What a weekend for the University of Northern Iowa women’s basketball team. The Panthers rolled through a pair of opponents, routing Indiana State 64-29 on Friday, then coming back Sunday and soaring past Evansville 89-44.
Defense was the key to their sucess. UNI held opponents to a combined field goal percentage of 23.9%.
UNI struggled offensively Friday night, shooting 35%, but holding Indiana State to 17% shooting. The Panthers handled the Sycamores in the paint, pulling down an astonishing 56 rebounds to ISU’s 41.
The charge was lead by center Alyssa Johnson’s double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds. She also added 3 rejections to her impressive stat line. Amber Sorenson and Sharnae Lamar joined Johnson in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The game started off slow, tied at 2-2 at the 16:46 mark. Then the Panthers used a 25-2 run a shortly afterwards to give them a 29-11 half time lead.
In the second half, ISU used a short run to get within 13 points, but then the Panthers ran away with it.
This game was one of UNI’s all time best defensive performances, tying the third least amount of points allowed in a game.
On Sunday, defense stayed stingy and offense came in bunches. UNI rained in a school-record tying 17 three pointers on the way to scoring a season-high 89 points.
Evansville took advantage of poor shooting from the Panthers early, but back-to-back threes tied the affair up at 12 points apiece. After that, it was basically all UNI.
UNI had five players in double digits. They were lead by Amber Sorenson who had a game-high 18 points, all of which came from three-point land. Brittni Donaldson chipped in 15 points including four shots from deep. Madison Weekly had 14 points, of which four shots came from behind the arc. Ellie Herzberg had 12 points, and Brook Brown finished with 10 points.
UNI improves to 14-11 overall (10-4 MVC). The team goes on a road trip next weekend to play at Missouri State on Friday, then Wichita State on Sunday to seek revenge against the Shockers.
