The UNI women’s basketball team seemed to hit their stride as the first semester came to an end.

After the worst loss of the season coming at the hands of the University of  Iowa, UNI has appeared to bounce back in force as they are currently on a seven-game win streak.

This win streak includes blowouts, nail biters and even some upsets. The two blowouts came against North Dakota 74-53, which saw senior Madison Weekly lead the team in scoring with 23 points. The team displayed excellent passing, totaling 18 assists. The Panther’s other blowout was against Southern Illinois, 79-49. Weekly again, led in scoring with 24 points this contest.

The nail biters were understandably a bit more interesting. The first one came during finals week and was the game that started their streak. UNI was able to steal the victory from Creighton with a final score of 50-49.

Once again, Weekly led in points with 12 and in assists with seven, but was tied by freshman Megan Maahs who had seven rebounds to compliment the 12 points. UNI limped to the win after Creighton tied the game with 40 seconds left on a three-ball to make 49-49.

UNI hit 1-4 free throws down the stretch to win, Maahs scored the game winner with 10 seconds left. The other close game came at Wichita State where UNI came out ahead 63-61. In a rare turn of events, Weekly, who played the full 40 minutes, was outscored by sophomore Ellie Herzberg who led the team with 19 points and four steals.

She also managed two assists, a board and a block. Down one with 3:30 remaining,  Herzberg hit an and-one free throw to put UNI up two. Weekly iced the game by hitting 3-4 free throws down the stretch.

While these next two games weren’t down to the wire, they weren’t easy wins either. The last game of 2016 saw UNI open MVC play with a 61-54 win against Missouri State. Weekly and Herzberg led the team in most offensive categories and a few defensive ones as well.

An even offensive attack had four players reach double-digit scoring. Sophomores Taylor Hagen and Mikaela Morgan joined the Weekly and Herzberg show. A player that might have been overlooked was senior Hannah Schonhardt, who recorded a game high 13 rebounds.

Her 13 rebounds are only the second best total of the streak. Schonhardt would one up herself in the most recent game against Evansville. Weekly and Herzberg did their thing on offense once more. Schonhardt however put up the most impressive number of the night with 18 rebounds.

Perhaps the most important game of the season came against Kansas State. K-State came in   10-2 and boasting a 24 in the nation ranking and UNI collected their third straight win as they beat the Wildcats 67-59.

KSU is still in the Top 25, now at 25 though, after dropping out for a week. Weekly led the team with 20 points and eight assists. Schonhardt stole the spotlight by recording a double-double.

She gathered in 11 rebounds and totaled 14 points. For the Panthers, four of the five starters played 30 or more minutes.

Two road games this week will have UNI trying to stretch the streak to nine as the take on Illinois State Friday and Bradley Sunday. The Panthers return next Friday for what could be 10 in a row against Indiana State.

The first two games are extremely winnable as neither team has a winning record. Indiana State is 9-6 and third in the Valley. UNI is currently tied for first with Drake at 4-0 Valley records and 11-4 overall records.