Over this past weekend the UNI women’s basketball team went on a quick road trip. On Friday, Jan. 24 they went up against Southern Illinois in Carbondale, Illinois. On Sunday Jan. 26 they faced off with Missouri State in Springfield, Missouri. The Panthers came into the road trip with a 4-3 conference record, and ended up splitting these two conference matchups. They defeated Southern Illinois on Friday, and lost to Missouri State on Sunday.
The Panthers started out the game against Southern Illinois on fire. In the first two minutes of play they had three different players hit shots from 3-point range. This brought them out to an early lead, and they built on it throughout the rest of the quarter. By the end of the quarter the Panthers had a solid 12 point lead, 26-14.
The second quarter went better for the Salukis, as they were actually able to cut into the Panther lead. They cut the lead to just three points a couple of different times, but the Panthers were able to maintain a slim six point lead going into the halftime break, 37-31.
After falling back a little bit in the second quarter, the Panthers went back to being the more dominant team in the third. They started the quarter on a 15-4 run, and extended the lead to 17 points. The Salukis were able to barely cut into this lead throughout the rest of the quarter, and the Panthers led by 15 going into the final quarter.
The Panthers kept their foot on the gas in the fourth quarter, as they continued to dominate the Salukis. By the end of the game, there was no doubt that the Panthers were the better team. They came away with a convincing 84-59 win on the road.
The Panthers game against Missouri State went in the opposite direction for the Panthers. Missouri State set the tone early, jumping out to a 13-4 lead. The Bears did not build on this lead much throughout the rest of the quarter, but were able to keep the Panthers at a distance. The score was 25-14 in favor of the Bears at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was much of the same, as the Bears opened it up with a 10-0 run, extending the lead to 21. The Panthers had their work cut out for them with such a large deficit, and they were not able to cut into it too much before the half. At halftime the Bears were well in control, 48-30.
In the second half the Bears continued to grow their lead, and ultimately coasted to a dominating victory. The final score was 81-54, and the Panthers ended up splitting their road trip. This moved the Panthers overall record to 10-10, and a 5-4 record in conference play.
The Panthers will be back on the hardwood on Feb. 1, when they take on Drake in Des Moines.
