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Dec. 19, 2006

Final Stats

IOWA CITY, Iowa -

            The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team used a school-record 14 threes to defeat in-state foe Iowa 83-62 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Tuesday. Seven different players connected from behind the arc as the Panthers topped the Hawkeyes for the first time since Feb. 8, 1975.

            Megan Keefe led UNI with a career-high 19 points, and Sarah Larsen added 15 points and five assists for the Panthers. Jessie Biggs finished with 13 points, and Traci Ollendieck was 4-of-4 from three-point range to finish with 12 points.

            Jenee Graham finished with a double-double for Iowa, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

            UNI (5-5) never trailed in the game, as Keefe scored on UNI's first possession. Iowa (7-5) tied the game at two on a basket from Megan Skouby. That was the only basket the Panther defense allowed through nearly eight minutes of play, and the Panthers used a 15-0 run to build a 17-2 advantage. Iowa's Abby Emmert ended the Hawkeyes' six-minutes scoring drought with a jump shot from just inside the three-point line with 12:07 left in the first half, bringing the score to 17-4 in favor of the Panthers.

            Leading 23-8, Larsen hit a three to put UNI up 26-8. Jessie Biggs stole Iowa's ensuing inbounds pass, and her layup gave UNI a 20-point advantage, 28-8 with 7:31 on the clock.

            Iowa outscored UNI 11-4 over the next five minutes, scoring eight of those points from the free-throw line and cutting the UNI advantage to 32-19.

            With the Panthers holding a 34-21 lead, Iowa's Kristi Smith hit a pair of free throws to cut UNI's advantage to 11, 34-23 with 1:17 remaining. Nicole Clausen hit a three from the right baseline to put UNI back up by 14, 37-23.

            Jenee Graham knocked down a jump shot on Iowa's next possession to pull Iowa to within 12, but Kristyn Ferris hit a three from the top of the key on UNI's next trip to stretch the Panther lead back to 15, 40-25 with 24.6 seconds left.

            Graham scored on a layup with just five seconds left on the clock to bring the Hawkeyes back to within 13. Biggs was fouled with just 0.5 seconds on the clock, and she connected on both free throws to send the Panthers into the break with a 42-27 lead.

            UNI shot 14-of-25 (56 percent) from the floor in the first 20 minutes, including 7-of-14 (50 percent) from three-point range. The Panthers were 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) from the free-throw line in the first half.

            Iowa shot 8-of-20 (40 percent) from the floor in the first half, and was 0-of-3 from three-point range. The Hawkeyes were 11-of-14 (78.6 percent) from the free-throw line.

The Panthers came up with seven steals and forced 12 Iowa turnovers in the first half, converting them into 20 points.

            Early in the second half, Larsen scored on a layup and Tara King knocked down a three on consecutive trips to put the Panthers back up by 20, 47-27 with 18:14 to play. King found Keefe under the basket on UNI's next possession, and the layup gave UNI a 22-point lead, 49-27.

            Leading 57-35 with 14:32 to play, UNI went on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes on threes from Larsen, Keefe and King to take a 66-35 lead at 12:42.  The Panthers would go on to lead by as many as 32 on the way to the win.

            "I know it's a cliché, but we were hitting on all cylinders tonight," UNI head coach Tony DiCecco said. "We had great offense against Detroit, and our defense was great against Valpo, and tonight we were able to put both together. When we play defense like we did and when we shoot like we did, a lot of things are going to go right."

            The Panthers shot a season-high 54.9 percent (28-of-51) from the floor, including a season-high 56 percent (14-of-25) from three-point range. UNI shot 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) from the free-throw line.

            Iowa shot 42.3 percent (22-of-52) from the floor, including a 2-of-7 (28.6 percent) performance from three-point range. The Hawkeyes were 16-of-20 (80 percent) from the free-throw line.

            UNI grabbed 11 steals, and turned 20 Iowa turnovers into 27 points. Iowa held the rebounding advantage, 37-24.

            The Panthers conclude their non-conference season on Thursday when they host IPFW at 7:05 p.m.