The Panthers started the weekend off against the Murray State Racers on Thursday night. They started the game off on a run of seven points before the Racers answered with a nine-point run to make it 9-7. Murray State went on a 9-6 run to boost to make it 18-13, but the Panthers held a three-point advantage down the quarter as they scored 10 points in the last five minutes of the first quarter to cut the deficit and make the score 23-25. Murray State opened the second quarter on a 15-3 run to make the score 40-26 early in the quarter. Two threes from Maya McDermott and one from Kayba Laube helped cut the lead to six at the end of the half with a score of 44-38 heading into the break. 

Coming out of the break, Murray State opened with a four-point run, but Laube was able to answer with a five-point run to cut the Racer lead to 47-43. Taryn Wharton secured the next two shots for the team as Kaylee Corbin hit a jumper hedging into a timeout. Both teams managed to go on runs but UNI’s was not enough for the Racers as the end of the third quarter score was 71-61, Racers. The teams kept battling back and forth through a heavy offensive quarter in which the Panthers scored 28 points in the frame compared to Murray State’s 24. But it was not enough as the Racers held on to win 95-89. 

UNI then faced the Belmont Bruins on Saturday, which was a very back-and-forth game. In the first quarter of the game, the Bruins took an early 8-6 lead, but Emerson Green closed out the quarter with six points to tie it at 14. The Panthers then went on a 6-3 run in the second quarter to put the Panthers ahead at 20-17. The Panthers closed out the first half with a seven-point run which included a triple from Laube. Northern Iowa led 35-33 heading into the break. After the break, Belmont went on an eight-point run in the third quarter followed by a 10-point run in the fourth. The Panthers would not be able to come back from this deficit and dropped the game to the Bruins, 74-60.