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Jan. 10, 2008

Box Score

NORMAL, Ill. -

            The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team gave up just 28 first-half points to Illinois State, but the Redbirds' offense exploded for 46 points in the second half to top the Panthers 74-53 in Redbird Arena Thursday night.

            Jacqui Kalin led the Panthers (5-8, 1-1) with 18 points, and Alexa Mennen finished with 11 points and six rebounds for UNI. 

            ISU's Kristi Cirone led all scorers with 25 points. Maggie Krick added 13, and Shala Jackson scored 12 and Nicolle Lewis added 10 for the Redbirds (13-1, 3-0).

            The Panthers shot just 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) from the floor through the first 12 minutes of action, while Illinois State shot 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from the floor. UNI did not allow an offensive rebound during that span, however, which helped keep the Redbirds within arm's length, 17-11 with 7:33 to play in the period.    

            The Redbirds took a 24-14 lead at 4:30, but a three-point play from Danielle Wubbens and a jump shot from Kalin cut the ISU lead in half, 24-19 with 3:25 remaining in the half.

            Illinois State scored the next four points to stretch its lead back to nine, 28-19. The Panthers held ISU scoreless through the final 2:30, however, and a three from Alexa Mennen pulled UNI within six, 28-22. Traci Ollendieck came up with a rebound with 12 seconds on the clock, and Kalin hit a layup at the buzzer to send the Panthers into the locker room trailing, 28-24.

            A three from Cirone and a pair of free throws by Lewis put ISU in front 33-24 with 18:03 to play. Kristin Iehl hit a short baseline jumper for the Panthers to cut the Panther deficit to seven. Lewis connected on another free throw, however, and Maggie Krick hit a layup with 15:40 to play to extend ISU's lead to 36-26. ISU outscored UNI 17-8 over the next six minutes to take a 53-34 lead with 9:20 remaining.

            The Panthers were able to trim the ISU lead to 13, but could not climb any closer on the way to the loss.

            The Panthers shot 20-of-49 (40.8 percent) from the floor, including a 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) effort from three-point range. UNI finished 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) from the free-throw line.

            Illinois State shot 26-of-53 (49.1 percent) from the field, including 9-of-18 (50 percent) from behind the arc. The Redbirds were 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) from the free-throw line.

            Illinois State outrebounded the Panthers, 34-26. The Redbirds turned 21 Panther turnovers into 19 points, while UNI used the Redbirds' 17 turnovers to score 10.

            The Panthers return to action on Saturday when they play at Indiana State. Tip off is set for 1 p.m.