CEDAR FALLS — The Panther women’s basketball team opened up regular-season play inside the McLeod Center with a 78-67 victory over the Phoenix of Green Bay. After Green Bay came out big in the first quarter, UNI got hot and put up three consecutive 20+ point quarters to shut the door on the Phoenix, taking home their first victory of the young season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Phoenix got off to a hot start with a 4-0 run to open the 2023-24 season. Grace Boffeli stepped into a three-pointer for the first UNI points of the season to stop the Green Bay run. Boffeli hit the next two UNI points on a pair of made free throws halfway through the first quarter to cut the Phoenix lead to five with five minutes to play in the opening frame. Redshirt sophomore transfer Shateah Wetering drilled her first points as a Panther with 1:40 left in the first quarter to cut back into the Green Bay lead. The Phoenix scored the next four unanswered points to hold a 22-13 lead after one quarter played.

An offensive rebound and subsequent putback by Boffeli opened a dominant second quarter by UNI. Back-to-back three-pointers by guards Maya McDermott and Emerson Green cut the Northern Iowa deficit and a layup by Rachael Heittola dropped the Phoenix lead one point at 29-28 after a 13-4 run by the purple and gold. The run saw the Panthers shoot 5-5 from the floor and 3-3 from three-point range. Shateah Wetering, in her first game as a Panther, laid in a shot to take the lead 34-33. The Panthers never looked back as they would go on to hold the lead the rest of the game. An 18-4 run would see 3-of-4 three-pointers fall for Northern Iowa and six points from McDermott to close the second half with a 38-33 lead.

It was all UNI to open the third quarter with the Panthers watching back-to-back-to-back threes fall in their favor. McDermott saw the first, Green saw the second, and Cailyn Morgan saw the third. The teams battled in a back-and-fourth third quarter which ended up seeing the Phoenix win the quarter, scoring 22 points to UNI’s 20.

The Panther began to pull away in the fourth quarter with a layup from Boffeli to get the final frame rolling. An 18-6 Panther run saw seven points from Emerson Green to put the game out of reach of the Phoenix and would hand UNI their first victory of the season.

McDermott and Green led all scorers with 16 points and Boffeli was the lone double-double performer of the matchup with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Taryn Wharton shot 100% from the floor in a 2-2 performance which also saw her dish out an assist and bring in a rebound in 10 minutes off the Panther bench.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• UNI is now 12-5 in season openers under hack coach Tanya Warren
• The Panthers tied the home series with Green Bay, 3-3.
• Four Panthers finished in double figures for points (Maya McDermott & Emerson Green – 16 points, Grace Boffeli – 14 points, Kayba Laube – 11 points).
• This is UNI’s first win over Green Bay since November 19, 2000, in a 67-59, home victory.

UP NEXT

The Panthers match up with the reigning Big 10 Champion and NCAA runner-up, No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday, November 12. The game tips off inside the McLeod Center at 2 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+. It can also be listened to on the Panther Sports Radio Network.