The UNI women’s basketball team stayed busy over break. While many students were relaxing and eating, the Panthers were practicing hard and winning games. Over Thanksgiving break, UNI posted a 3-1 record and co-championed a recent tournament. There were two games before Thanksgiving and two after.

The two non-tournament games were against Wisconsin-Parkside and Oklahoma State University and were polar opposites of each other.

Parkside saw UNI win 72-57 and had multiple players scoring and collecting boards as well. Junior Kennedy Kirkpatrick helped out on all aspects of the game; gathering two steals, nine rebounds and 14 points, all of which were second highest on the team.

After that game came OSU and it got ugly — the Panthers lost 81-57. Senior Madison Weekly was the one bright spot as she scored 20 points while shooting 8-11 from the field. No one else contributed a big enough difference to help topple the Big 12 power.

The day after Thanksgiving, UNI ventured West to Phoenix, AZ to play in the Grand Canyon Thanksgiving Tournament, hosted by Grand Canyon University. UNI ended up winning both of their games.

In both contests, UNI once again played like the team that beat Parkside. The first game saw a nail biter as UNI beat the Idaho Vandals with a final score of 76-74. Senior Hannah Schonhardt joined Weekly as a double digit scorer, putting up 12 points compared to Weekly’s 15. Weekly also had a team high five assists while Schonhardt tied the team high with six rebounds.

She tied freshman Megan Maahs, who was the only other Panther to score double digits with 11. Maahs also scored the game winner after collecting Weekly’s miss. She then shot and missed only to get her own miss and put it back up with two seconds left.

The last game over break was less stressful than Idaho as UNI defeated the Denver Pioneers 79-68. Weekly once again led the team with 22 points and five assists. Sophomore Mikaele Morgan chipped in 16 points,  which tied her with Maahs who had a monster game. Along with the 16 points, she grabbed eight rebounds and three assists. Both were second on the team.

For the second straight game Maahs shot 50 percent. She also found the foul line and hit eight of nine free throws. Behind only Weekly and tied with Schonhardt, Maahs put in 26 minutes as well. She keeps performing and she might end up as a freshman starter.

UNI will next play South Dakota State on Dec. 1 at McLeod, so remember to go support the Panthers.