|
Women's Basketball
Panther Rally Falls Short in 71-63 Loss at Nevada
Nov. 28, 2008
RENO, Nev. - The University of Northern Iowa women’s basketball team was able to cut a 16-point second-half deficit to two, but the Panthers were unable to completely close the gap in a 71-63 loss at Nevada in the first round of the Nugget Classic on Friday night. Nicole Clausen tied her career high with six threes to lead UNI with 18 points. Lizzie Boeck and K.K. Armstrong each finished with 10 points for the Panthers, and Kim Wypiszynski finished with eight points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers. Dellena Criner led the Wolf Pack with 19 points, and Johnna Ward added 14. Nevada (3-3) used an early 15-2 run to build a 17-5 lead with 12:39 left in the first half. The Panthers (2-2) got a basket from Alexa Mennen and a free throw from K.K. Armstrong to cut the Wolf Pack lead to single digits, 17-8.
Megan Cherry connected for three to put the Wolf Pack back in front by a dozen, but Katelin Oney scored from behind the arc to cut the Panther deficit to 20-11 with 9:07 left in the half. Oney was fouled on her next three-point try, and the freshman buried all three free throws to bring the Panthers within six, 20-14 with 7:49 left in the half. Nevada scored the game’s next four points, however, extending its lead to 24-14 at 7:05. Clausen drained threes on back-to-back possessions to pull UNI within four, 24-20, and Boeck hit a pair of free throws to make it a two point game, 24-22 with 3:56 left in the half. Johnna Ward hit a three for Nevada to end the Panthers’ 8-0 run, but Clausen answered with a three from the right baseline to keep it at a two-point game. Amanda Johnson scored with 1:50 on the clock, and Kayla Williams scored on a put back at the buzzer to send Nevada into the half with a 31-25 lead. Nevada rattled off eight unanswered points through the first 2:05 of the second half to build a 41-25 advantage. Mennen ended the Nevada run with a pair of free throws, and Clausen hit a three from the top of the key to bring the score to 41-30 with 15:53 left to play. A pair of free throws from Marissa Hammond gave the Wolf Pack a 13-point lead, but Boeck knocked down a three to pull the Panthers within 10, 43-33 with 14:40 on the clock. Nevada used three free throws to stretch its lead back to 11, but Clausen hit a deep three in transition to bring UNI back within eight, 48-40 with 11:41 remaining. After a Brittany Woodard free throw put Nevada up by nine, Armstrong drove the lane to score and pull UNI within seven, 51-44. On the Panthers’ next possession, Kim Wypiszynski grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to make it a 51-46 game with 9:10 on the clock. Jacqui Kalin was sent to the free-throw line for a one-and-one with the Panthers trailing 53-46. She made the first, but missed the second. Mennen grabbed the offensive board and found Clausen up on the right wing. She connected for her sixth three of the game to bring the score to 53-50 with 8:08 remaining. Nevada got a pair of free throws each from Cherlanda Franklin and Dellana Criner to stretch the Wolf Pack’s lead back to seven, 57-50. Kalin knocked down a jumper from the free-throw line, but Franklin answered with a second-chance shot to keep the Wolf Pack lead at seven, 59-52. After a short jumper from Kalin made it a five-point contest, Criner made one of two free-throw tries to put Nevada up by six, 60-54. Boeck scored as she was fouled, and she converted the free throw to make it a three-point game, 60-57. Criner made one of two free-throw tries to make it a two-possession game, but Boeck scored from the paint to cut the Nevada lead to two, 61-59 with 3:51 to play. Nevada was able to score the game’s next six points on a trio of free throws and a three from Ward to stretch its lead to 67-59 with 2:30 to play. Wypiszynski connected on a pair of free throws with 1:43 on the clock to trim the Panther deficit to six, 67-61. The Panthers came up empty-handed on their next two possessions, and they were unable to pull any closer on the way to the loss. Both teams connected 21 times from the floor, the Panthers shooting 21-of-60 (35 percent) and the Wolf Pack finishing 21-of-61 (34.4 percent). UNI made one more three-point shot than Nevada, finishing 8-of-20 (40 percent) compared to Nevada’s 7-of-21 (33 percent). The Wolf Pack won the game at the line, shooting 22-of-36 (61.1 percent) compared to the Panthers’ 13-of-17 (76.5 percent). The Panthers return to action on Saturday at 7 p.m. when they will play the loser of the game between Louisville and Alabama. |
 |
|||||
|
||||||
