbirds. She pulled down a season-high 19 rebounds in UNI’s win over Idaho back on Dec. 19 in the Maui Invitaional in Hawai’i. 

The UNI women’s basketball team will hit the hardwood again on Friday, March 11, when they take on Valparaiso in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament “Hoops in the Heartland,” at the Taxslayer Center in Moline, Ill. The Panthers will be the No. 3 overall seed in the conference tournament with an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament on the line for the MVC tournament champion.