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DAVID WARRINGTON Sports Editor
SPORTS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
FEBRUARY 9, 2023 |
NORTHERNIOWAN.COM
|
VOLUME 119, ISSUE 35
Panthers sprint past Sycamores, 91-51 CADEN SHEA
Sports Writer
UNI continued their recent winning streak with a dominant win over the Indiana State Sycamores at home on Sunday. The Panthers had a great performance in every facet of their game with both offensive and defensive
strategies working perfectly. The offense was especially on point with four different players recording double-digit points in the win. The win gave the Panthers their third straight victory and gave them a 10-2 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) record. The Panthers start-
ed the game on fire and never cooled down for the entirety of the game. The Panthers nabbed the first five points of the game and looked to get the Sycamores off their game early. Indiana State would manage to come back and make the game a close one for a short stretch in the first quarter. The Panthers
COURTESY/UNI ATHLETICS
Rachael Heittola (32) scored 14 points in the win over Indiana State on Sunday, her highest point total since transferring to UNI this past offseason.
would respond in commanding fashion, going on a nine-point run and keeping their opponents scoreless for the remainder of the opening quarter, making 21-8 in favor of UNI early on. The second quarter was more tightly contested than the first, but still favored the Panthers. They went back-and-forth on scoring for the majority of the period until the Panthers would turn it on yet again to give them the 20-point lead about halfway into the second quarter. The Sycamores would close the gap a little bit, but not substantially, as the Panthers led 39-23 as the two teams headed into the locker room. The Panthers came back on to the court just as engaged as when they left it to start the third quarter. The Panthers put up an astounding 22-2 run to help seal the game once and for all. The Sycamores tried to sneak back into it with a decent run of their own but several Panthers rose up and took matters into their own hands to make sure the Sycamores would not have a grasp at the game at all for the remainder of play. The Panthers put up 32 points in this quarter alone compared to Indiana State’s score of 15. The Panthers went into the final period with a score of 71-38 over
Indiana State. Neither team could get much momentum in the beginning of the fourth quarter but once the Panthers finally scored, they rarely stopped. UNI was on fire from everywhere, even having backto-back 3-pointers to ignite an even bigger spark in their game. Even when the Panthers pulled the starters and the court was filled with mostly role players, they still scored consistently. The Panthers defeated the Sycamores with a final score of 91-51. Many Panthers enjoyed career performances in this outing. Rachael Heittola had her best game as a Panther with three 3-pointers and a total of 14 points. Four different UNI players had double-digit scoring performances. Grace Boffeli led the team with 23 points as well as eight rebounds. Maya McDermott had 12 points and Emerson Green had 11 points and five rebounds. Taryn Wharton and Ryley Goebel had superb defensive performances. Goebel had two steals, two blocks and seven rebounds while Wharton had one block, two steals and five assists. The Panthers will soon hit the road as they travel to Chicago to face off with the University of Illinois Chicago Flames on Friday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m.
TRACK & FIELD
UNI competes at Wartburg Indoor Select BEN LAHART
Sports Writer
Members of the men’s and women’s track and field teams made the 20 minute drive north to Waverly for the Wartburg Indoor Select on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4 as they enter the second half of their season. The UNI women started off well with Libby Wedewer placing first in the 60-meter dash in a career-best time of 7.68 seconds. Additionally, the Panthers had three more women place in the top eight and score points in this event.
UNI also scored points in the 200-meters with Lindsey Sires placing sixth. Liv Freund placed seventh in the 800-meter run with a career best 2:25.46. Three women placed in the mile run, led by Mia Rampton with a time of 5:13.53. In the field events, Allison Flansha placed third in the shot put with a throw of 41 feet, 8 inches coming on her second throw. Amanda Lietz placed fifth in the pentathlon with 3003 points to close out the scoring for the women. They placed fifth out of eight teams with 42 points while Wartburg
took home the team victory with 223 points. On the men’s side, Brady Griebel placed fifth in the mile run in 4:24.20 to score four points for the panthers. Freshman Colin Buch placed sixth in the men’s heptathlon with a score of 3776. The men only scored seven points as a team placing them seventh out of seven teams at the meet. Wartburg swept the team trophies as they also won the men’s meet with 202 points. The UNI track teams also competed at Iowa State on Feb. 4 and ran some career best times. The Panthers only have
two more indoor meets before the postseason begins. The next meet will be Feb. 10 and Feb. 11 at
the SDSU Indoor Classic in Brookings, S.D. followed by the Iowa Open on Feb. 17.
STEPH STARK/NORTHERN IOWAN
UNI competed at the Wartburg Indoor Select this past weekend, hosted by Wartburg.