The women’s basketball team bounced back after last week’s rough loss by beating the Bradley Braves 70-50 in McLeod on Friday. This win put UNI at 17-6 for the season, the eighth straight season with 17 or more wins. It also gave them their tenth Missouri Valley win keeping them securely in second place a 10-2, just behind Drake at 12-0.
The first half against Bradley was competitive on both sides of the ball for the Lady Panthers. On offense they shot 43 percent from the field and only missed one free throw of the eight they took. They also shot 28 percent on three pointers.
Defensively, they limited the Braves to 29 percent shooting and 14 percent on threes. UNI forced 11 Bradley turnovers, with eight of them being steals. This led to a 21-35 halftime score.
The second half brought UNI’s three point shooting 35 percent on the game versus Bradley’s 19 percent on the night. Other than the three point shooting the second half didn’t see much change from the first as UNI rolled to victory.
The offensive leaders for UNI were senior Madison Weekly and sophomore Ellie Herzberg, guards. Weekly and Herzberg scored a team high of 15 points each. Weekly also led the team with five assists and three steals. Herzberg managed two steals and two assists herself, but added in four rebounds to Weekly’s three. For the second straight game Weekly went below her average for minutes per game with 31 on Friday. This allowed head coach Tanya Warren to put in some more bench guards and eventually 12 players got to see the court.
In their game against Illinois State University (ISU) the Panthers showcased their dominance at home with a 82-51 victory against the Redbirds. This increased UNI’s overall record to 18-6 and 10-2 at home.
Freshman Abby Gerrits scored ten points in the first half, as she made two shots from three-point territory and all four free-throws. Junior Kennedy Kirkpatrick was the other impact player of the first half — she scored eight points and grabbed three defensive rebounds.
In the second half, both teams’ shooting percentage increased. UNI shot 40 percent in the third quarter and 67 percent in the fourth.
Compared to ISU’s 41 percent and 54 percent, both teams were taking good shots and there was an overall good effort from the field. Twenty-four total turnovers by the Redbirds compared to UNI’s nine is what hurt their chance at winning.
The women’s next three games will be on the road: first against Loyola, followed by Indiana State and Drake University. After their three game road trip, the Panthers will return home to take on Wichita State, followed by Missouri State before the MVC tournament gets underway on March 3.
