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Dec. 21, 2006

Final Stats |  Photo Gallery 

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -

Tara King and Megan Keefe each notched double-doubles as the University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team defeated IPFW 76-57 on Thursday in the McLeod Center. The win is the fourth straight for the Panthers and gives UNI (6-5) a winning non-conference record for the third straight season.

            King led UNI with 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Keefe finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Keefe also finished with four assists. Jessie Biggs finished with 10 points for UNI. Traci Ollendieck added nine points and dished out six assists in the win.

            Ashley Johnson led IPFW (4-6) with 18 points, and Johnna Lewis-Carlisle finished with 11.

            The Panthers were unable to fall into a rhythm early in the game, and they shot just 1-of-16 from the floor through the first 12:07. The UNI defense was able to keep the Mastodons within arm's reach, and IPFW held just an 11-9 lead with 10:17 remaining in the half. Over the next 2:20, IPFW went on a 7-1 run that put the Mastodons up by eight, 18-10 with 7:41 to play.

            UNI responded with an 11-0 run that returned the lead to the Panthers, 21-18 with 4:14 left in the half. A free throw from Samantha Edwards ended the streak and cut UNI's lead to two, but the Panthers ended the half on a 6-0 run to take a 27-19 lead into the break.

            The Panthers picked up where they left off in the second half, scoring the first seven points of the period. UNI was able to stretch its lead to 16, 37-21 with 16:05 to play, outscoring IPFW 27-3 in an 11-minute span that stretched back to the first half.

            Johnson scored a layup with 14:38 left , ending a 13-minute period where the Panthers did not allow an IPFW layup. That started an 11-0 run by the Mastodons that pulled them to within five, 37-32 with 13:19 to play.

            After the teams traded baskets, UNI went on yet another run, outscoring IPFW 15-2 over the next four minutes and building a 54-36 advantage with 9:01 on the clock.

            The Panthers never led by fewer than 14 points from then on, and led by as many as 20 on the way to the win.

            The Panthers shot 33 percent (19-of-57) from the floor, and finished 6-of-16 (35.3 percent) from three-point range. UNI was 32-of-39 from the free-throw line.

            The Mastodons were 21-of-59 (35.6 percent) from the floor, and 3-of-15 (20 percent) from behind the arc. IPFW was 12-of-22 from the free-throw line.

            The Panthers will have a week off before beginning conference play. UNI opens its Missouri Valley season on Dec. 29 when it hosts Bradley at 7:05 p.m.