UNI Women To Play For MVC Tournament Title [Video]

Defense has been a strength of the UNI women's basketball team all season. It was solid again on Saturday (March 12, 2016).

The Panthers (22-9 overall) advanced to the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament by beating Southern Illinois 67-43 in the semfinals. They held the Salukis to just 28-percent shooting, while limiting all 12 of Southern Illinois' active players to single-digit scoring.

Junior Madison Weekly tallied a game-high 21 points, while Jen Keitel added 10. Sharnae Lamar and Mikaela Morgan both added eight points each.

The Panthers came out firing from all cylinders, shooting 75-percent from the arc in the first six minutes of the game. They owned a 20-11 lead after the first quarter following a 12-2 run that included a trio of NBA-range 3-pointers from Weekly.

UNI continued its game of runs, going on a 7-0 spurt that included a shot clock buzzer-beating three from Morgan that put the Panthers up 39-15 with 1:39 left to play in the quarter. UNI owned a 41-17 lead at intermission after shooting 59-percent from the field in the first half and out-rebounding the Salukis 21-15.

A strong presence in the paint resulted in a dominated third quarter for Panthers. All 13 of UNI's third-quarter points came from layups (plus one foul shot), with six different players contributing to the Panthers' 54-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

UNI continued to fire away in the fourth quarter. With 6:32 left in the game, Amber Sorenson drained a 3-pointer that put the Panthers up 61-34. With the shot, she tied the school record for 3-pointers made during a season (89).

With the victory, UNI advances to the MVC Tournament title game for the third time in program history and third time under Coach Tanya Warren. The top-seeded Panthers will play No. 3-seed Missouri State for an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament  at 2 p.m. today.

UNI Hosting Watch Party For Women's MVC Title Game And
NCAA Selection Show For UNI Men's Basketball Team Today

The MVC Tournament championship game will be broadcast on ESPN3. UNI fans are invited to the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center (GBPAC) to watch Panthers battle for the title, and see where the men's basketball team is heading for the NCAA Tournament. Doors open at 1:45 p.m.

Courtesy: UNI Athletics via YouTube