The UNI Panthers women’s basketball team hosted Drake University on Friday, Jan.18 in a conference battle of first and third place.

The Panthers fell just short of giving the Bulldogs their first conference loss and also recorded their first loss at home this season as they went down 88-64.

The Bulldogs came out hot in the first quarter, leading 26-16, but were quickly shut down in the second and third.

The Panthers outscored Drake in the second (19-18) and the third (19-15), going into the fourth quarter with a 59-54 Drake lead.

Coming down the home stretch, Drake’s offense was too much to handle for the UNI defense, as Drake scored 29 and allowed just ten points on defense to take the game, 88-64.

Ellie Howell led the offense for the Panthers, as she shot five-for-nine from the floor, collecting 15 points.

She was joined by three other Panthers who shot double digits, including Mikaela Morgan with 13 and Abby Gerrits and Karli Rucker both hitting 10. On the defensive side of the ball, Heidi Hillyard led in rebounds with eight, followed by Karli Rucker and Ellie Howell, who each finished with six.

The Panthers had high shooting and free-throw percentages in the game and also pulled in a total of 36 rebounds, compared to Drake’s 31, but UNI can attribute the loss to the number of turnovers they tallied in the game.

The Panthers had turned the ball over a total of 26 times, the most they have given up since 2011, while only grabbing two steals and forcing 13 turnovers.  “[Drake] is one the best [teams] I’ve seen in being able to turn you over and turn those turnovers in points,” said head coach Tanya Warren in a press conference prior to the contest.

The Panthers will have a two-game road stretch coming up, as they travel to Evansville to take on the Aces on Friday, Jan. 25. They will also battle the Sycamores of Indiana State two days later on Sunday, Jan. 27.